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Views #607 | Intermediate 5

Big Bad Brothers

Greg talks about growing up with three brothers and getting into fights.

Script
Vocab
Quiz


Greg	Todd

Todd: So, greg you were saying you had brothers and they always picked on you like all older brothers do. Do you have any stories about your brothers used to do to you?

Greg: Ah, yes, you know I think back on some of the crazy fights we had and it is absolutely amazing that we are all still alive. (Yeah) One time, I was closing the garage door and I didn't see my brother, my oldest brother walking behind me and I pulled the door down and it hit him in the head.

Todd: Right, ooh, ow!

Greg: A complete accident. (Yeah) but he just got so angry. He had a pair of shoes that he was holding in his hand, and I think he was going to polish them or something, and he just took the shoe and he smacked me as hard as he could right in the stomach.

Todd: Oh, that's gotta hurt.

Greg: Oh, it hurt so much. I bent over and I got so angry and I looked in the garage and I saw a big piece of metal pipe

Todd: Oh, no!

Greg: And I held it like a spear, and I ran after him, and he of course ran away. I was chasing him around the house and he ran into the front door, and I threw the spear, as hard as I could, and it went like a, I threw the pipe, and it went like a spear, through the air, and he closed the door right behind him, and it put a hole in the door.

Todd: Oh, man, it was gonna hit him. It would have hit him.

Greg: It would have hit him actually.

Todd: Wow. You don't even want to think what could have happened if it had hit him.

Greg: Yeah, it's amazing that we're still alive. We used to have fights with baseball bats and branches and things.

Todd: Well, it must have been good, made you tough and strong for all the other kids at school.

Greg: Yeah, they thought I was crazy.

Learn vocabulary from the lesson!

pick on

Did you say you had brothers and they always picked on you?

When someone 'picks on' you, they tease, harass or make fun of you. This is a mean thing to do. Notice the following:

My brother and sister area always picking on each other.
He was picked on a lot when he was younger.

complete

It was a complete accident, but he just got so angry.

Here, 'complete' means 'total.' The action was 100% an accident. Notice the following:

It was a complete surprise that he received the writing award.
The party was a complete disaster because of all the rain.

an accident

It was a complete accident, but he just got so angry.

If something is 'an accident,' it means that it was not done on purpose or intentionally, but it is just the way the situation happened. Notice the following:

I think I stole your phone by accident, because it was in my purse.
It was an accident that the window was broken.

smack

He took the shoe and smacked me as hard as he could.

When you 'smack' someone, you hit him. Notice the following:

A tree branch smacked me in the face on my walk today.
His comment was so inappropriate that she smacked him.

a spear

I took a metal pipe and I held it like a spear.

A 'spear' is a long piece of wood or metal with a sharp point at one end. It is traditionally used as a weapon in a fight or for hunting. Notice the following: