Earthquakes Vocabulary.pdf

Earthquakes Vocabulary Lesson

Hi. Welcome to the vocabulary lesson for the conversation “Earthquakes.” In this conversation Joe and I are

talking about different earthquakes that we’ve both experienced.

So let’s start with the conversation.

* * * * *

Joe starts off by saying, “Hey...”

Now, hey…. This is just a filler word. It really has no meaning here except for Joe trying to get my attention.

Joe goes on to say, “check this out.”

Check this out. Check this out means listen to this. Check this out. An example of check this out would be:

Scott said, “Check this out. I got two free tickets to the Rolling Stones concert.” Check this out.

And Joe goes on to say, “Y’know what Eric asked me when I got into work this morning?”

Y’know. This is short for you know. You won’t see this in written English but you will hear it in conversational

English. Y’know.

And then I say, “I have no idea, what’d he ask?”

I have no idea, or have no idea. It means do not know. I do not know. For example: I have no idea how I’m

going to make time each day to exercise. Have no idea.

And then Joe says, “He asked me if I felt the earthquake last night.”

Earthquake. This is when the ground shakes from natural causes.

And then I say, “Earthquake? You’ve gotta be kidding, I didn’t feel an earthquake.

You’ve gotta be kidding. Now gotta is short for got to. You’ve got to be kidding. This is something else you’ll

hear in conversational English but you won’t see it in written English. You’ve gotta be kidding. What this

means is you cannot be serious. You’ve gotta be kidding. For example: When I told my mother that I had

won $2 million, she said, “You’ve gotta be kidding.”

And then Joe says, “I know, that’s what I said. He told me it actually woke him up last night.”

Actually here is just really filler. It has no meaning. It’s not even needed in this sentence.

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Earthquakes Vocabulary Lesson

And then Joe goes on to say, “Y’know...” And then I say, “What?” And Joe says, “yeah...”

Yeah is casual or informal for yes.

And Joe goes on to say, “it was like...”

Like is just filler here. It also has no meaning. It’s not even needed in this sentence.

And Joe says, “it went, it happened at like, uh...”

Uh. This is filler as well. It has no meaning.

And he goes on to say, “4:42 in the morning. So we must’ve been sleeping. But I mean...”

I mean. This is filler so it also has no meaning. It’s not needed in this sentence.

And Joe goes on to say, “it’s possible that, y’know, even if we had been awake we might not have felt

it because, y’know, maybe it, uh, wasn’t felt, y’know, this far north. But, uh, I, I mean I thought he was

pullin’ my leg when he first talked about it.”

Pullin’ my leg. First of all, pullin’ is short for pulling. So you won’t see pullin’ in written English but you would

hear it more in conversational English. Pullin’ my leg. Now this means making a joke by lying to someone

and pretending the lie is true. Pullin’ my leg. For example: When Chris said that he won $200,000 in Las

Vegas, I thought he was pullin’ my leg. Pullin’ my leg.

And then I go on to say, “Well...”

Well is just filler. It’s a filler word. It doesn’t have any meaning.

And then I say, “I guess it’s not so far-fetched…”

Far-fetched. This means unbelievable. Far-fetched. For example: When Chris said that he won $200,000 in

Las Vegas, I thought it sounded far-fetched. Far-fetched.

And I go on to say, “considering…”

Considering meaning since.

“we live on a major fault line here.”

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Earthquakes Vocabulary Lesson

Major fault line. A fault line is an area where a lot of earthquakes happen.

Then Joe says, “Yeah, but actually I think this earthquake was, uh, on a different fault line, um,

because, y’know, Eric lives, uh, just, uh, south of San Jose...”

Now when I say um, you’ll hear um in a lot of conversations. But it’s not something that you would ever see

in written English. But you’ll hear um, uh, a lot in conversations. San Jose. This is a city south of San

Francisco.

And then I go on to say, “Yeah.” And then Joe says, “and, uh, the earthquake he said was due east of

San Jose...”

Due east. This is exactly east of someplace. Due east. For example: Sacramento is a city that is due east

of San Francisco. Due east.

And Joe goes on to say, “so he was obviously…”

Or he was definitely.

“a lot closer to the epicenter than we were.”

Epicenter. This is the middle of an earthquake. Epicenter. An example of epicenter would be: The

epicenter of the earthquake was Los Angeles. So there was a lot of damage in that city. Epicenter.

And Joe goes on to say, “So, I d-, I’m not even sure it was felt here.” And I say, “Yeah, that makes

sense. Well, y’know, I’ve experienced quite a few earthquakes in the past several years but I’ve been

living here a little over two years...”

Or a little more than two years.

And I say, “I’ve, I think I’ve only experienced one here. It was really strange, too, I was, um, each, I

should say each earthquake has been a completely different experience. But the one I, the one I felt

here, I was standing outside a restaurant talking to AJ and another friend and all of a sudden it just

felt like...”

All of a sudden. This is right away with no warning. All of a sudden. For example: I was driving my car

when all of a sudden someone hit me. It happened so fast. All of a sudden.

So I say,"all of a sudden it just felt like this shift.”

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Earthquakes Vocabulary Lesson

Or change.

“It’s really hard to explain, but it made me think of, like, a cartoon...”

A cartoon is just animation.

And I go on to say, “like how, in the cartoon, like buildings might just shift to the right and then shift

right back.” And Joe says, “Yeah, without falling.” And I say, “Yeah, without falling. And I, I had no

idea what was going on for a few minutes afterwards. And then I realized...”

Or I understood.

“oh that must have been an earthquake.” And Joe says, “Yeah, you know what I usually notice...”

Or he’s saying what I normally see.

“the times that I’ve been at home, here...” And I say, “Yeah.” And Joe says, “and, uh, there’s been an

earthquake. It’s almost as if there’s this really big train, or like a gigantic Mack truck going by.”

Gigantic means very big or large. And Mack truck… This is just a kind of truck.

And Joe goes on to say, “And, uh, suddenly…”

Or right away.

“I start to hear the heater shaking. And, um, it’s like, the noise is like, uh, is loud for like a second…”

A second is a short time. 60 seconds makes one minute so it’s a very short time.

And Joe says, “and then it’s gone, so...” And then I say, “That’s so...” And Joe says, “it’s really

weird...”

Weird, or strange.

He goes on to say, “y’know, it’s almost like the first couple’a times I felt it...”

Couple’a. This is short for couple of. So you won’t see this in written English but you’ll hear it in

conversational English. Couple’a. Couple meaning two.

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Earthquakes Vocabulary Lesson

So Joe’s saying, "the first couple’a times I felt it, I wasn’t even aware it was an earthquake while it

was happening.”

So he’s saying, I wasn’t even aware. I didn’t even know it was an earthquake while it was happening.

And then I say, “Well, that’s so funny…”

Now when I say that’s so funny, I’m not saying it’s really funny. I’m saying this because something Joe said

was the same experience that I had. And that experience being not knowing there was an earthquake while it

was happening. He experienced that and I experienced it. So I’m saying wow, that’s so funny. Like that’s so

funny we both experienced this.

And I go on to say, “that’s so funny you say that because one that I experienced in Bangkok, it

actually was after the tsunami…”

And I’m talking about the tsunami that hit Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, southeast India in December 2004.

And I go on to say, “and so later I found out that it was...”

So. Here this is a filler word. It has no meaning.

And I say, “it was, um, aftershock from the tsunami.”

Aftershock. This is an earthquake that happens right after another earthquake. Aftershock. An example of

aftershock would be: When I felt the aftershock of the earthquake, I ran outside. Aftershock.

And I go on to say, “But anyway, I was in a building up on the ninth floor and suddenly, uh, there was

all this rattling.”

Rattling is a kind of noise.

And I go on to say, “And I’m thinking to myself, it, it just, it, it was so irrational.”

Irrational. I’m saying, it wasn’t clear.

And I go on to say, “I’m thinking to myself, god...”

God is just showing emotion like I don’t believe. I don’t believe I’m hearing this.

And I say, “there’s like a train going by and I can’t believe that this building is shaking so much from

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