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Nip It In the Bud

Learn English with this jealousy English lesson

Date: Sep 03 2013

Themes: Romance, Soap Opera

Grammar: Simple Future Tense

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Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

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it's the least I can do

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

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Have you ever watched a flower grow? First, the plant gets leaves. Then, a small, curled-up version of the flower appears. This is called a bud. Finally, the bud opens up and becomes a flower. If you don’t want the flower to grow, you can nip it, or break it off, in the bud stage. You can kill a flower if you nip it in the bud.

Usually you use the phrase nip it in the bud to refer to a situation, not a flower. If you see a problem coming, you may want to try to change or end the situation before the problem gets worse. You may want to deal with it right away. You want to nip the situation in the bud before it blooms into big trouble.

Jeff and Greta have something they need to nip in the bud. Find out what it is in this English lesson.

3. Watch - Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read - Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jeff

Greta

Jeff: Hey, Greta!

Greta: You brought me flowers? That is so sweet! They smell good.

Jeff: It was this day, three weeks ago, that you saved me from under the rock. I figured it’s the least I can do.

Greta: Well, I really appreciate that. I did not know that you are so romantic.

Jeff: Yeah, well…

Greta: God, these are great! Look, this bud hasn’t even opened yet. These are going to bloom so nicely.

Jeff: There’s something I wanted to tell you.

Greta: What?

Jeff: Amanda wants Lily and me to work together on these new reports. Something about Lily picking up more responsibilities. Something like that.

Greta: So?

Jeff: You know how we had a thing before.

Greta: Is there a reason that I should be jealous or nervous about this?

Jeff: No! No, no, no. Not at all. I just wanted to nip it in the bud, you know, before it became too big of an issue. I just don’t want you to get stressed out about it or turn it into anything bigger than it is.

Greta: OK.

Jeff: Because it isn’t.

Greta: Great. Not jealous. Speaking of, did I tell you who the leading man in my new movie is?

Jeff: The movie you’re wearing this whole pregnancy get-up for?

Greta: Yes. The father of my child in Oh, Baby, My Baby. It’s going to be Dustin Holt.

Jeff: Dustin Holt. You mean that really, really good-looking guy? The super-buff guy?

Greta: Not to mention very famous and really rich.

Jeff: But it’s a movie about babies. You’re not going to be having any sexy, sultry type of stuff going on?

Greta: Well, babies don’t fall from the sky. I thought that I should tell you. So you have no reason to be jealous.

Jeff: Jealous? Me?

Greta: Yeah, I just wanted to, you know, nip it in the bud.

Jeff: I’m going to go get some water for those flowers.

Grammar Point

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Quizzes

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Discussion

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Jeff brings Greta some flowers for their three-week anniversary. It turns out that he also has something to tell her. He’s going to be doing some work with Lily coming up, and he’s afraid Greta may be jealous, since he used to have a crush on her. He wants to tell Greta and nip the situation in the bud before she has a chance to get upset.

Greta’s not upset at all, though. She’s not jealous. In fact, she has some news that might make Jeff jealous. The leading man in her new movie is very attractive and very rich, and she might even have to be in some sexy scenes with him. She’s telling Jeff now just to nip it in the bud, so he has no reason to be jealous.

Do you think that Jeff and Greta are jealous, or have they nipped the problem in the bud? Do you get jealous? How do you deal with it?

Comments

yousefkohpeyma

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Actually I presume they are still jealous of one another,yet they‏ ‏just don’t express it .Sometimes I can not prevent myself from feeling jealous toward others’ achievements but mostly I try to envy others rather than being jealous of them in this regard.

leilahavaneh

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

well i guess they still are jealous as it sometimes happens to me especially when i see someone’s success.

Kresnyk

Spain

Jeff jealous?? who can think this after seeing the video?? jeje. On the one hand, in my opinion, they have done the things on the right way, nipping the problem in the bad, because if Jeff would discover that Greta has a sexy and good looking college…the situation would be more problematic than it’s now. On the other hand, I’m not a jealous person, I think being jealousy it’s a waste of time….because there’s nothing to do if your boyfriend/girlfriend wants ending the relationship by a “non elegant way” jeje

pk371369

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

yes am.h768

am.h768

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

Is that right to translate it in persian : در نطفه خفه کردن( dar notfeh khafe kardan)?

Jasonlongo

Congo, Democratic Republic Of The

It sometimes happen to me, when maybe I break my father’s radio or something else down, before him coming I go to the fixer man to fix it, just to nip it in the bud.

pk371369

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

yes I’m agree with this.In persian we say primery war is better than final peace!

jef_maiko

Brazil

Sexy scenes is too much for me. I would not like to see my wife having scenes like thar at all. I think whole thing depend on good sense of both parts. But I think that was very nice the commitment and honesty of Greta and Jeff, important is talking each other always…..

Seiyf_khawas

Turkey

what ı understood from this lesson ?

first ,

if a woman wants to get flowers from a man , she has to save him from under the rock or like this a favor :)

second,

Babies dont fall from the sky or Storks dont bring babies from somewhere :)

third,

never dont make a woman feel jealous !!!

aspire1

Germany

Of course they could still get jealous of each other, you never know what´s coming up. But the fact that they both have something going creates kind of a balance in that situation. It´s definitely a good idea to talk about stuff like that in advance. Now they sort of already agreed not to be jealous and it´s going to be a lot harder to get upset. The key is communication:)

Jobee

China

To sherry,

I don’t think keeping yourself busy is a positive attitude .I know the method works.but you are still trying to escape from the problem.I think nip it in the bud tells you to experience the struggling time and try to accept and deal with it.It’s the hard time wothy of face to face.

Jobee

China

I think the issue Jeff and Greta are facing is a little bit complex.I guess Jeff’s jealousy is coming up because he didn’t expect Greta’s going to have sultry scenes with Dustin Holt.(BTW ,who is dustin Holt???)

Anyway,I think they are doing the right thing.You know,nip it in the bud means that you will be facing the situation before.so,they are stressed out at the moment.I think they will pass the hard time if they are caring for each other.I have to cross my fingers,that’s the least I can do.

sherryleio

China

Jeff sure gets jealous. Especially they only have dated for 3 weeks. Greta should be OK wit the situation that Jeff and Lily will work together for some reports.

Well, it depends. But in a relationship, being jealous is often common when your bf/gf is close to another one, or even he/she says it in advance or nip it in the bud.

I am easy to feel jealous, and feel upset. I know it is wrong, but can not help doing that. I will try to keep me busy to relieve from the situation.

CandiceAcclo

China

“nip it in the bud” good phrase means solve the problem when it’s coming. yeah we should take that precuations. whenever we should solve the mistake when it is small. that is a good life habit