Real ESL

Here’s a lesson that will be useful for you in the street and in the boardroom. It’s a bit hard to hear because of the wind on the beach, but it will be good for you to practice listening in less-than-perfect situations. If you have problems, check out the transcript below!

Transcript for Real ESL Video Lesson 6:

Okay I got (got=have) a little vocab practice for you today. I’m at Venice Beach and what we’re going to talk about are … “I screwed up,” “I messed up,” “I fucked up.”

Okay, now, no you’re not going to hear that in a classroom, but you will hear it here on Venice Beach and you’ll hear it in bars, you’ll hear it on the street, so you’ve got to know it.

Okay, first of all, I messed up means I made a mistake.
I screwed up … I made a bigger mistake.
I fucked up …. I really really made a big, big, big mistake.
Okay, that’s all.

I am mixed up, that’s a little different – I am mixed up, that’s where you add the ‘be’ verb. It means I - I’m a little confused. I am mixed up – I’m a little confused. I thought this, but really is was that.

I am screwed up means my brain is not on my head right (my brain is not on my head right = my brain isn’t working). Maybe you drank a bit too much.

I am fucked up” means I really did some kind of substance. I maybe drank, I maybe smoked some pot, maybe I did something that my head really is not right on. Maybe you have mental problems (mental problems = brain problems, behavior problems, chemical brain imbalance), but generally you did something to cause that.