British Bar Chat

The Simpsons

This month Philip and Martin are talking about the Simpsons. Listen to their conversation and answer these questions. Remember, you don’t have to understand every word in order to answer the questions. Just listen for the key words (the most important words in the conversation):

Exercise

1. What does one of the speakers like about the Simpsons? 2. What does the other speaker NOT like about the Simpsons?

Phillip: Oh, I found myself watching an episode of the Simpson’s last night. What a load of crap! Martin: The Simpsons, it’s brilliant. That’s the, the best, the best thing on TV, the Simpsons. Philip: It’s trivial. It’s not funny, it’s full of stereotypes. Martin: Not funny, not funny, my ass. Oh, no, that is the funniest programme on TV. It’s such a cool reflection of real life. Philip: Real life! It just takes a real life problem and trivialises it. Martin: No, it, it raises issues. Really, it takes, it takes any kind of issues that, you know, in the whole series they deal with absolutely everything. They deal with sexism and racism and absolutely everything. It’s brilliant. Philip: Yeah, they deal with it in a superficial way with these characters that no one can believe and are not convincing and… Martin: Oh, the characters [mumbling], I mean, they’re exaggerated obviously, you know, cos it’s, like, it’s a cartoon, isn’t it? But, but, you know, they make real points, they’re really valid. And anyway, it’s like one of the few programmes you can watch in a foreign language. Cos it’s, like, it’s a cartoon, and so it doesn’t matter that it’s dubbed. It’s not like watching a film. Philip: Yeah, you can say that about any cartoon. I mean, you can’t, you know, I don’t think that’s a point in it’s favour. Besides, the drawing’s terrible, I mean, who... Martin: No, the, but the drawings make a point, don’t they? You don’t, it doesn’t need to be a work of art. It’s a, it’s a cartoon, you get into the character, you know, you don’t really care what they look like, or the art. Philip: Mmm… Hey! Have you seen? The Simpson’s are on now, yeah. Martin: Oh no, not again. I see it every bloody day. Let’s put on a video.

G L O S S A R Y

what a load of crap exp offens this expression can be used to say that you think something is very bad brilliant adj excellent, very good my ass exp offens US this expression can be used to say that you think someone is not telling the truth, or is saying stupid things a reflection of true life exp if something is a “reflection of true life”, it is similar to what happens in real life to trivialise vb to make something seem less important than it is to raise issues exp to discuss important subjects such as racism, sexism, etc you know? exp people often say this to check that the other person is understanding to deal with exp if you “deal with” a subject, you talk about that subject to mumble vb to speak in a very low and soft voice that is difficult to understand I mean exp this is often used to introduce something important that you want to say cos abbr because like exp people often use this word when they are thinking about what to say next. It is used to fill space in a conversation and it doesn’t mean anything to dub vb if a film is “dubbed”, different sound is added with actors speaking a translation of the dialogue to be on exp if something is “on” the television, you can watch that thing on the television bloody exp offens people use this expression when they are angry, frustrated or surprised

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