ESL Podcast 837 - Driving While Calling and Texting
tweet - a short message of 140 characters maximum sent through Twitter, a popular online messaging program,
How many tweets does Yoshihiro send out in a typical day?
to text - to send a short, typed message through one's telephone to another telephone
A lot of teenagers like to text more than they like to call their friends.
to meet up - to meet with someone informally, especially to hang out (spend time without a specific purpose) with friends
Let's meet up at the ice cream shop after school tomorrow.
to IM - to use instant messaging; to use online programs that send and receive messages (almost) in real time
The professor become really frustrated when students IM instead of listening to the lectures.
number - phone number
Chelsea lost Maguerite's phone number and couldn't get in touch with her.
to email - to send a typed message electronically through the Internet using an electronic mail (email) program such as Gmail, Hotmail, or Yahoo!
Please email us with your flight information before you leave on your trip.
to fall off the face of the earth - to disappear for a period of time without any communication, so that one's friends and family do not know where one is
Edgar's new job keeps him so busy, it's as if he has fallen off the face of the earth.
incommunicado - not communicating with other people; without being in contact with other people
Sorry I've been incommunicado for the past few days, but I've been working a lot.
web access - the ability to access the Internet; having an Internet connection
Web access is extremely limited in remote, mountainous areas near my home.
phone signal - the ability for a cell phone to connect to a tower to send and receive phone calls
Javier's company wants to be the first one to guarantee phone signals anywhere in the country, anytime.
mind-blowing - very surprising and hard to believe; extraordinary
When Muhammad found out he was being awarded a Nobel Prize, he couldn't believe it. The news was mind-blowing.
better yet - even better; a phrase used to emphasize what comes next as an even better idea than what one had just talked about
Let's throw a big birthday party for Melody. Better yet, let's make it a surprise birthday party!
to squeal - to make a high-pitched noise, like the sound of a pig or the sound of tires stopping very quickly
Damon's brakes squealed as he stopped his car quickly to avoid hitting the cat in the road.
reckless - not careful or cautious; doing dangerous things because one is not paying enough attention
My teenage daughters are reckless drivers, because they're too busy talking to their friends to pay attention to what is happening on the road.
to change lanes - to move from one part of the road to another when two or more lines of cars are traveling in the same direction, usually to pass a slower- moving car
Remember to use your turn signal before you change lanes.