Transcript of BEP ep 4 - Aging.mp3

Hello and welcome back to another episode of The British English Podcast, a show that helps English learners around the world discover British culture along with useful language that natives are actually using day to day. With me, your host, Charlie Baxter. In this episode, you'll be glad to hear that it isn't just Irene and myself in your ears as we are graced with the company of Harry, who was in the first episode of this podcast. Now, if you listened to that introductory episode, then you will know that Harry is also a British English teacher who I have worked with on the YouTube channel called Real English with Real Teachers for several years. But more importantly, he is a best friend that I have known for over ten years and we decided to give you a conversation or episode on a particular topic that we are all, in fact, whether we like it or not, doing every minute of the day. Some people do a lot to counter this topic and others, well, they do exactly the opposite.

The topic at hand, if you hadn't guessed, is ageing, a topic that some get upset about and refer to it as a negative thing in life. But as I've just hit the big 3-0, as of recording this episode, I'm starting to appreciate how life - it would be utterly meaningless and almost depressing if we were not given a certain amount of time on this planet. If life was indeed indefinite, surely it would encourage endless boredom. Would it not? There would be no urgency. No need to have motivation and always, always be that excuse, you know that we can always do it tomorrow. So let's get stuck into a conversation around the very positive topic of ageing, where we uncover some fantastic vocabulary in a natural way. Here on The British English Podcast.

So we join the conversation talking about a couple of photos that Harry and I took of ourselves, in fact, on an app called Face App, which manages to age you in a very realistic way with wrinkles, greying hair and sunspots.

And if you'd like to see these photos, then head over to the website, which is www.thebritishenglishpodcast.com, where you can see what Harry and I will perhaps look like in 40 years. And while we're on the topic of the website, I should say that if you like this content, then you should consider joining The British English Podcast Academy. As you can read, along with the transcripts that I provide for you for this episode and all other episodes. There's also extra material exercises to keep you actively engaged with the new vocabulary and review videos that I personally do explaining all of the advanced language in the episodes. So head over to The British English Podcast to access the photos we are referring to in this conversation and you can join the academy if you wish to. Right so into the conversation on ageing. Here we go.

The app called Face App has taken the world by storm. It has gone viral and people have been uploading pictures of themselves onto this controversial topic of a Russian database. Did you know that it was a Russian database? This face app is a Russian database?

Yeah. So Americans are very sensitive about this and some people are saying that it's really, really bad because the Russians are collecting all of this data and hopefully wanting to do something with it. But I imagine it's just the Americans fantasising over how evil the Russians are compared to the Americans. But it could be a way of collecting data. We don't know.

So every picture of us that we take on this app goes to the Russians.

Yes, yes. If we want to just generalise one company to a nation. Yes, they are a Russian company, I think.

Okay. When we say "the Russians", everyone thinks its like some political organisation conspiring against us. I guess what they could do with it, if they know what we're going to look like in 40 years, they know who we are when we're in their country, when we're that age. That's not useful at all.

No, no. If you've not heard of this Face App, it takes a picture of you or you send a picture and then it will age you, dramatically. But yeah, Harry's is rather hilarious. You were saying that you think it's quite accurate?

I do, yeah. I did it with a couple of friends last night in the pub, a couple of beers and I thought, wow, it does look like me. Looks like a matured version of me, but not in an obvious way. It didn't just look like a crappy app had made me look a bit older. It really looked like a different version of myself. And I thought I was happier with what I saw. I thought I looked like a really nice old man who is approachable. By approachable, I mean someone you would happily go up to, you'd happily approach if you needed help, maybe. Someone who is easy to talk to. And I thought I'd be very happy if I ended up being this sweet old man. I didn't look attractive, but I don't know if many people do when they're like mid 70s, 80s. I thought I just looked like a nice old man.

You do look like a nice old man. I'll give you that.

The glasses actually suit you. Would you call yourself a silver fox in this picture?

No, because a silver fox has to be kind of handsome in some or good looking and I don't think I look great. I don't look bad. I just look sweet. I don't look handsome, I don't look dashing. Dashing means very handsome.

Yes, dashing. Yeah. But I can imagine looking at this picture that this man in his heyday was attractive.

In his heyday. Well, thank you Charlie, I guess because you know that I'm in my heyday now and obviously you think I'm very attractive.

I'm assuming that you'll get to your heyday, you're not in your heyday yet sir.

Okay. Heyday, guys is a really good expression. That means you're at your peak. You are at your best in life. I don't know if I'm in my heyday now. I don't know. Sometimes I feel like I am and then I look at my hair and I realise it's getting thinner and thinner also I have, what do we call them? Crow's feet?

Yeah, crow's feet. Okay, so you're already starting to notice that you have crow's feet.

I am. Yeah. I definitely have crow's feet. And that's always the best way to tell. If I have to guess somebody's age. I look at their eyes and I try to see if they have crow's feet.

Okay, so they are eye wrinkles and they look like, if you imagine the bird that, well all birds I think have three little toes or what we call talons. And it looks like that coming out of the eye from the outside of the corner.

Very cool. I didn't know we called them talons. You've got really good animal vocabulary. As you grew up on what was essentially a farm.

Yeah. It's what I cherish most about my English ability. The farm vocabulary.

Yeah. It's really good having you there whenever the conversation goes towards animals. The animal kingdom. I just know that you're going to have the right vocab. The adequate vocab for that situation it's really useful. Thank you, Charlie.

You're very welcome. So going back to you ageing or us ageing, do you feel like you'll be happy as an old man?

I think so. As long as I have hobbies to take up my time, I think I'll be happy. My dad, he's retired now, and I've never seen him so happy. He seems really, really chilled. He does lots of, like, little art projects. He's playing more music than ever. In fact, Charlie, me and my dad, we've been playing a lot of music together. I've been playing the bongos and we've just-

The bongos are hand drums.

Exactly. I knew you would find that funny and we just got our first gig.

No way. Really?

I swear to God. I swear to God.

What kind of gig?

We're playing at some kind of like festive day, I can't remember. It was a friend of a friend is organising this party and he needs a couple of different bands and he asked my dad if he knew a band. My dad said, no, I don't. My dad used to play in bands. My dad's a violinist. But he plays lots of instruments. And then he thought to himself, "Why don't we play?"

So we're going to have a little bash.

That is really funny. You're just going to be the bongo player or you're going to be the vocalist.

No I'll be singing. See if you recognise this one. Dallier to quit a boy lagrima good enough to quote puts Bodalla Alegría Cossette winner aliyah to quit Poilievre Macarena.

Very good.

We're doing Latin tunes and like funny, basically, a lot of them are crap, crap Latin tunes that made it to the UK charts.

Right. Okay.

Because people can dance to them.

I want to come to this gig after hearing that Harry. You've charmed me, you really have. It's quite a flight, but I'd like to hear it. I'd like to hear it.

I'll just send you a little video then if you don't want to fork out for flights.

I think that would be better, yeah.

Fork out for something - to pay a lot for something. You don't want to pay that amount for something, yeah?

Yes, exactly. Oh, I forked out. I had to fork out on those flights yesterday, I had to really fork out. But back to the topic of getting old. Charlie, you also did a picture. What did you think of yourself? So I was quite happy with my appearance as an old man. I wasn't sexy or dashing, but I was approachable and I looked like a nice guy. What did you think of your picture?

Well, Stacy did two pictures of both of us actually, it was a couple photo. Both of us ageing.

I was quite shocked by Stacy's ageing, she did not age well. And usually they say the rule of thumb is to look at the mother, not the mother in law.

Well, your mother in law potentially to see how the partner is going to turn out. So if their mother is attractive, then there is hope for you with your wife.

Okay. Right. So you weren't happy about how she aged in the photo. As a rule of thumb. So a rule of thumb is a general rule.

When you looked at Stacey's mother then, what do you think? Do you think she actually has a better future in terms of ageing than the picture gives off?

Yeah, I think so, because I think her mother is attractive. There's the song, "Stacy's mom has got it going on".

"Stacy's mom has got it going on". I should put that in the tracklist for my gig.

Well, that's North American, isn't it? Not South American.

Yeah, very true, Charlie. Wouldn't make it into our list. "To have it going on", though. What does that mean, if Stacy's mom has got it going on?

Yeah. That's very colloquial, isn't it? So it means that they are attractive. They've got something positive about them.

And you're often using that phrase to talk about their looks.

That's exactly right. So you're a bit disappointed about how Stacy looked in it. What about yourself? Or did you have to try and hide your reaction to what Stacy looked like as a way of not offending?

No.

Did you say, "oh, you look all right. You look alright love, yeah you look nice".

No, we were quite transparent about it. I think she brought it to our attention that she didn't look great.

Okay.

So she was a good sport. Letting me say that I've done well in life and she's not aged too well.

Okay. Yeah. A good sport. Somebody who is able to take a joke. They don't mind if you are laughing at them. Mimicking or mocking them. Well, I think so. A word that we would like to teach today is "sagging".

Do you think out of you and Stacey who's face was sagging more?

Mine was more wrinkled but put together and say, oh, it wasn't losing its elasticity. It seemed.

Yeah. You have quite elastic skin don't you?

Didn't you at University, you used to stretch your cheeks out really wide or your mouth? I can't remember.

I do have relatively loose skin.

So sagging, to sag it means to kind of drop. So what happens when you get old, everything just starts to drop.

What kind of things sag Harry?

Okay. Your chin, your chin sags for sure.

Well the skin under your chin.

Yeah that sags. Yeah. And. Okay. Well you want me to say your testicles sag.

No, I was meaning the more PG.

Boobies. Oh, boobies. Yeah. Okay. Your boobs sag as well. Yeah and we got a nice adjective here, saggy. Saggy.

So you can say, "oh, no, I don't want to get old because I will have saggy breasts".

Yes. The reason the bra was invented, I do believe.

Yeah, I think so. Yeah. But you know, feminists amongst us may say "no, let them sag. Enjoy them how they are. Don't wear a bra". Maybe it's uncomfortable. I bet it's very uncomfortable to wear.

Yeah. I think it is slightly uncomfortable. Certainly is for me. So if you were a woman and you had aged and you had sagging breasts or your breasts were saggy, do you think you would worry about them being saggy if you were on your deathbed?

Wow, that's a very good question, Charlie. I've never thought of this before. Surprisingly.

But if I was on my deathbed and I had big saggy breasts or little ones, saggy or otherwise, it's the least of my worries, having saggy breasts, if you're on your deathbed, I mean quite frankly, you have bigger fish to fry. Yeah, I agree. Let's say you're on your deathbed. Would you be worrying about your sagging balls?

I knew you were going to say that.

No, no, I don't think I would be too much unless I had opted in for donating all of my organs. I would then think about the future user of my testicles. And I think, "oh, no. Poor so-and-so. They will have saggy testicles".

I don't think they reuse testicles. It's not a heart. I don't think they do reuse testicles.

Yeah, but we're talking. Well, hopefully if we're talking hypothetically about sagging, I will have aged. And we're talking, what, 40 years from now? You don't know what the world's going to be like then, Harry. Could be a crazy world that we live in. It could very well be testicle transplants left, right and centre.

Oh, deary me. Okay. So good question though, so that's saggy. We talked about sagging. I've got a question for you Charlie before you get to the age in that photo. How old do you reckon you are in that photo? About 70, 75? You like a young old man, don't you? You still look like you're still with it. You know, you haven't lost your marbles.

Really good phrases to still, to be with it. To be with it. Yeah, to not have lost your mind, to still be sane.

There you go and lose your marbles as well is quite good. So if you've lost your marbles. It means you're kind of maybe you have dementia and you're a bit confused by everything. You're not able to, you're not capable of living life on your own without support of other people. Heaven forbid we don't want that to happen to Charlie. So, Charlie, before you reach that age, do you think you will have had, you will have had, will have had a midlife crisis?

Oh, will I have had a midlife crisis by the time I lose my marbles? That is a deep question that we will actually have to leave there for now as so much advanced language has already come up. But for those of you who want to continue listening to the conversation and go further with your English studies, then you can head over to the web site, which is www.thebritishenglishpodcast.com and join The British English Podcast Academy where you will find extra long episodes, transcripts, bonus material and quizzes to help you revise all of this amazing vocabulary that is coming up in natural conversation, along with video courses on things like the IELTS Speaking Exam and many more to come.

So either see you on the other side in the academy where we can continue the conversation on ageing. I believe we go on for another 20 minutes or so and we managed to get even more colloquial language for you, which we continue to explain briefly as we go through the conversation. But of course, you can then go over to the review videos within the academy where I break all of the advance language down, giving you all of the resources you need to fully internalise all of this stuff.

But if you're just here for the free podcast, then we will leave it there for now. I hope you enjoyed it. Remember that that was some passive listening you just did. So make sure you get active with that new language to remember it, and I will see you next time. I haven't actually decided what the next episode will be on yet, but one thing I am sure on is that it will give you some lovely language to improve your English. So my name is Charlie, thank you for listening and see you again soon on The British English Podcast.