This lesson suits intermediate learners. After listening, test your knowledge with our quiz.
Learning notes
Different phrases to use when talking about a party:
- Let’s throw a party. Are you game?
- The party kicks off at 5pm.
- We're chucking a party this Saturday arvo.
- I’m throwing/chucking/hosting a cosy get-together in my backyard.
- We’re keeping our party laid-back.
Colloquial expressions:
When you say, ‘Let’s throw a party,’ you're essentially saying, ‘Let’s have a good time with friends.’ An informal way of saying ‘throwing ‘ a party is ‘chucking a party’.
The term ‘kicks off’ is an informal expression that means to start or begin.
Vocabulary:
The term 'shebang' is an informal word for a lively gathering, or event where people come together for a good time.
An abbreviation is a shortened version of a longer word or phrase.
Avo is abbreviation for avocado.
Barbie is abbreviation for barbecue.
Brekkie is abbreviation for breakfast.
Uni is abbreviation for university.
A social butterfly is someone who enjoys going to a lot of parties and talking to lots of people.
A party animal is someone who loves parties and is helps to make other people enjoy them; we could also say they are the life and soul of a party.
A party pooper is someone who doesn't like parties and so can sometimes make the party less enjoyable for others.
Laid-back means relaxed.
Transcript:
(Note: This is not a word-for-word transcript)
SBS acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country and their connections and continuous care for the skies, lands and waterways throughout Australia.
Hi, it's Josipa! Last weekend, I had a lot of fun helping my friend throw a party.
I find the saying 'throw a party' funny because it sounds like you're throwing the party into the air or something. I mean, parties aren't exactly things you can throw around like a ball, right?
So, ‘throw a party' is just one of those phrases where the words don’t really help with the meaning. You're essentially saying, ‘Let’s have a good time with friends.’
Guess who else is about to throw a party? Our friend Allan. Let's hear how he and Claire talk about it.
Allan
We're chucking a party this Saturday arvo for my daughter's birthday. Are you game?
Claire
Absolutely! Your parties are second to none. When does it kick off?
Allan
We're thinking about 5.
Claire
Are you going to do the whole shebang like last year? Count me in!
Allan
Not really. This year it’s just a cosy get-together in our backyard. We’re keeping it low-key and laid-back with some fairy lights and balloons.
I have to say that I’m not surprised at all that Claire is excited about Allan’s party because Claire is what we call a social butterfly – she enjoys going to parties and talking to lots of people.
Remember that Allan said:
We're chucking a party this Saturday arvo for my daughter's birthday.Allan
We can use different phrases to say we're planning a party. While we often say, "throwing a party," we can also use the more casual term "chucking a party".
Australians just love abbreviations, that is, making longer words shorter. Did you notice that that Allan used the abbreviation short for afternoon? Can you think of some others?
Let's hear the abbreviation Allan used when he said,
We're chucking a party this Saturday arvo.Allan
Arvo. That’s a short word for afternoon. Did you manage to think of any others? I did. For example, we say 'avo' for avocado, 'barbie' for barbecue, 'brekkie' for breakfast, 'uni' for university, and so on.
And when Allan asked Claire if she wants to come along to the party? He said,
Are you game?Allan
We all know that the word game refers to fun activities we play such as board games or sport activities. But we can also use the phrase ‘are you game’ to ask if someone is willing or wants to do something, just like Allan did.
We can also say ‘I’m game’ when we want to say that we that we are willing to do something.
Let me give you more examples, I could say, ‘I'm always game for a good time. And I'm also game for trying new things. Are you game to practise a bit more English?
I hope you are because we are going back to our dialogue, Claire said,
Your parties are second to none.Claire
If something is second to none, it is the best. Let’s say, your friend makes delicious cakes, you could say, ‘Your cakes are second to none!’
Claire also said,
When does it kick off?Claire
The term ‘kicks off’ is an informal expression that means to start or begin.
It comes from the idea of kicking the ball to start a sports match of some kind, so you could say that every Friday night, our local football team kicks off at 8pm.
But we also use it when we are talking about a lot of different kinds of activities and events especially if we are starting something exciting.
Are you going to do the whole shebang like last year? Count me in!Claire
Claire wants to know if Allan is going ‘to do the whole shebang’, that is, to go to considerable effort to plan a lot of exciting and usually expensive things to make the party very active and lively, like hiring lots of different things for the guests to do or eat or drink.
Perhaps you can think of parties that you have been to that have been like that? I certainly can.
Either way, Claire loves parties and definitely wants to come along, so she agrees by saying, ‘Count me in!’
A party animal is someone who loves parties. And the party pooper is, yep, you guessed it, someone who doesn't like parties and doesn’t like doing things that other people like doing at parties. Basically, the opposite of a party animal.
At the end of a dialogue Allan said,
We’re keeping it low-key and laid-back with some fairy lights and balloons.Allan
Low-key means not too exciting and laid-back means relaxed and easy going. When a person is laid-back, they are calm and relaxed, not easily stressed.
So, a laid-back event or setting has a casual and comfortable feel and is not too formal.
I hope I’ll get invited to Allan's daughter’s laid-back party because we always have a whale of a time together.
Having a whale of a time means really enjoying yourself and having lots of fun. Last year's celebration was fantastic, so I can't wait for this one!
A big thank you to our educational consultant, Professor Lynda Yates, and our guest Sahil Makkar.
Paul Nicholson and Lily O'Sullivan voiced the characters of Allan and Claire.
