Speak Out -

Unit 26

English Dialogue Mom: Shawn, what is this $700 charge on my credit card for?

Shawn: Mom, lay off, will you? You said I could buy a couple new t-shirts for school.

Mom: Excuse me, young lady? I can see youre good at counting, exactly how many do you think a

couple are?

-->Why did you buy so many? [ ?] Shawn: Youre being really generous, mom. I need one for each day of the week.

-->I bought only seven t-shirts. [ .] Mom: I dont know about you, Missy, but seven t-shirts do not make a couple. Besides, what are you

doing spending $100 per t-shirt? You think money grows on trees?

-->You should know that its not easy to earn money. [ .] Shawn: Come on, Mom. Im tired of hearing the same old story. You talk to me like were poor or

something.

Mom: Shawn, its not a matter of whether were poor or rich. Looks like I did a great job of teaching

you how to be thrifty.

-->You need to spend less and economically.[ ] Shawn: Yeah right. I guess spending $250 for a pair of underwear is cheap!

-->Then why are you spending a lot of money on underwear?[ ?]

Translation Mom: , 700 ? Shawn: , ? . Mom: , !

? Shawn:~ ? . Mom: . 7 .

100 ? ? Shawn: , . .

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Speak Out -

. Mom: , . . Shawn: . 250 .

Expression / Technique Master Note

Todays Technique: Speaking sarcastically

Sarcasm is very good verbal technique to use, and it is essential that you can understand sarcasm. Native

speakers use this technique very frequently to express their annoyance to others or as a joke. Since

sarcasm usually states the opposite words or phrases to their true feeling, it is important to make a

distinction between sarcasm and their real thought.

Sarcasm is a type of verbal irony stating the opposite of the intended meaning. It is also used mostly in a

humorous manner and is expressed widely through vocal intonations such as over-emphasizing the actual

statement or particular words. Additionally, some people use sarcasm as an expression of concealed anger,

and ignorance. A good example to understand this technique is that the phrase this is just great or that

was just perfect after something BAD happens.

-I can see youre good at counting, exactly how many do you think a couple are: In this sentence,

a couple is emphasized since Shawn took her moms credit card to buy a couple of shirts but spent

$700 on them. So mom is contrasting that Shawn knows how to count and the fact that she spent too

much on a couple of shirts. Therefore, mom is saying that Shawn is good at counting but her REAL

thought is that she is not good at counting.

-Youre being really generous, mom: What this sentence is really saying is that you are not generous.

In fact you are making a big deal out of nothing.

-You think money grows on trees?: This question is very obvious question that Shawn already know the

answer to. What mom is trying to focus here is that people must work hard to earn money so you should

spend economically.

-Looks like I did a great job of teaching you how to be thrifty: Mom obviously does NOT believe that

she did a great job teaching her daughter to be thrifty but again she is emphasizing the fact that Shawn is

not thrifty.

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Speak Out -

-Yeah right. I guess spending $250 for a pair of underwear is cheap!: Here again, of course, spending

$250 for a pair of underwear is not cheap and that is why Shawn is emphasizing that she is not the only

one spending too much money on clothes.

Todays Expressions

-lay off: A: Haha! Look whos wearing a girlie shirt today!

B: Youve been saying that all day! Just lay off now!

-its [not] a matter of ~: ~ , ~ Ex) Its a matter of life and death.

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