ESL Podcast 421 - Internet Dating

Internet dating service - an online business that helps people meet other people with similar interests so that they can begin a romantic relationship

Lisa met a man through an Internet dating service and two years later they were married.

What do you have to lose? - an expression meaning that one should do something, because nothing bad can happen as a result, but something good might happen

Craig told me that he wanted to apply for the job, but he didn't think he'd get it. I told him he should apply and said, "What do you have to lose?"

to screen - to review or look at things and decide whether they meet one's needs, are acceptable, or are good enough for something

The Human Resources Department screens all the job applications and decides which ones are good enough to request interviews.

profile - a short description that gives general information about something, especially about a person or company

This website has company profiles that show the full name of each company, the year it was created, and how much money it made last year.

criterion - something that one uses to judge another thing or to decide whether it meets one's needs

Mindy has three criteria for a husband: he must be handsome, kind, and intelligent.

search - the process of going to a website and entering words that describe what one is looking for, so that the website produces a list of possible matches

Raquel did a search and found more than one million pages on that topic.

age range - the minimum and maximum age of a group of people

At most high schools, the students' age range is from 14 to 18.

hit - a thing that meets one's criteria in a search

How many hits do you get when you search for your own name in Google?

to narrow down - to become more specific in what one is looking for

There are more than 400 restaurants in the city, so we'll need to narrow down what we're looking for by picking the type of food we'd like to have for dinner.

radius - the distance from the middle of a circle to the edge; half of the diameter; within a specific area

How many coffee shops do you think there are within a five-mile radius?

flattering - attractive; something that makes one look attractive

Red is a very flattering color on you.

promising - with a lot of potential to be good or useful; something that seems good, interesting, or useful but hasn't been tested yet

The university offers scholarships to its most promising new students.

white lie - something that is not true but is not very important or serious; a minor, unimportant lie

When Aunt Charisa asked me whether I liked her dress, I told a white lie and said that I did, even though I really thought it was ugly.

to misrepresent - to say something that makes one believe something that isn't true

Ollie misrepresented himself by saying that he had never worked in the entertainment industry, when the truth was that he had never worked at all.

trial membership - a period of time when one can use a product or service for free to see if one likes it before buying it

ESL Podcast doesn't offer a trial membership, but you can see a sample Learning Guide for free before deciding to become a member.