Hey, what's up? What's going on? Welcome to English with Dane, a podcast designed to improve your English. As always, I'm your host Dane, and you can find me on Instagram at Englishwith Dane. If you want full transcripts for all future episodes of the podcast, go to Englishwithdain.comslash transcripts and sign up to the listener list. You'll receive full transcripts as soon as each episode comes out so you can follow along without missing a word. That's Englishwithdain.comslash transcripts.
Today's episode is a fun little challenge. I'm going to play clips from movies that contain phrasal verbs and you have to guess or deduce their meaning according to the context. I know we're doing a lot of phrasal verb stuff, but I honestly think they're important, and the more comfortable you get with them, the better. So that said, let's start the show. You are listening to episode 124 of English with Dane. Hit it. So again, you have to try to guess what each phrasal verb means.
These phrasal verbs are more advanced than some that we've covered here on the show, so don't worry if you don't get any. The important thing is the awareness, alright? You ready? Let's do it. Here's the first one. It's from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street, and it's Jordan Belfort talking to his wife. Listen to the clip.
Okay, let's have a look. I'm gonna find something. How about this? Nobody beats the wiz, it's an electronics tour. Stock boy, what do you think?
You're not gonna work at that place.
Yeah, but you know, you start off.
Jordan, you're gonna be miserable at that place if you go there.
It sales, you work your way up, you beat gentleman and I'm gonna be a stock boy.
Why not?
And here it is again, okay?
How about this? Nobody beats the words electronics tour. Stock boy, what do you think?
You're not gonna work at that place.
Yeah, but you know, you start off.
You're gonna be miserable at that place if you go there.
It sales, you work your way up, you'd be a gentleman.
You're not gonna be a stock boy. Why not? Because you're a stock poker.
The phrasal verb was to work up or work your way up in this case. I'll reveal the answers at the end. So write down what you think it means, or just remember it, I guess. The key word here is work. That's the hint. I know these clips seem fast, but that's the point to train your ears. All right, here's the next one. This one is from the movie Venom starring Tom Hardy. Check it out.
In the months since our rocket failed, we've learned so much.
Do you think we're gonna like switch them off? Some people are trying to watch that. Oh, you are? Are you? Aren't you ready, Brock?
Here it is again. The phrasal verb in question is to switch off. This one you might be more familiar with, but listen again.
In the months since our rocket failed, we've learned so much.
Do you think we're gonna like switch them off? Some people are trying to watch that. Oh, you are? Are you? Aren't you ready, Brock?
Again, remember your answer, and we'll talk about it after. Number three is from the movie Focus, starting Margot Robbie and Will Smith. They're at a football game. American football, that is. Listen up.
Is this a bad time to mention I don't really like football?
Yeah. Like the worst time possible.
Are you kidding me?
Well, you were really And here it is again. The main verb is stem.
Is this about the time to mention I don't really like people?
Yeah. Like the worst time possible.
It just seems like a lot of standing around all the time.
Are you kidding? Don't you think I Well, you were really Write down your answer.
This is maybe one you haven't used before, but I'm sure you can figure it out. Let's go with number four. This one is from kind of a shitty movie called Geostorm. I was watching it on HBO a while back, but I don't even think I finished it. Regardless, sin embargo, it had some good vocabulary. Well, all movies do. It was just a shitty movie. Listen to the clip. The main verb is hand. Here it is.
It's the president talking to his room of advisors, talking about what they're going to do to handle this crisis. Or what they're not going to do, rather. Listen up.
We are set to transfer full authority for Dutch boy to the international community in two weeks. I will not be the president that hands over damaged goods, not now, not ever. So we are going to handle this problem and its solution in-house.
And here it is a second time.
So we are going to handle this problem and its solution in-house.
Write down your answers before we move on to clip number five. Clip number five is from The King's Speech, starring Coling Firth, Jeffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter. I really liked this movie. It won a bunch of Oscars, I believe. Here's the clip. Listen closely. This one is maybe the hardest one. The particle in this phrasal verb is up. So be aware.
Your beloved common man may marry for love, why not me? If you were a common man, on what basis could you possibly claim to be kick? Sounds like you've studied our wretched constitution. Sounds like you haven't.
That's what this is about. Brushing up.
Here it is, one more time. They're talking about knowing stuff and studying, specifically the constitution. That's my hint. I feel like this phrasal verb you've maybe never heard before, but what do I know?
Your beloved common man may marry for love. Why not me? If you were a common man, on what basis could you possibly claim to be king? Sounds like you've studied our wretched constitution. Sounds like you haven't.
That's what this is about. Brushing up.
Write down your answer before moving on to the last one, number six. Here's number six. Again. This one is from the movie The Wolf of Wall Street. I just think it's such a fun movie. The main verb here is get. Check it out.
And not only that, Donnie and I secretly owned 85% of Steve Madden shoes. Which legally speaking was a big no-no, but we'd get filthy fucking rich if our troops got behind it. And not only that, Donnie and I secretly owned 85% of Steve Madden shoes. Which legally speaking was a big no-no, but we'd get filthy fucking rich if our troops got behind it.
Write down your last answer. This one is maybe not as difficult as the other ones. I think this one is more visual than the others. Alright, let's reveal each answer and talk a little bit about each phrasal verb. The first one was this one.
It's sales, you work your way up, you'd be a general.
The phrasal verb here was to work up or work your way up. They divided the phrasal verb in this line. To work your way up means to ascend in position, usually within a company or organization. Jordan Belfort, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is talking about finding a new job, perhaps at an electronics store, and working his way up from an entry-level position to a more senior position. So to work up or work your way up, to ascend in position, usually in a company or organization.
If you got it, great job. If you didn't, well, now you know. Alright, number two was this one.
We've learned so much.
Do you think we're gonna like switch them off? The phrasal verb here was to switch off, which means to turn off or apagar in Spanish. The protagonist or main character is watching an interview on the TV featuring someone he doesn't like, and asks the bartender to switch this guy off. He says, Can we switch this guy off? Podemos apagar este tío. Then we had number three, which was this one.
Are you?
The phrasal verb was to stand around. She says that the guys playing football are just standing around. To stand around means to be standing somewhere without any purpose. Like when you walk by a high school and you just see a group of kids standing around, talking, not doing much. It doesn't have to be teenagers. I don't know why I chose that as an example, but you get what I mean. So to stand around. Then clip number four was this one.
I will not be the president that hands over damaged goods, not now, not ever.
The phrasal verb here was to hand over. To hand over means to pass responsibility to someone else or to give something to someone else. In this case, the president is talking about handing over damaged goods. Damaged goods, or bienes dañados, if we're translating literally. And damaged goods is someone or something that is impaired, something that doesn't really work anymore.
It's an expression you'll hear used about people or things, but it's pretty mean to say about someone though, so maybe don't say it. Alright, clip number five was this one.
That's what this is about, brushing up.
This one was maybe the most difficult one, like I said. The phrasal verb here was to brush up, or often used as to brush up on something. To brush up means to improve one's existing knowledge or skill habilidad in a particular area. So if you're studying for an exam, you are brushing up on the topic at hand. If you have an English exam, you might want to brush up on vocabulary and verb tenses beforehand. It's like you're studying but not as intensely.
You are refreshing your mind or getting some last-minute knowledge. The last one was this one. He's talking about his troops, sus tropas, or employees, getting behind the IPO and really pushing the stocks to investors. To get behind someone or something means to respald. So how was it? How'd it go? Did you get any? Don't be discouraged if you couldn't figure out any. These were particularly tricky.
I challenge you to remember at least one of these and try to use it this week or this month in a conversation, email, or whatever. That's what this is about. I repeat, don't get discouraged. These are more advanced. I'll do one of these again soon to give you another chance. Maybe they won't be as hard. Maybe they will. We'll see. Okay, that's it for this episode of English with Dane. Thank you for listening. I hope it helped. I hope you learned something.
Support English with Dane by following the show on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. Give it a five-star rating if you can, and leave a review if you really want to help out. Remember Englishwithdain.com for transcripts and at Englishwith Dane on Instagram for quizzes and random stuff. Alright, talk soon. Bye bye.