M- So today we’re talking about PATIENCE. C- Right, because I think this is a topic we can all relate to. M- It’s true. C- I mean, at one time or another we’ve all had to ‘’EXERCISE PATIENCE’’ in our lives. To exercise patience means to use patience, to stay calm, to practice patience with someone or something. M- …and sometimes we have to exercise patience on a daily basis. C- Patience is very important in the music business isn’t it, Marta? M- yes, for example when you write a song and it takes forever for it to be released because of the business end of the process. C- We all encounter stresses or situations in our lives that require us to keep calm and not lose our cool…Oh and the expression TO “LOSE YOUR COOL” means to lose your patience and become angry. M- Cindy, can you give us a few examples of situations that ask us to exercise patience? C- Sure, and I bet we have a few listeners that are exercising their patience right now as they listen to this podcast! We all have varying levels of drama in our lives, so I’ll name just a few situations where you may need to exercise some patience: 1. at work- with coworkers or supervisors. 2. with friends, family members, children or neighbors. 3. while driving in your car or sitting in traffic jams… M - Oh, traffic jams! They drive me crazy! C – yes, you could also say : traffic jams are are NERVE-RACKING! M - Nerve-racking, ok, I got it C- We should be happy that we don’t live in a big city like Los Angeles where traffic jams are legendary! …and 4. You may need to exercise patience with yourself. Sometimes we put a lot of demands on ourselves, and when we fail to live up to our own standards or goals we can LOSE PATIENCE with ourselves…. M - …and maybe we could become quite agitated and unpleasant to be around! C - ‘’bitchy’’ is another good adjective to use! M - Now can you give us an example of someone who has lost their patience? C- Sure…you want me to start being ‘’bitchy’’? M- Yes, it will produce great dramatic effect. So, Cindy...How are you today? Everything okay? C- Oh Marta, I'M AT THE END OF MY ROPE today! I'VE BEEN BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS for months and I'm ready for a vacation! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE, I'm tired and I HAVE NO PATIENCE LEFT FOR ANYTHING OR ANYBODY. M- Oh, so that's why there's smoke coming from your ears... C- Yeah! (laughs) ...'cause I'M ABOUT TO BLOW! M- That reminds me of the Ke$ha song called ''Blow'' C- Oh, I love that song! M- Yes, well I just spent the whole morning cleaning the studio, so, if you must- please explode outside! OK?! C- I promise, I won't ''LOSE IT'' in the studio. M- Now Cindy, you've used a couple of interesting idioms to describe your fictitious mood. Let's explain them... C- Good idea, it will be like therapy .... Ok, the first one is: ''I'M AT THE END OF MY ROPE.'' -this means to be at the end of a desperate situation. It could mean your patience is finished. You’re desperate and don't know how to solve a problem. You've exhausted your resources (like money, for example) and you're almost in trouble. I'll give you an example of a different situation: My favorite restaurant is closing its doors and going out of business. The owner is deeply in debt and can no longer pay his bills or his staff. He's at the end of his rope and will have to close the restaurant for good. M- So, when someone is ''at the end of their rope'' it never refers to a good situation, only bad situations? C- Right. And I used it to mean that my patience is finished because I am tired and in need of a vacation (but it’s not really true, I’m in a great mood today!) Ok now, the second idiom was: ''I'VE BEEN BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS''- that's a very visual idiom. I love it. Here, I’ll use this candle to demonstrate…ok, now I’m going to light one end M: Cindy’s got a long white candle in her hand and one end is now lit. C- The white candle represents my life. Ok, now we’ve got a pretty good flame burning on one end and the wax is starting to melt away. M- Yes, I can see. Be careful! Don’t get burned! C- Now I’m going to turn the candle around and light the other end. M- But wait, Cindy! The candle will not last long if you keep both ends burning at the same time! And you’re dripping wax all over the floor! I can’t take it anymore, Blow it out! C- Alright, I’ll put it out. There you go- “Burning the candle at both ends”. To live your life in this way, over time without a break, can drain your energy until you become tired and irritable. M- Causing you to ‘’RUN OUT OF PATIENCE’’. C- Right. M-Ok, Cindy, give us just a few more patience-related idioms and we’ll wrap it up here…and besides you need to get started on cleaning up all this melted wax you’ve let drip onto the floor! C- Uh oh, Marta’s about to LOSE HER RELIGION! M- Hey, that’s from the R.E.M. song, isn’t it? C- Yes, it’s an old southern expression meaning to lose your temper, to become angry. It was little known until the music group R.E.M. came out with the song ‘’Losing my Religion’’. Great song! M- How about another? C- ok ‘’GETTING ON MY LAST NERVE’’ that means that something has continually annoyed you and eroded your patience. I’ll use it in a sentence: ‘’My neighbor’s dog is getting on my last nerve! He’s been barking since 8:30 this morning!’’ M- That’s useful. How about another? C- How about… ‘’IRKS ME TO NO END!’’… this means you find something very annoying. Here’s an example: ‘’Marta, you know that TV game show host? That awful one who’s always yelling and making stupid jokes? Oh, he irks me to no end! I can’t stand him! I always change the channel when he’s on TV!” M- Ok, that’s all for now. We’ve enjoyed speaking with all of you- but now Cindy has to go and start scraping wax off the studio floor. C- That candle was for dramatic effect! M- Yes, thank you and it was very dramatic. And now the effect has worn off. Start scrubbing! C- C’mon now! Patience! Just a little patience! M- Like the famous Guns n’ Roses song ‘’Patience’’ C- Will you sing us out, Marta? M- I’ll sing. You scrub. Because MY PATIENCE IS WEARING THIN. C- Uh oh- there goes Marta’s last nerve! I think I just heard it snap. Thanks for listening everyone! And come visit us on www.myamericanfriendblog.com, we're also on twitter, facebook, podomatic, iTunes and youtube. And we are available for private lessons via skype, just send us an e-mail at myAmericanfriendpodcast@gmail.com and we'll send you all the details. Have a great day everyone, Bye bye! M – bye bye, see you soon! ************************************* let's sum up: to ‘’EXERCISE PATIENCE’’, to use patience, to stay calm, to practice patience TO “LOSE YOUR COOL” , to lose your patience, to become angry, to lose your temper, to LOSE YOUR RELIGION NERVE-RACKING I'M AT THE END OF MY ROPE ! I'VE BEEN BURNING THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS for months I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE I HAVE NO PATIENCE LEFT FOR ANYTHING OR ANYBODY. I'M ABOUT TO BLOW! ''LOSE IT'' to ‘’RUN OUT OF PATIENCE’’ ’GETTING ON MY LAST NERVE’’ ‘’IRKS ME TO NO END!’ MY PATIENCE IS WEARING THIN
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