Learning Vocabulary: Shopping for Bargains

Introduction

Jack: Hello my name’s Jack

Rich: and I’m 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 Apple Podcasts, you can leave answers to our questions in the review section. We do read all the reviews and would love to hear from you.

Rich: Don’t forget that we have our football English podcast called This Week that you can listen to at the start of every week. This week’s episode is called Local Rivals because we speak about the Manchester Derby between City and United.

Jack: In This Week we talk about the latest action from the Premier League and help you with football vocabulary.  It’s on the Premier Skills English homepage, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and lots of other places right now!

Rich: In last week’s podcast, I was thinking about presents to buy for family and friends and we focussed on grammar by looking at how we use superlatives like the most interesting, the best and the cheapest. I try to think of the most interesting present while Jack thinks of the cheapest.

Jack: That’s not true! I think of the simplest things to buy or look for the best bargains.

Rich: Mmm… I’m not so sure but I suppose bargains are not necessarily cheap - just good value. If you want to look back at this podcast, you can find it on the Premier Skills English website by clicking skills>listen>podcasts. Anyway, it’s good that you’ve mentioned bargains because in this podcast we’re continuing on from last week’s topic of shopping.

Jack: That’s right. This week’s podcast is about vocabulary and is called Learning Vocabulary: Shopping for bargains.

Rich: In this week’s roleplay, we’re going to speak about some bargains that we’ve found when shopping. A bargain is something that you buy for less than what it usually costs.

Jack: And we’re going to look at lots of vocabulary connected to shopping and bargains in this week’s language focus.

Rich: And we’re also going to hear from one of our listeners who tells us about shopping in his country which will also be your task at the end of the podcast.

Jack: But, before we look at all that we need to do something really important.

Rich: What’s that?

Jack: We need to look at last week’s football phrase.

Last week’s Football Phrase

Rich: If you didn’t hear our football phrase last week we’re going to give you one more chance to guess now. We’ll give you the correct answer at the end of the show when we give you a new football phrase.

Jack: Well done if you got it right last week and congratulations to those of you who wrote the correct answer on the Premier Skills English website. Luibomyr from Ukraine was the first listener with the correct answer last week but Lakerwang and Fred Zhong from China were not far behind!

Rich: Remember you can also write your answers in the review section on Apple Podcasts if that’s where you listen to us.

Jack: Let’s hear last week’s phrase one more time. Do you know what the phrase is?

Rich: The phrase is *** ** ***. This phrase is usually used to describe the action when an attacker is running towards goal and has the ball at their feet with only the goalkeeper to beat to score a goal. A commentator might say she’s *** ** *** with the keeper - she must score!

Jack: We’ll give you the answer at the end of the show and we’ll have a new football phrase for you to guess.

Introduction to Roleplay

Rich: As we said earlier, in this week’s roleplay, we’re out shopping and we’re looking for some bargains.

Jack: While you are listening to the roleplay, we have a question for you to answer.

Rich: The question is: Who do I buy presents for?

Roleplay

Jack: I’m not sure this is a good idea, you know - going shopping on a Saturday. It’s going to be absolutely packed everywhere.

Rich: It’ll be fine. Most people do their shopping online these days. I reckon we’ll find some great bargains.

Jack: Rich ... we’ve been driving around this car park for 20 minutes now and can’t find a space. It’s going to be heaving. Ugh - I hate shopping when it’s really busy.

Rich: Look a space there! Get it.

Jack: Great. We’re only a 10-minute walk from the shopping centre and it’s absolutely chucking it down.

Rich: Don’t be so miserable. Have you got the bags?

...

Rich: See it’s not that bad. Look they’ve even got a Santa’s Grotto - you can visit Father Christmas later.

Jack: Very funny. Well, I might bring the kids, they’d like it.

Rich: Come on! Let’s go in here. Sports Direct always has some bargains. Look, it says up to 50% off everything.

Jack: So who are you shopping for?

Rich: I need to get something for my parents, wife, two boys, brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews ...

Jack: That’s a lot of presents.

Rich: I’m thinking of getting some trainers ... for my brother.

Jack: OK ... What about these Victors? Half price! They look good and they’re less than half the price of those Nikes.

Rich: Victors? I’ve never heard of them. Are they the shop’s own brand?

Jack: Probably but they’re just as good quality as brands like Nike and Adidas and like I said half the price.

Rich: I’m not so sure. What about these? This pair of Adidas is half price - thirty quid that’s a pretty good deal. I’m going to ask to try some on.

Jack: Why are you trying them on?

Rich: Yeah, erm ... my brother ... he’s the same size as me.

Jack: Right, well there are some great discounts in here. I’ll meet you outside in a minute or two.

…

Rich: So, did you get anything then?

Jack: Yep, I snapped up a couple of real bargains. I got a tennis racket - it was an unbeatable offer. Only a tenner.

Rich: Who’s that for? Who plays tennis in December?

Jack: I’ll think of that later. And I got socks! Sports socks. They were three pairs for the price of two so I got nine pairs. An absolute steal.

Rich: Socks again?

Jack: Yeah! Everybody will get a pair!

Rich: You’re so stingy. You should splash out a bit. It’s Christmas!

Jack: They’re just extras. Stocking fillers. I’ll get people something else. Did you get those trainers?

Rich: Yeah, they look good, don’t they?

Jack: You’re wearing them!

Rich: I’ve got to check that they’re a good fit for my brother, haven’t I?

Jack: Come on let’s go into HMV. They should have a decent sale on there.

…

Rich: This is looking promising. All films are reduced. Everyone likes films.

Jack: Maybe …

Rich: Or they have a load of discounts on speakers and headphones over here.

Jack: They’re still a bit pricey though. Over a hundred quid for a pair of headphones - no thanks.

Rich: You’re such a cheapskate.

Jack: They’re overpriced. You know that they put the prices up before the sales to make you think that it’s a better bargain!

Rich: I’m not sure about that. I’m going over to the games.

Jack: See you in a minute.

...

Rich:  OK, what did you get in the end?

Jack: There was a bargain bucket in the corner of the store. I got 20 CDs. They were 50p each! They were selling like hotcakes!

Rich: CDs? Do people still have CD players? Who are they for?

Jack: Like the socks, they are stocking fillers - just extras for people.

Rich: Let’s have a look. Pop hits of the eighties, Status Quo, David Hasselhoff sings In German. I think your family will enjoy these. You are so stingy!

Jack: What did you get then?

Rich: FIFA 20 for the Playstation, cool or what?

Jack: Who’s that for?

Rich: Not sure yet. Come on let’s go into John Lewis over there.

Jack: Everything is such a rip off in here. Kitchen stuff - hundred of pounds for a few plates, Furniture - over a grand for a sofa and tech too - I saw a TV for nearly ten thousand pounds!

Rich: Yeah, but it’s a really big TV! Have a look around and I’ll be back in a minute or two.

…

Rich: So did you get anything or was everything overpriced?

Jack: No, I got some chocolates. Some chocolate coins.

Rich: Cool. Who for?

Jack: Everyone. I thought I could take them out and wrap them individually.

Rich: You’ve got to be joking. You’re such a cheapskate!

Jack: I’m joking! They’re for the boys. What’s that you’ve got? It looks big.

Rich: A Playstation.

Jack: Wow! You’ve splashed out there. So that’s why you bought FIFA? Who have you got that for?

Rich: Erm  .. Sam.

Jack: Your son? He’s only two.

Rich: He’ll grow into it. Do you want to come round for a game?

Language Focus

Rich: Did you get the answer to our question? Who did I buy presents for?

Jack: The answer is just himself. He claimed he was buying trainers for his brother but he put them on himself and then he bought a Playstation for his two-year-old.

Rich: I said he’d grow into it.

Jack: And you accused me of being mean, of being a cheapskate. Outrageous!

Rich: I think it might be time to move onto the language we used in the roleplay. In the roleplay, we used lots of languages connected to shopping and bargains.

Jack: Remember, a bargain is something that you buy for less than the usual price.

Rich: When there are sales on in the shops, people look for bargains or try to find bargains.

Jack: Sales are when a shop sells its products at lower prices than normal. There are often sales in January and of course on Black Friday.

Rich: In the roleplay, Jack said he snapped up a couple of real bargains. To snap up a bargain means to buy something quickly because it’s cheaper than usual.

Jack: We also say something is a real bargain to emphasise that something is a really good deal.

Rich: When there are sales, shops offer discounts. A discount is an amount of money taken of something. There might be a 20% discount on something or a 40% discount or a 70% discount if you’re really lucky.

Jack: Another way of saying there is a discount is by using the word ‘off’. In the roleplay, Rich said there was 50% off everything in Sports Direct.

Rich: Other kinds of offers include getting an extra item when you buy two of them. The socks Jack bought were three pairs for the price of two.

Jack: Three for the price of two. It can be difficult to use the right prepositions here. We say three for the price of two.

Rich: Other ways of saying things are cheaper which we used in the roleplay include something is half price or saying something is reduced.

Jack: We also used some other phrases to describe things that are bargains or are cheaper than normal. Have a listen to these:

Rich: Thirty quid? That’s a pretty good deal.

Jack: I bought nine pairs of socks for the price of six. An absolute steal.

Rich: I got a tennis racket - it was an unbeatable offer. Only a tenner.

Jack: We also looked at a few words and expressions to describe things that are definitely not bargains; things that are more expensive than they should be.

Rich: The most common informal phrase is probably a rip-off. Jack said ‘everything is such a rip-off in here’. A rip-off describes something that is not worth what you pay for it. Something that costs much more than it’s value.

Jack: We described a couple of other things in a similar way in the roleplay. I said that the headphones were overpriced and that the speakers were a bit too pricey.

Rich: Overpriced means more expensive than they should be and is similar to a rip-off but not as strong and less informal. Pricey is an informal synonym of expensive. The tickets for the match are a bit pricey I’m not sure I can afford to go.

Jack: Rich thinks that I am mean with money.

Rich: No, I don’t. I think you’re careful with money.

Jack: Well, he used two words to describe how I am with money. He said I was stingy and he called me a cheapskate.

Rich: Yeah, I did, sorry. These words are a little insulting. Stingy is an informal adjective that we use to describe someone that doesn’t like spending money and isn’t very generous.

Jack: And if someone says you are a cheapskate it means the same thing. A cheapskate is a person who doesn’t like to spend money.

Rich: Finally, let’s have a look at one phrasal verb and one idiom we used in the roleplay.  Jack said the CDs were selling like hotcakes.

Jack: To sell like hotcakes is an idiom we use to describe something that is selling very quickly and in large quantities. The tickets for the match are selling like hotcakes you’d better buy one soon.

Rich: Jack told me that I had splashed out by buying a Playstation.

Jack: To splash out means to buy something for a lot of money. You often splash out on something. Rich splashed put on a Playstation but you might splash out on a new car or splash out on a meal at an expensive restaurant.

Rich: We’ve got more examples and activities connected to bargains on the website where you can practise the language we’ve been looking at in this podcast.

Task

Rich: This week’s task is to tell us about the best bargain you’ve ever bought? Here are some questions to help you.

Jack: What did you buy? Where did you buy it?

Rich: Why was it a bargain? How much was the discount?

Jack: Do you still have this item? Do you think it was worth buying it?

Rich: Try to use some of the words and phrases about bargains and sales that we used in this podcast.

Football Phrase

Rich: Ok, it’s time for this week’s football phrase.

Jack: It’s your turn this week, Rich. Are you ready?

Rich: I am. This week’s football phrase is * ******* ***. This phrase is used to describe a player that is purchased from a lower league club or for a low price and performs very well at a higher level. The second word is not really necessary because the first word gives the meaning on its own. You often hear it about Jamie Vardy - Vardy was * ******* *** from the lower leagues.

Jack: A very strong link to the topic of this week’s podcast! Let’s see who can get it right.

Rich: If you’re still thinking about last week’s very tricky football phrase - the answer was a one on one.

Jack: Right, that’s all we have time for this week! Don’t forget to write your answers to our questions and make a guess at our football phrase in the comments below. If you get it right, we’ll announce your name on next week’s show.

Rich: Bye for now and enjoy your football!