Cut In Line

Hello English learners! And welcome to EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

I’m Amira.

Alright, Amira is here today and she’s going to tell us about the wonderful lesson she has prepared this time.

Well, thank you, Marco. Well, today we have a very interesting lesson prepared for you. It’s about someone cutting in line.

Cutting in line, okay.

Yeah, it happens all the time and we all get very upset about it, but you know, it happens.

Right, right. Well, I imagine that everyone is wondering what cutting in line is. Why don’t we just listen to the dialogue one time and then when we come back, Amira and I will gladly explain all the vocabulary in this dialogue.

Let’s listen.

Whoa, I think there’s punching.

Yeah. Yeah, I guess this guy was as just a crazy… I don’t know, impatient man, ha?

Yes, yes, but we don’t wanna talk about this now, but for now we will treat some of the vocabulary and very useful phrases in the dialogue, so…

Great.

Marco, do you wanna start?

Yes, let’s take a look at our first word, it would be unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

Unbelievable.

Exactly, and just how you say it, it’s something incredible, something amazing.

Yeah, but I would like to point out that unbelievable was used here to describe the man’s frustration. He’s not happy about the traffic in New York.

Exactly, perfect. Okay, in the next part the woman, she’s trying to calm and relax her husband and she says that they, um… they’ll be in Hawaii in a few hours and, um… you’ll be on the golf course.

Right, so, we’ll be in Hawaii and you’ll be on the golf course.

Yes, we’ll be in Hawaii and you’ll be on the golf course.

So, this is a great way of talking about your physical location in the future.

Right, so, for example, Amira, tomorrow where will you be?

Don’t worry, Marco, I’ll be in the office tomorrow.

Perfect. Right, that’s where I need you to be.

Yes.

Okay, s…

Alright, well, I have another interesting phrase here for you – must be a mile long.

A mile long.

A mile long.

A mile long.

Now, that’s basically not a mile, it’s not a kilometer long, but it’s another way of saying that this line is really, really long.

Right, it’s just an exaggeration. Um, now let’s li… take a look at there’s no way.

There’s no way.

There’s no way.

There’s no way.

Perfect, let’s, uh, listen to some other examples on how, uh, we use there’s no way in a different situation and then we can come back and talk about it a little bit more. Example one.

There’s no way I can have those reports finished today. Example two.

The stadium is so crowded that there’s now way we’ll find a seat. Example three.

Do you think Michael’s gonna buy that house?

There’s no way he has enough money to buy it.

Alright everyone, so, there’s no way is another way of saying “It is impossible”.

Exactly, there’s no way you should miss this podcast, right?

Yes. Well, I have another phrase for you as well – cut in line.

Cut in line.

Cut in line.

Cut in line.

Cut in line.

So, again, we have some really good examples on how you could use this phrase in different situations. Let’s listen to the examples and then we can come back and talk about it some more. Example one.

Excuse me, I’m really late. Can I cut in line, please? Example two.

I hate it when people cut in line at the bank. It’s so rude.

I think it’s okay when a pregnant woman cuts in line.

Alright, everyone, cut in line.

Right, so, from the examples we can understand that it means when you are standing in line somewhere and somebody gets in front of you.

Right. I have another phrase for you here – sue me.

Sue me.

Sue me.

Sue me.

Okay, now, sue me is not a nice phrase. If you hear that you know you’re in trouble.

Yeah, it’s, uh… it’s kind of rude I guess to say “Sue me”.

Right. Well, it actually means like taking someone to court and asking for money, because someone has harmed you in a way. I think that we should listen to the dialogue one more time and try to figure out why he used that phrase and if he’s really going to take him to court.

Alright, we’re back. Now, this guy when he says “Sue me” he’s just being rude, I mean he’s just being, uh, kind of…

Impolite.

Impolite and telling him “I don’t care”.

Right.

Right.

Exactly, like…

Do… like you can’t do anything about it.

Yeah, yeah.

Okay, today in the studio we have a guest. Uh, her name is Sarah and she’s form England.

Hi there.

Hello.

Alright, so, um, we’re gonna be asking her a couple of questions and she’ll be a frequent guest on our shows, so, you can expect to hear from her a lot.

Well, she didn’t know that.

It’s a… Yes, it’s a surprise, but…

She knows now.

Well, Sarah, uh, our topic today is about jumping the queue.

Okay, Amira, wait. What is this, uh, jump the queue?

It’s the same as cut in line, but in British English.

Uh, okay.

Yes, queuing is very important in England. We’re very proud of our queues.

Hehe.

Hehe.

It’s true, it’s true.

So… so, what would be the reaction of people if they like, you know, cut in line?

I think we… do take it very seriously, I’m laughing now, but it’s… it’s quite… it’s quite serious, so, you don’t jump the queue. If people, you know, uh, jump in front of you it’s… uh, you’ll get a little tuts “Oh”, you know, “Shouldn’t… shouldn’t be doing that” and then… then we make it very obvious and…

So, you say it out loud.

We… we would, uh, you know, perhaps say something. And we have systems, you know, in London on the, um, on the metro, um, on… on the underground. You have to stand on the… the escalators on the right and… and queue… and you can’t jump in front, you have to walk on the left and queue on the right.

Wow!

It's all very serious as those rules and regulations.

Hehe.

Hehe. Wow.

Is there like a queue handbook?

Well…

You have to read in high school and kind of take a test on?

Perhaps that should be, that should be, yeah.

Wow.

What about New York, Marco?

Well, no, definitely, I guess this, um, dialogue is similar to, ah, reality of New York. If somebody gets in front of you, cuts the line, somebody’s gonna say something and probably end up in a fight…

Oh-oh.

If the guy is rude. Yeah.

Oh my God.

Yeah. Well, ah, Sarah, why don’t you tell us is there a line or a queue for almost everything in England?

It seems like we do… just like to form a queue.

Hehe.

Yeah, so, um… you know…

Can you think of some other examples of where you would… normally you wouldn’t queue, but you do?

Oh, gosh… um, things like in the supermarket when you’re trying to find some vegetables or something… I’d never push… I’d never… reach around or…

Oh really?

I’d just wait until that person had finished picking out my stuff and then… and then go in.

Uh.

So, it’s just… just trying…

So, if like five people want to buy oranges at the supermarket, then you have a little mini queue of five people.

Maybe, maybe, a little bit, just…

Waiting.

There’s no… there’s no sort… just shoving through to the front, you just don’t do that.

You don’t stick your hand out and grab the… like a tomato.

Well, if you do, again, you would make sure that person knows “Oh, I’m sorry, um, you know, just… I’m… uh… in a hurry…" or so. But, yeah, it’s just letting someone go before you is ??? I think…

Okay.

It’s quite important to us.

Alright.

Right.

Great stuff.

Thank you so much, Sarah.

It was a pleasure.

Yeah, we’ll have you back very soon, so…

Ouh.

Alright, we’re out of time, but we’ll be back tomorrow with another lesson and be sure to visit our website. Don’t forget that englishpod.com has many, many resources and also a community of users and teachers that can help you, answer questions and interact with you.

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