Learning Vocabulary: The language of arguments

Welcome - The language of arguments

Rich: Hello my name’s Rich

Jack: and I’m Jack

Rich: and welcome to this week’s Premier Skills English podcast

Jack: Where we talk about football and help you with your English.

Rich: We recommend that you listen to this podcast on the Premier Skills English website because that is where we have the transcript, language examples, activities, quizzes and a discussion page to help you understand everything we talk about.

Jack: However,  if you’re listening on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, you could leave your answers in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you. What’s happening this week, Rich?

Rich: In this week’s podcast, we’re going to help you with vocabulary. More specifically we’re going to look at some of the words and phrases people use when they are arguing.

Jack: Yes, you know … those discussions that get a bit heated, one person thinks one thing and the other person thinks another.

Rich: But we always agree with each other, don’t we Jack?

Jack: Sure Rich. Like I was saying earlier, Arsenal play the best football in the Premier League.

Rich: You’ve got to be mad to think that! I don’t think they even play the best football in North London!

Jack: Alright, keep your hair on! Like you were saying, we always agree with each other!

Rich: Very good. Anyway, we’ll be looking at some of the words and phrases we use when we are arguing a little later.

Jack: Before all that, let’s look at last week’s football phrase.

Football Phrase 1

Rich: Last week’s football phrase was connected to the recent holidays in the UK.

Jack: That’s right. The football phrase, or in this case word, was cracker.

Rich: In football, a cracker describes a goal that is very good and is often used to describe a very powerful shot. Other similar words are screamer or belter. You might hear a commentator say: That’s an absolute belter or that’s an absolute screamer or that’s an absolute cracker!

Jack: But what is the connection with the holidays?

Rich: Well, crackers or Christmas crackers are coloured cardboard tubes that make a big bang when two people pull them apart. In the centre, you will usually find a written joke, a small toy and a paper hat.

Jack: Well done to Thaitn from Vietnam, Elghoul from Algeria, Lakerwang from China, Liubomyr from Ukraine, and Rafael Robson from Brazil. All of you got the right answer.

Rich: At the end of this podcast. we will have another football phrase for you to guess.

Arguments

Jack: In the next section, you are going to hear me and Rich having an argument. We want you to answer two questions while you are listening.

Rich: Question one: What is the argument about? And question two: Who do you think wins the argument?

Roleplay 1

Jack: You cannot be serious?!

Rich: I’m totally serious. The seats are there for people to sit in. 

Jack: Everybody stands up. We’re not at the theatre you know.

Rich: That’s my point exactly. Can you imagine someone at the theatre standing up in front of you and shouting all the way through a play? You’d lose your temper with someone or storm out in a huff.

Jack: I don’t think you’d storm out. You’d probably just ask them to sit down, please. But a match is different.

Rich: No, it’s not. Your team have a corner and some big bloke stands up in the row in front you can’t see anything. It does my head in.

Jack: It does your head in? I think you’re just winding me up now. Is this because you're short?

Rich: Now who’s winding up who here. I am not short.

Jack: Well, shorter than average maybe …

Rich: Shut up! 

Jack: Keep your hair on! No need to get offended … I was just saying.

Rich: Just saying what? That I’m little … I’m not little … I’m nearly six foot …

Jack: When you’re on a ladder!

Rich: You’re really getting on my nerves now. I’m just trying to say that fans should use the seats in stadiums more.

Jack: OK shorty.

Rich: That’s it I’m off.

Jack: Rich! Come back! I was only kidding.

...

Rich: Now, here are the answers to those two questions we gave you before the roleplay. 

Jack: The argument was about whether football fans should be allowed to stand up at football matches.

Rich: And who won the argument? Well, I stormed off so I suppose Jack won the argument but I’m not sure anybody did.

Jack: In the next section, you are going to listen to Rich arguing about something else. We want you to answer two questions while you are listening.

Rich: Question one: What am I angry about? And question two: Do you agree with me?

Roleplay 2

Rich: Look at these.

Jack: What are they? They just look like scarves to me.

Rich: These scarves. They are horrible. I can’t stand them. Why do you go to a football match, Jack?

Jack: Er.. to enjoy the football….

Rich: Yes, I suppose so, but you also go to the match to support your team. And these scarves which are called half and half scarves are just horrible. Look at this! Manchester City on one half and Manchester United on the other - it’s just plain wrong.

Jack: What if you support both teams?

Rich: Come on! Nobody supports both teams. You always have a preference or you sit with the home fans or the away fans.

Jack: What if you don’t support either team?

Rich: Then don’t buy one of these scarves.

Jack: But some people like to have a souvenir. I think they’re quite popular with tourists ...

Rich: Then they should buy a programme or use your ticket as a souvenir. 

Jack: OK, I have some news for you, Rich. It might help you calm down. Look!

Rich: You’ve bought one! You have got to be joking! I’m going!

Jack: OK, maybe it won’t help you calm down!

...

Rich: Now, the answers to those questions we gave you before the roleplay. 

Jack: Rich was complaining about half and half scarves and arguing that they shouldn’t exist.

Rich: Do you agree with me?

Jack: I’m not sure. I don’t think they do any harm. A strange thing to lose your temper about if you ask me.

Rich: You’re probably right. In the next section, we’re going to take a look at some of the language we used in the roleplays.

Language Focus 

Jack: In the roleplays, we used lots of words and phrases to show that we were angry or to respond to someone who is angry.

Rich: Let’s start with some of the words we used to show anger or irritation at something.

Jack: I really like the phrase you’re doing my head in or it does my head in. 

Rich: This phrase is used to show that something or someone is annoying you or making you angry. It’s a very informal phrase so we only use it when we are speaking.

Jack: Rich said it does his head in when people stand in front of him at the football match.

Rich: It does do my head in. You’re right. Also, in the roleplay, Jack did my head in when he was making fun of my height. He was getting on my nerves and winding me up.

Jack: Those are two other useful phrases: to get on someone’s nerves and to wind someone up.

Rich: To get on someone’s nerves means to annoy someone a lot or make someone angry by doing something that is annoying to them.

Jack: Rich said that I was really getting on his nerves in the roleplay. He wanted me to shut up.

Rich: To wind someone up is a similar phrase. It means to make someone angry or annoyed. It’s a phrasal verb but you can think of it in a literal way too.

Jack: Imagine an old fashioned toy like a little animal or toy soldier. You turn something and then the toy moves by itself. You wind it up.

Rich: It’s similar when you wind someone up. You make fun of them or annoy them and then watch them explode!

Jack: When someone is angry you might say they have lost their temper and when they are really angry they might walk away in an angry manner.

Rich: This is when we use the phrasal verb to storm out or storm off or even to storm off in a huff. These all mean to leave a place in an angry way.

Jack: We also use some specific words to react to people who are angry. These can often make people angrier if you don’t use them correctly.

Rich: We might tell someone to calm down, relax or chill out or even just say easy for take it easy.

Jack: Be careful though because an angry person might say something like ‘I will not calm down’ or ‘I will not take it easy’!

Rich: Other phrases we used in the roleplay were: keep your hair on and no need to get offended.

Jack: These phrases are a little aggressive and will probably just wind up an angry person even more.

Rich: Both of them mean to stop being angry or upset but they are usually used when someone thinks that a person is getting angry unnecessarily.

Jack: Take a look at the activities on the Premier Skills English website to check your understanding of these words and phrases.

Task

Rich: This week’s task is to listen to roleplay two again. In roleplay two, I was complaining about half and half scarves. 

Jack: However, Rich didn’t use any of the vocabulary we introduced in the previous section.

Rich: Your task is to listen to the roleplay or read the transcript and decide where you could use some of the words and phrases we introduced in the last section and used in the first roleplay.

Jack: The words and phrases we want you to try to use are: do my head in, get on your nerves, wind me up, calm down, keep your hair on, and no need to get offended.

Football Phrase 2

Rich: The final section this week is this week’s football phrase. Have you got one Jack?

Jack: I have and it’s very much connected to this week’s topic. The phrase is to *** ***. The phrase means to become really angry and also is another way of saying that a player was sent off. You could say that the player should have **** *** for a really bad tackle and the opponent *** *** when the referee only awarded a yellow. 

Rich: If you know the answer to this week’s football phrase, write your answer in the comments section at the bottom of the page. We will announce your name in next week’s podcast if you get the right answer.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week. Bye for now and enjoy your football!