Ella: No matter what you say, I am not going out tonight. It’s Halloween and evil things are lurking everywhere.
Jimmy: Come on, it’s Halloween! It’s the holiday when kids get dressed up and ask for candy. There is nothing evil or creepy about this day. if you’re scared stiff, it’s your own doing.
Ella: Don’t kid yourself. This is the day when ghosts, witches, zombies, and vampires come out and have a field day. I’ve got Goosebumps just thinking about it.
Jimmy: Do you mean you actually believe in all of that stuff? You are too old to be so gullible. I’m going out.
Ella: Look! Hurry up and close the door! There’s a black cat. Oh my God. If you walk out that door, the next time I see you, it might be in a graveyard.
Jimmy:You are crazy and I’m leaving.
Ella:If you have to go, take this with you.
Jimmy:What are they?
Ella: it’s a cross and some garlic. You’ll thank me later.
Jimmy:Ugh!
Ella begins by saying ”No matter what you say, I am not going out tonight”. It doesn’t matter what you tell me, she say, I am not going to leave the house, I am not going to go out somewhere tonight. “It’s Halloween and evil things are lurking everywhere.” “Halloween” you may know is celebrated on October 31, it’s the eve of All Hallo’s Day or you would say in the United States All Saint’s Day. and traditionally it has been associated with spirits, ghosts, scary things and people here in the US especially children dress up on this holiday and go around asking for candy. We talked about Halloween on other episodes, go back and listen to episode NO.73. Ella says that there are evil things lurking everywhere. Evil is bad, wrong, something that is very wrong, very perhaps immoral. “To lurk” means to be somewhere but to be hiding the way perhaps waiting to appear. We have a expression “he was lurking in the shadows”, he was waiting there perhaps for someone to come by, it sounds like a dangerous thing although it might not be. So lurking is waiting around but hiding so no one can see you.
Jimmy says “Come on, it’s Halloween! It’s the holiday when kids get dressed up and ask for candy.” “come on” means changing mind, Ella, don't be so silly, don't be that way. This holiday and by the way is not technically a holiday in the United States, you still have to work on Halloween. “It’s the holiday when kids get dressed up.” To “dress up” is a two-word phrase word meaning to put on different kind of clothing that you normally would. it could be clothing that’s very formal if you are going to a wedding or a job interview or it could be a costume, something that makes you look like a different kind of person and that’s the kind of dressing up that jimmy is talking about here. On Halloween kids put on different costume so they look like Spideman and, I don’t know, Harry potter, I haven’t been paying attention recently. So Jimmy says” There is nothing evil or creepy about this day”. “creepy” means scary but also uncomfortable, something that makes you a little fearful or not very comfortable, uneasy we might say. Jimmy says” if you’re scared stiff, it’s your own doing.” To be “scared stiff” means to be very frightened, to be very scared. You can’t don anything because you are so afraid of what is going to happen or what is happening. It’s your own doing meaning it’s your own fault, it’s because of something you do, not what someone else is doing.
Ella says” Don’t kid yourself.” to “kid” yourself means to make yourself believe something that isn’t true. to kid as a verb normally means to joke with, to say something that isn’t really true just to be funny. But the expression to “kid yourself” means in a way to play a joke on yourself, to make yourself believe something that isn’t true. she says” This is the day when ghosts, witches, zombies, and vampires come out and have a field day.” a ghost traditionally has been defined as the spirit of dead person. If you have read the famous play Macbeth by Shakespeare, you know that there is a ghost Banquo. When I was growing up there was a famous cartoon ghost Casper, whatever happened to him, I think he died. A witch is someone usually a woman who has magical power and uses them to do bad things, if you saw the movie, I am sorry I don’t remember it’s name, there were different witches in the movie, there were good witches and there were bad witches however in that movie, but normally a witch is someone we think of again usually a woman who has magical power to do evil things. A zombie is the body of the person who has died but still walks around the earth even though he or she cannot speak, so it’s a little different from a ghost, a ghost is just the spirit that can appear and disappear, that can travel through worlds and so forth. A zombie is a actual body, a dead body that walks around as if it was alive. Of course all of these things are imaginary but that is what they are when you read about them in fiction. Vampires are people who are in model that is they never die. they traditionally have long sharp teeth, they walk in the night, they can sleep, they bite people’s necks and drink their blood. The most famous vampire is probably Dracula in English literature. The second would probably be those guys from twilight, I don’t know. There was a famous movie <<Interview with the Vampire>> with I think it was Tom Cruise who some people believe is actually a vampire, I don’t know if that is true or not. So we have ghosts, witches, zombies and vampires that come out, that can be seen and they have a field day. The expression to “have a field day” means to have fun, to do whatever you want, as much as you want to do it. Ella says “I’ve got Goosebumps just thinking about it.” “Goosebumps” are little small bumps or waves area on your skin that are caused by either cold temperatures, that is once it’s cold sometimes you may feel this little bumps on your skin. some people say they can also be caused by fear, so the idea that something give you Goosebumps means that it makes you very afraid, very scared. There is actually a famous children book series very popular with young boys at least it was a few years ago in the United States called Goosebumps and these are scary stories that are popular among fifth and sixth and seventh graders. Some of them are actually kind of interesting, they are easy English and if you enjoy reading scary stories and your English is still not ready for adult stories. Well, Goosebumps is not a bad option, not a bad choice.
Jimmy says” Do you mean you actually believe in all of that stuff? You are too old to be so gullible.” To be “gullible” means to be easily cheated or deceived. To believe everything that you are told. Jimmy says” I’m going out.” means I am going to leave the house.
Ella says” Look! Hurry up and close the door! There’s a black cat. Oh my God. If you walk out that door, the next time I see you, it might be in a graveyard.” Ok, so traditionally if you see a black cat, you have a bad luck and that’s what Ella sees when Jimmy opens the door. A “grave” is where you put a body after it dies. A “graveyard” is also called the cemetery, it’s a large area where you have a lot of graves. What Ella is saying is that if Jimmy leaves, he might be killed.
Jimmy says” You are crazy and I’m leaving.” Ella says” If you have to go, take this with you.” Jimmy says” What are they?” Ella says” it’s a cross and some garlic. You’ll thank me later.” A “cross” is two pieces of wood or some material that formed like a “T”. it’s the symbol of the Christian religion where Jesus Christ would say to have die on the cross. That’s why the cross is the symbol of Christianity. Traditionally the idea was that if you have a cross you could hold it up and it will prevent evil beings from coming close to you or coming near you because they were afraid. It was a symbol of God. Garlic traditionally in literature was thought to have protected you against vampires, people like Tom cruise. So Ella is offering Jimmy a cross and some garlic so he can protect himself against these evil beings that she believes. Jimmy says” Ugh.”
He is frustrated. he doesn’t believe what Ella is telling him.
