ESL Reading

A:  I wasn’t going to mention it but I think you still owe me a few bucks for the tickets. B:  Whatever.  Didn’t I foot the bill for the rent the last two months?  I also paid for the satellite TV. A:  You have a pretty selective memory.  First of all I paid for the rent the two months prior to that.  I also told you that I didn’t want the satellite TV.  I don’t even watch it.  Also, when you were broke last year I paid for most of the Thailand trip. B:  Alright fine.  I’ll pay you for my ticket.  I didn’t think you were keeping track of every penny. A:  I wasn’t.  The tickets were $500 bucks each.  I’m not exactly made of money you know.  Just try not to be such a freeloader. B:  Oh come on.  That was a cheap shot.  It’s not that bad. A:  I’ll tell you what.  Just pay me for the ticket.  Then we’ll have a few tall boys and forget the whole thing. B:  Sounds good.

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Foot the bill: This is just an expression that means “pay for something”.  I’m pretty lucky because I got my dad to foot the bill for my university.

Selective memory: This term refers to someone who only seems to remember things that are convenient for them to remember.  For instance, they might remember beating you in tennis one time but forget all the times they lost.  They might remember when their roommate forgets to clean the house but they forget all the times when they left the place messy.

Prior: This just means “before”.  Its not used as often as “before” in spoken English, but it still is used sometimes.  Your boss might ask during an interview, “what were you doing prior to university”?

Broke: This just means have no money or almost no money.  “Sorry guys, I can’t join you guys for dinner tonight, I’m broke.”

Keeping track of every penny: This phrase just means that you are paying really close attention to your money and spending.

I’m not exactly made of money: This phrase just means that you don’t have a lot of extra money that you can spend freely.  A father might say to his son, “I wish I could help you pay for your vacation but unfortunately I’m not made of money”

Freeloader: This expression refers to someone who is really cheap and trying to get other people to pay for their lives.  For example, if you take advantage of people’s kindness and live with them, eat their food, and don’t pay for anything yourself, you are “free loading” off them.

Cheap shot: This can refer to two things.  The original meaning refers to hitting someone in an unexpected and unfair way during a fight.  For example, if you want to fight someone and you hit them from behind when they aren’t looking or aren’t ready, it is called a cheap shot.  The other meaning, like in the dialogue, refers to saying something to someone else that is hurtful and too mean to say.  For example if you are angry with someone and you tell them about some physical problem that they have like being born with really big ears, that is a cheap shot, because the big ear comment is something that they can’t control.

Tall boys: This is a slang expression that refers to the tall 500 ml cans of beer.

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