Weekend Wrap-up
Edwin gives a rundown of how he spend his weekend.
Todd: Hey, Edwin, how you doing?
Edwin: I'm good thank. How are you?
Todd: Oh, I'm doing pretty good. So, did you do anything this weekend?
Edwin: Yes, I went down to the city.
Todd: Oh, you went to the city? Who did you go with?
Edwin: I went with a couple of friends.
Todd: Oh, yeah. Were you guys going clubbing and going out?
Edwin: No, we just went shopping.
Todd: Shopping, really.
Edwin: Oh, yeah.
Todd: You don't strike me as the shopping type.
Edwin: No, but it's getting cold now, and I need some winter clothes.
Todd: That is true. That is true. So, what did you buy?
Edwin: I bought a jacket and a pair of warm trousers.
Todd: How much did you spend?
Edwin: I spent about a couple of hundred dollars.
Todd: Really?
Edwin: Yes.
Todd: Wow! That's a lot.
Edwin: Yes, but I don't want to freeze, so ...
Todd: Right. So did you go on Saturday or Sunday?
Edwin: I went on Saturday.
Todd: Saturday. You didn't stay overnight?
Edwin: No, I didn't stay overnight. It was going to be too expensive if we stayed overnight.
Todd: Right, yeah. How did you get there by the way? Do you drive?
Edwin: No, we took the bus.
Todd: Oh, you took the bus.
Edwin: Yeah.
Todd: I hate the bus.
Edwin: Yes, but unfortunately I don't have a license so we have to take the bus.
Todd: Right, actually, I'm in the same boat, you know, I don't have a license either, but when I go to the city I always take the train. Have you ever taken the train?
Edwin: Ah, no, I have taken the train yet.
Todd: Oh, man you gotta take the train.
Edwin: How does it compare to the bus?
Todd: It's so much better ... well, it takes about the same amount of time
Edwin: Oh, really.
Todd: It takes about two hours, but you can kind of walk around a bit, you know, it's not as cramped. I kind of get motion sickness on the bus.
Edwin: But isn't it more expensive on the train?
Todd: Well, actually, you can get four tickets for a hundred dollars, so it's about twenty-five dollars one way, and I think the bus is ... you can get four tickets for eighty dollars, so it's only a little more expensive.
Edwin: I see, I see.
Todd: It does take a little bit longer though.
Edwin: Okay.
Todd: So anyway, what about Sunday? What did you do yesterday?
Edwin: Yesterday? Just walked around campus, and not much to do on Sunday. Sunday is usually my easy-going day.
Todd: Yeah, did you study?
Edwin: Yeah, later in the night. Daytime it's usually ... yeah, usually no studies during the day.
Todd: Yeah, did you wait until the last minute?
Edwin: Yeah, I'm that kind of person, so yes.
Todd: Yeah, me too, me too.
you don't strike me
You don't strike me as the shopping type.
The expression "you don't strike me" as something means that you do not seem that type of person or that you would do that type of thing. You have surprised my expectation of you in some way.
- I thought you liked book shops and libraries, you don't strike me as the sporting type.
- I was surprised to hear that you are married, you don't strike me as the settled down type.
a couple of hundred
I spent a couple of hundred dollars.
"A couple of " something usually means 2 or 3 of something. A small number of things.
- The weather forecast shows rain for the next couple of days.
- Come to our barbecue on Saturday and bring a couple of bottles of beer and we'll cook the steaks.
freeze
I don't want to freeze.
"Freeze" literally means to change from a liquid to a solid state. It is often used to mean something is very, very cold.
- I went skating without my gloves and my hands are freezing.
- Building a snowman is fun if my hands don't freeze off first.
in the same boat
I'm in the same boat. I don't drive.
This expression means to share something with another person; an experience or quality.
- Traveling in Thailand communication was difficult. We were all in the same boat because nobody spoke the local language.
- Climate change has put many different countries in the same boat as they try to manage serious natural disasters.
You gotta ....
You gotta take the train.
"Gotta" is a contraction of "you have got to" meaning that you must do something.
- You gotta get the lights on your car fixed before you have an accident.
- My mum says you gotta eat your carrots to keep your eyes healthy.
until the last minute
Did you wait until the last minute.
This expression means to not do something until the very latest moment possible.
- Jack was supposed to meet me at the bus stop and I waited until the last minute but he didn't come.
- If you wait until the last minute to study for a test, you will probably feel stressed and not do well.
Vocabulary Quiz
you gotta • last minute