ESL Podcast 338 - Refusing an Invitation

invitation - a written or spoken request for one to attend an event or do something with another person

Holly and Daniel sent more than 750 wedding invitations to their family and friends!

to send (one's) regrets - to politely say that one cannot do something that one has been invited to do

Clark invited me to his graduation party, but I had to send my regrets because I needed to go to my cousin's graduation party instead.

excuse - a reason for not doing something

The child's excuse for not giving the teacher his homework was that his dog had eaten it.

to attend - to go to an event; to participate in an event

Did you attend the conference last year?

to take offense - to be offended; to become angry and upset because of what another person has done or said

Magdalena took offense when her husband said that her fried chicken wasn't as good as his mother's.

to have another engagement - to have an obligation to do something else; to need to go somewhere or do something during the time that another person has asked one to do something

Unfortunately I can't meet with you on Tuesday afternoon because I have another engagement that I can't reschedule.

white lie - a small, unimportant lie; something that is not truthful, but is not very important; something that is only a little bit dishonest

When Hilda gave me an orange and green sweater for my birthday, I told a white lie and said, "Oh, I love it!" even though I really thought it was ugly.

to turn down - to decline; to say no to an invitation or to a person's offer to do something

Bernard turned down the job offer because he decided he didn't want to live in New York.

relative - family member; a person to whom one is related by blood or marriage

All of my relatives are going to Aunt Patty's house for Thanksgiving dinner.

to look after (someone) - to care for someone or something; to take care of someone or something

Who's going to look after your kids while you go to the concert?

assignment - task; project; something that needs to be done in a specific period of time

The chemistry professor gave us an assignment to answer questions 1-15 in chapter 7.

far-fetched - difficult to believe; exaggerated; too big or strange to be believed

One hundred years ago, people thought that the idea of walking on the moon was far-fetched.

You've got a point there - a phrase used to show that one believes that another person has a good idea, or that what another person has said is correct

When Matt began talking about how expensive a European vacation can be, his brother said, "You've got a point there," and they started talking about taking a vacation closer to home instead.

to decline - to turn down; to say no

Freddy offered to drive me to the airport, but I declined, saying that I was going to take the bus instead.

to extend an apology - to say that one is sorry for or about something

I need to extend an apology to Carol Ann for having forgotten her birthday.

acronym - a word where each letter is the first letter of a word in a longer phrase

Many people use the acronym "ASAP" to mean "as soon as possible."