Set 4 - I’m going to skin you alive!

Advanced English Conversations (2) - Robert Allans, Matt Edie, A. Mustafaoglu 2020

Set 4 - I’m going to skin you alive!

Kathy: I wish I had such a fertile imagination like you! Being a literal thinker, I struggle with communicating with others. The other day Suzan said “I just do what floats my boat”; and my mind drifted away thinking about water and boats. Go figure!

Sarah: Fair enough! So if I say for instance ’Jack is wrestling with accusations of corruptions’, what might come to your mind?

Kathy: Well; listen to this one; my husband was annoyed last night and said ’Go fly a kite’, guess what? I just stood for a minute thinking ’we’re at home; I can’t fly a kite now!’

Sarah: Wow! I clearly don’t envy you at all! Dwelling on the literal meaning of figurative speech can be frustrating for everyone involved.

Kathy: Even as a child, I had a hard time digesting some of the things adults would say. Mom would tell me ’I’m going to skin you alive!’. Well; deep down, I knew that she didn’t mean it literally. But I did spend hours thinking about the literal meaning of that sentence.

Sarah: Oh dear me!

Vocabulary

fertile imagination: to have a creative way of thinking.

literal thinker: the person who interpret what others say based on the actual meaning of the terms used.

what floats one’s boat: to do whatever makes you happy or stimulates you.

drift away: to move away from a particular person or thing.

Go figure: It's really strange.; Just try to figure it out.

wrestle with: to attempt to deal with something difficult or troubling, such as a problem or decision.

come to one’s mind: to be remembered or thought of by someone.

Go fly a kite: Go away and stop bothering me.

dwell on: to obsessively think or worry about something.

digest: to think over so as to understand; absorb or assimilate.

skin someone alive: to upbraid, scold, or punish one severely and with intense anger.

dear me: an expression of surprise or disappointment.

Exercise;

Fill in the gaps with the appropriate phrases or words;

1. Ann: “Oh man I love eating cheeseburgers with chocolate covered bacon”. Bill: “Ha, ..........”.

2. She says she wants to have a conversation, but when I try, she does all the talking ..........!

3. I didn't mean to offend you. I just said the first thing that ..........

4. It took a minute to .......... the implications of the remark.

5. ........... This is an occasion that makes a man speculate on all he has lost.

6. If I find out who messed up the Jefferson account, I'll .......... him ..........!

7. Why are you yelling like hell? I didn’t see your socks ..........

8. Try not to .......... this rejection, honey. There are plenty of other nice boys you can ask to the dance.

9. He was .......... on the ice block and there was nothing we could do.

10. Why didn’t you laugh at the joke? Don’t say that you are a literal thinker.

11. He's clearly .......... his past and trying to make amends for the things he's done.

12. He possessed a sweet and powerful voice, a .........., and much literary cultivation.

1. whatever floats your boat 2. Go figure 3. came to my mind 4. digest 5. Dear me 6. skin/alive 7. Go fly a kite 8. dwell on 9. drifting away 10. literal thinker 11. wrestling with 12. fertile imagination