Frasier

Frasier: I am NOT leaving!

[AFTER HE LEFT]

Martin: What're you still doing with that? I thought you were gonna return it.

Frasier: They wouldn't take it back. All I got was attitude and a cheap glass of wine. Loire Valley my ass.

Martin: What are you gonna do now?

Frasier: Well, they forced my hand. I'm gonna call the police.

Martin: Five-five-five Three-thousand.

Frasier: Thanks, dad. Try to mess with Dr. Frasier Crane, I'll teach them. [Into phone] Hello, yes, uh... Oh, just a second. Dad, who do I ask for?

Martin: Have 'em put you through to the Fine Arts Forgery Department.

Frasier: Right. [Into phone.] Hello, yes, uh, the Fine Arts Forgery Department, please. [To Martin] Dad, they're laughing at me.

****

VOCAB NOTES:

What're: "What are." Very common in spoken English, not in formal writing.

What're you still doing with that: Why do you still have that?

gonna: "Going to." Very common in spoken English.

attitude: idiom, short for "bad attitude," in this case poor service at a store. Usage Example: Mom to teen: "Don't give me attitude!"

my ass: Vulgar. "That's not how it really is." Often used at the end of a phrase when something is the opposite of what it claims to be. Here he's saying that the store was lying about the wine being from the Loire Valley. (Don't use this phrase in front of your mother-in-law.)

forced my hand: idiom that comes from the card game poker. It means he was forced to act.

Five-five-five Three-thousand: In the US, phone numbers are stated with either 7 or 10 digits. If 7, the first three are usually divided from the last four. If ten, the first three are the Area Code, and the number is divided 3-3-4. (Two-oh-six, five-five-five, three-thousand.) In TV shows, most numbers start with 555 because the prefix is not used in real phone systems.

mess with: idiom for bother, annoy, make angry

I'll teach them: idiom, a threat shortened from "I'll teach them not to do that."

just a second: idiom used when asking someone to wait. "Just a minute" is also used frequently. It is used for any short period of time -- not for a literal minute or second. Sometimes you'll hear "sec" for second: "Just a sec," or an even shorter/quicker "Jus' sec."

'em: Them. Common in spoken English.

Cosby Show -- Rudy's Vegetables

Rudy: No

Mom: I'm gonna get this.* Mrs. Davis will be here at any moment. Cliff, don't let Rudy get up from that table till she's cleaned her plate.

Rudy: I'm not eating them

Dad: All right. Then just sit here.

Rudy: For how long?

Dad: For how long? Until you eat them. All I can say is, I remember a little girl, and she wouldn't eat her vegetables and her parents said, "Well, you're just gonna sit there until you eat them." And, uh, she saw her friends growing up, people were going to college... She was still sitting there. In the same clothes she had on when she was five years old. (Laughs.) Now are you gonna eat 'em?

Rudy: No

Dad: All right, then just sit there, all right? And don't try to hide 'em because if you try to hide 'em, I'm coming back and I'm going to...

Dad and Rudy: Check...my...teeth.

Dad: Right

*************

*I can't tell if she's saying, "I'm gonna get this," or "I'd better get this." Yes, even native English speakers have a hard time understanding sometimes!

Vocabulary used often in spoken English

Gonna -- Used a lot in spoken English. Short for going to.
Don't -- contraction for do not
Till -- Until. Used a lot in spoken English. If you use it in writing, be sure to spell with two LLs. Till, not til.
she's -- she has. (She's can also be a contraction for "she is.")
I'm -- contraction for I am
wouldn't -- contraction for would not
Well** -- used a lot at the beginning of sentences. A "filler word" with no real meaning
Uh** – Also a "filler word." No real meaning. It usually fills time while people are thinking. Um is the same. Very common in spoken English.
'em -- short for them. Very common in spoken English.
all right? -- same as "okay?" Similar meaning to "do you understand?"

**Filler words:
Words like Um, well, uh, so, y’know
When they are used as fillers, they don’t have any real meaning. They are just used to fill pauses.

“Well, I think I am going.”
“Um, maybe not.”
“So, what do you think?”