ESL Podcast 277 - Garage Sales

bargain hunter - a person who always looks for the lowest price before buying something; a person who always looks for cheap prices

Claire is a good bargain hunter. She went to four stores to find the best price for her new sofa.

collector - a person who has many interesting or beautiful things of the same type, such as coins, stamps, dolls, or dishes

Grandpa was a stamp collector and had albums with stamps from every country in the world.

homemade - made at home; made by hand; not made professionally

I love to eat my aunt's homemade cookies. They taste much better than the cookies that are sold in stores.

sign - a piece of paper, wood, or metal that has words or pictures that provide information

It's the law that drivers must stop their cars when you come to a stop sign.

spring cleaning - to clean one's home or office very thoroughly, getting rid of things that one doesn't use, usually once a year during the spring season

While they were doing their spring cleaning, they found a box of love letters that her grandmother had written to her grandfather during the war.

to bargain - to negotiate for a better price; to ask a seller to sell something for less money than originally asked for

The seller wanted $75 for the sweater, but we were able to bargain down to $50.

par for the course - standard; normal; expected

Lia is a very good student, so getting straight A's is par for the course for her.

to get ripped off - to get a bad deal; to pay more than one should; to pay more for something than it is worth

Freddy bought a car for $5,600, but he got ripped off because it stopped working the next day.

early bird - a person who wakes up very early, before most people are awake; a person who begins doing the day's activities before most other people do

Fernando is an early bird who usually wakes up, goes running, eats breakfast, and reads the newspaper before anyone else in his family is awake.

desperate - very anxious to do something; very worried about something and willing to do almost anything to change it

Jessie is desperate to find a new job because she doesn't like her boss.

to store - to put things somewhere when one is not using them so that they can be used later

Where do you store your skiing equipment during the summer?

to lug - to carry or pull something that is heavy and difficult to move

Could you please help me lug this heavy suitcase into the guest bedroom?

charity - an organization that helps poor people by giving them money, food, clothes, or other things that they need

How much money do you give to charities each year?

to give (something) away - to give something to someone for free; to give something to someone without asking for money or anything else in return

The grocery store is giving away free samples of its fresh bread.

to slash (one's) prices - to greatly reduce the cost of something; to sell something for a much lower price than usual

This store is going out of business next week, so it is slashing its prices to try to sell everything as quickly as possible.

junk - things that have no value or use; worthless, old things

The Gamarra family's garage is full of old junk, like broken radios, used toys, and torn clothes.

knickknack - a small thing that is used as decoration but doesn't have any use, usually put on a table or shelf

Dinah's desk is covered in knickknacks that she bought while she was traveling in Eastern Europe.

trash - garbage; something that has no value and should be thrown away

One of my chores when I was young was to take out the trash once a week.

treasure - something that is very valuable, important, and special; something that one values and thinks is important

Miko's most prized treasure is the watch that his grandfather used to wear.