Do You Understand This Dialogue?

Things you write are grate. I got a lot of information out of these dialogues

Thank you 

I just loaded some love songs in the Relaxation Lounge which is on my profile page, listen to the lyrics and try to understand the stories being expressed in the songs.

Good to hear from you PinkButterfly!

Just wanted to say hi to you, Teacher…It’s been a while

These news headlines was submitted to me by a student which I translated and want to share with everyone.

1-Egyptian revolution’s unsung heroes languish in hospitals

    Egyptian revolution’s heroes (who are in the background) is wasting time in the hospitals.

2-Bin Laden’s No. 2 is Al Qaeda’s new chief

    Bin Laden’s No. 2 man is Al Qaeda’s new head.

3-No breakthrough in Russian envoy’s trip to Libya

   No success in the Russian group’s trip to Libya

4-Iranian dissident’s family suffers double tragedy

   The Iranian protestor’s family suffered 2 bad things to happen to them

5-Iran’s supreme Leader backs Ahmadinejad

   Iran’s top leader supports Ahmadinejad

6-Turkey breaks with Syria over crackdown

   Turkey stops relationship with Syria because of their heavy military action on protestors.

7-More Syrian refugees pour into Turkey

   More Syrian refugees go into Turkey

8-Lebanon’s new Cabinet shows strong Syrian influence

   The members of Lebanon’s new cabinet have been influence by the Syrians

9-Protesters may not get a stay in Yemen’s future

   The protestors may not be welcomed in the future of Yemen

10-Lack of sleep makes wives cranky with their spouses

    Insufficient sleep for wives are making them hard to live with their husbands

11-Eight troops killed as militant attack Pakistan army checkpoint

     8 troops got killed when militants attacked a Pakistanian  army checkpoint

12-Defiant no longer, Weiner resigns in sex scandal

     Weiner gave up fighting the sex charges and quit his job

13-Special report: Government in cyber fight but can’t keep up

     Special report: The Government is trying to stop computer hackers but is losing the battle.

14-US funds hunt for Libyan missiles

      Money provided by the US to look for Libyan missles.

15-Toyota promises shareholders revival from disaster

      Toyota promise the people who own Toyota stock their stock value will increase in the future.

16-Scientists ID mysterious flash in distant galaxy

      Scientists have identified a mysterious light in the far away galaxy.

17-Cancer death rate gap widens based on education

      There is a difference in people who die from cancer based on how much education they have.

18-Debbie Reynolds auctions off Hollywood treasures

      Debbie Reynolds sold her personal property gained from her Hollywood career.

19-Secretary Gates thanks Pentagon journalists for critical coverage

      Secretary Gates expressed appreciation to journalist who provide Pentagon news reporting, especially for important news.

20-Sony hacker claims responsibility for CIA website shutdown

     The person who hacked into Sony’s website, also claims responsibility for hacking into the CIA website causing it to crash.

Yes, it’s informal, poker players use a bluff tactic to help win their card game.

Dear teacher, as far as I understand this expression (don’t call my bluff) is informal, right?

The phrase that was used by President Obama was not used in a literal sense of the phrase but it’s understood what he meant.  First let’s examine the phrases, “bluff” and “call my bluff,” then we’ll put it all together to make sense of it.

 1. Bluff= An attempt to deceive someone into believing that one can or will do something.

 2. Call my bluff= An attempt by someone to challenge a person’s bluff.

Here’s the background:

The US government has to make a decision to raise the debt limit by August 2, 2011 (supported by the Democratic Party; the President’s party) to avoid defaulting on paying some of the bills or not raise the debt limit (supported by the Republican Party) and possibly default on paying some bills, especially investor’s interest payments of debt investments paid by the US government, social security payments, etc.

During a meeting at the White House, President Obama told House Majority Leader Eric Cantor: “Don’t call my bluff!”

 Here’s what he meant:

 “Don’t think because we get to the last minute that I’ll ultimately sign a temporary budget bill, because I’ll veto it.  I’m not bluffing, so don’t challenge that supposed bluff.”

The reason why I made the statement in the beginning that it wasn’t a literal use of the phrase is because the bluff wasn’t the president’s; he was speaking for his opponents as if they were implying he was bluffing.

I hope this will shed some light on your understanding of the phrase that was used, if not, please send in your question.

Concerning “heavy on the young” here is the explanation:

In the U.S., if you order food from a restaurant like a hamburger, fish sandwich etc. and you want to request extra condiment such as ketchup or tartar sauce, you would say “heavy ketchup” or “heavy tartar sauce” and the cook would put extra sauce on your sandwich.

In the dialogue, one older man said to the other older man, “how’s it going young man?”  He asked him in a friendly fun-type of way how was he doing today, even though he wasn’t a young man but as a joke he asked him.

The other older man responded, “heavy on the young,” which he meant jokingly, keep telling me I’m young, young, young (heavy=extra)!  In other words, he wanted the greeter to put emphasis on the “young” part of his greeting.

One thing you must learn if you want to understand native speaking people is that you can’t always take things literally. For example, how would you interpret the following dialogue:

John: Hey Jim, I walked on the moon yesterday!

Jim: Yeah, right!

Do you think Jim actually believed John walked on the moon because he answered: “yeah, right?”

No, Jim answered sarcastically because he did not believe him.

This is what we call “tongue in cheek” (jokingly) how Jim answered.

I hope this helps your understanding.

A detailed explanation for “don’t call my bluff” is coming.

Maybe I’m wrong, but that answer of the second man sounds like something ironic for me.

You got it, that is correct!  Now I would like to know if anyone have any thoughts on this before I answer in a detailed explanation?

Don’t frighten me or I’ll ….= Don’t call my bluff?? So he wanted to show he was serious about his desission.

Lizaza, you are right on course in determining the meaning by focusing on context. Here it is:

The President and Republican Congressional leaders are in a disagreement concerning the next budget.  As it stands now, on August 2, 2011 the government will run out of money to pay it’s bills.  Therefore, the budget has to be approved for 2012, and to pay all of the bills will require to raise the debt ceiling or not pay some bills.

The President and members of the Democratic party want to increase revenue by raising taxes.  Members of the Republican party want to work to balance the budget and not raise taxes. Both sides are firm in their convictions, to keep the government running, there is a possibility a temporary budget can be submitted, but President Obama has said he will not sign a temporary (stop gap) budget.

In relating to the question: “Don’t call my bluff,” I want to give you and others an opportunity to research “bluff” and “call my bluff” meanings.  Knowing how to learn the meaning of these phrases will help students to be able to research other phrases.  President Obama is known for using a lot of phrases, it’s my goal to help students of English to determine the meaning of phrases, because American English is full of their usage.

It’s a bit difficult. I need more context. 

Lizaza, you are getting close! Because of the complexity of this phrase, I would like to ask you to re-phrase your explanation. There is a lot of buzz among native speakers about the use of this phrase by the President, nevertheless, I want English students to be in on (aware) what is occuring in the US related to American English phrases.

Also, thanks for informing some readers about the answer of “heavy on the young” being on page 4.

maybe he meant that the life is so difficult for him >> the young man as the other man said !

Dear Sir_pouria_H, ruan wallace and AlexisSilva the answer about “heavy on the young” is on page 4

I guess it means life is more difficult than youth.

yes, the life of old men is heavy the young people!