Drive Me up the Wall 짜증나게 하다 Peace and Quiet 평온 Is it Too Much to Ask 무리한 부탁일까요? (1002 파워 잉글리쉬 스크립트)
Power Warm-up: The Noisy Neighbors: They’re Driving Me up the Wall!
Chad is concerned that Maria doesn’t look well. She tells him that it’s because of her new neighbors, which include three small children and a baby who cries a lot.
Kristen:
We’ve got a great, I love Wednesday, the daily dialog topic, because I think we can all relate to this. The noisy neighbors. 이웃 is our neighbors. And they’re noisy.
Cameron:
Yes.
Kristen:
And they’re driving you up the wall. They’re making you crazy.
Cameron:
Yeah, literally that means I’m annoyed 짜증나게 하고 있어.
Kristen:
I feel like it’s more than ‘짜증나’ Don’t you?
Cameron:
Right.
Kristen:
If something’s driving you up the wall.
Cameron:
It’s the feeling like you are about to explode.
Kristen:
It’s like a volcano.
Cameron:
Right? And I don’t know why we say driving me up the wall, but it is that.
Kristen:
It is that maybe you’re so 짜증나 that you’re like about to climb the wall. Yeah. Maybe you’re getting crazy. You become Spider-Man. Oh.
Cameron:
Oh yeah.
Kristen:
Maybe that’s what it is. I don’t know. Okay. But anyway, the noisy neighbors, they’re driving me up the wall. Have you ever had a noisy neighbor?
Cameron:
Yeah, I’ve had some kind of noisy neighbors. But I think maybe I am the noisy neighbor.
Kristen:
No. You cannot be.
Cameron:
I will say when I first came to Korea, I was washing, I was using my washer at like 2 in the morning.
Kristen:
That’s not nice. That’s not nice.
Cameron:
And I didn’t realize that it could be heard.
Kristen:
Yes.
Cameron:
Until one time, my neighbor was using their washer and I heard it all. And I was like, oh my gosh.
Kristen:
What have I been doing?
Cameron:
What have I been doing at 2, 3 in the morning?
Kristen:
Well, I just have to tell you something about my neighbor. She likes to vacuum at 8 in the morning.
Cameron:
That’s fine.
Kristen:
No, it’s not fine. No, not fine for me.
Cameron:
After 7 a.m. I think you have to be quiet from like 10 to 6.
Kristen:
10 to 7?
Kristen:
Oh, I would say 10 to at least 9.
Cameron:
Oh no. Wake up. You’ve got stuff to do.
Kristen:
All right. So drive someone up the wall means drive them crazy. You want some peace and quiet. Now, two separate words, but they’re used together. Peace and quiet.
Cameron:
Yeah, these are two words we often put together, peace and quiet. It literally is like it’s very silent. It’s very tranquil. There are no loud sounds, no fighting going on, just peace and quiet.
Kristen:
Peace and quiet. And if you say, is it too much to ask? Are you asking a question or is it just a comment?
Cameron:
Right. Not so much. It’s just saying I feel like there isn’t a reasonable amount of something and you are doing too much.
Kristen:
Mm-hmm.
Cameron:
You are being unreasonable.
Kristen:
Ah, that’s the point. You are being unreasonable. I’m asking you this, it’s very reasonable. But you feel like, do you feel like I’m being unreasonable? No, no, no, I’m being reasonable.
Cameron:
Right, so this explanation is a little hard to understand, maybe, without context. So maybe we should listen to the dialog.
Kristen:
Let’s do it. Okay.
Power Dialog
Chad: Maria, you look like you haven’t slept in days.
Maria: It’s my new neighbors in the apartment next door. They’re driving me up the wall.
Chad: Are they playing their music too loud?
Maria: No, it’s worse. They have three kids under six, including an infant who cries all night. I can’t get five minutes of peace and quiet.
Chad: Maybe you could start working in a cafe some days.
Maria: Is it too much to ask to be able to work from my home office like I have for the past three years?
Kristen:
Okay, you can find our power dialogue on page 14, the noisy neighbors, they’re driving me up the wall. Okay, Chad begins by saying, Maria, you look like you haven’t slept in days. So, if Chad is saying you haven’t slept in days, it’s kind of saying you really look bad.
Cameron:
You look tired. You look like a zombie.
Kristen:
You look like a zombie.
Kristen:
Yeah. And Maria says, it’s my new neighbors in the apartment next door. They’re driving me up the wall. Okay. The new neighbors are driving her up the wall.
Cameron:
They’re driving me crazy. They’re making me crazy. And it’s because they are doing something annoying. Here it is noise related, but it doesn’t have to be noise. It could be an action that they’re doing that is just making you go crazy.
Kristen:
Sure, sure. It’s tough. I think everybody can relate. There’ll be like, they hear this, oh, it’s my neighbors in the apartment next door or upstairs, you know, above me or below me. They’re driving me up the wall.
Cameron:
This is why I don’t want to live in an apartment.
Kristen:
I know. Apartments you go either up, down, or next.
Cameron:
What do you mean?
Kristen:
Like because my room, the main room, master bedroom is connected to a bathroom on the other side and a small room. You can hear everything.
Cameron:
Yeah.
Kristen:
So I actually changed my bed direction of the bed to the other wall. Interesting. So true. Okay. So let’s continue. Chad says, are they playing their music too loud?
Cameron:
Maria then says, no, it’s worse. They have three kids under six, including an infant who cries all night. I can’t get five minutes of peace and quiet.
Kristen:
Okay, kids. I love kids. But when they’re your neighbors…
Cameron:
They’re loud.
Kristen:
They’re loud and if you have an infant, what’s an infant?
Cameron:
So an infant is a baby baby.
Kristen:
Yes, baby baby.
Cameron:
So, baby is kind of like. I don’t know. 5, 6-year-old a baby. If I wanted to I still call my nephew, he’s seven, he’s the baby of the family. He’s always gonna be the baby. But an infant is a baby that has not started walking yet essentially, like a completely helpless baby. Once they start to walk, they become a toddler, but when they can’t do anything but eat and poop.
Kristen:
Yeah.
Cameron:
They’re an infant.
Kristen:
Yeah, that’s right. That’s an infant. And cry. Okay. And they cry all night. I can’t get five minutes of peace and quiet. So Maria cannot get peace and quiet, even for five minutes. Yes. Oh.
Cameron:
So peace and quiet is this tranquil, no disturbances, kind of zen-like experience, right? So you often use this in a domestic, in a housing situation. Often mom or dad wants some peace and quiet. They want the kids to be quiet. They don’t want any loud noises. They don’t want running around, right? So this peace and quiet is just a relaxing time.
Kristen:
Right. And you kept mentioning the word tranquil. It’s spelled T-R-A-N-Q-U-I-L, which is in Korean 고요한. It’s like that kind of very like, very calm and quiet like a period of time. And so here, peace and quiet, usually people like ‘Can I get some
peace and quiet around here?’ It’s when they cannot get it, they ask for it.
Cameron:
Right, yeah, you often only use this peace and quiet when you don’t have it.
Kristen:
Or maybe a mom who has three kids and finally at 11 p.m. she has some peace and quiet.
Cameron:
Yeah.
Kristen:
Because during the day, she doesn’t. Okay. Chad says…
Cameron:
Maybe you could start working in a cafe some days.
Kristen:
Maybe you could is our power pattern. What is Chad suggesting?
Cameron:
This is a light suggestion. .Hey, why don’t you try this? You know, he’s not giving a very heavy, you should start working in a cafe, but just a friendly like, hey, what about this? Why not try this? . Maybe you could do this. …
Kristen:
Right. So the word maybe and could, both of those words are like, Oh, maybe, could, it’s up to you.
Cameron:
Yeah, they soften the suggestion a lot. Because you don’t want to look like you’re telling someone what to do. Especially in this case. In the end, it is Maria’s choice.
Kristen:
All right. Maybe you could. And Maria says, is it too much to ask to be able to work from home office like I have for the past three years? Now, this question is really hard to understand. Please tell us what is she saying, actually? It’s not really a question. It’s a statement.
Cameron:
So before we talked about the word unreasonable when we were explaining this, is it too much to ask to be able to work from home? So is that unreasonable? Am I the crazy one?
Kristen:
Yeah.
Cameron:
Is this impossible to expect? That is the actual meaning of this phrase, isn’t too much to ask.
Kristen:
Right.
Cameron:
But what we’re saying here is I think this should be normal. And the fact that this is not normal is driving me insane. Right? Like this should be normal. I don’t think I’m the crazy one. I’m not the bad one. The other people are the bad people. That’s what is meant here with the is it too much to ask to be able to work in my home?
Kristen:
So you’re expressing frustration.
Cameron:
Yeah.
Kristen:
You’re saying I’m there’s nothing wrong with me. What’s wrong with you?
Cameron:
I’m not the crazy one. You’re the crazy one. And the fact that you can’t understand that is frustrating me. Is it too much to ask?
Kristen:
You more examples in just a bit. Let’s go ahead and listen to that one more time.
Power Note
Kristen:
It’s time for Power Note. We’re on page 16, pages 16 and 17. If you drive someone up the wall, it means to really annoy or frustrate them. Okay?
1)
A: Do you want to go to the music festival with me?
B: No thanks. Large crowds drive me up the wall.
Kristen:
Okay. Large crowds. I have to agree. I feel this way. Large crowds drive me up the wall. So I don’t really like big concerts. I don’t like going to large crowds.
Cameron:
There is something about a lot of people being in the same place that makes everyone dumb. Like you know, it’s like everyone thinks this. I think you know, it’s not like me thinking about this. I think everyone but it’s like everyone gets together and then you see ‘Oh if everyone just waited or everyone like went to the right,’ then we could all move together really smoothly, but everyone ends up going in their own direction and everything takes five times as long.
Kristen:
Yeah. Yeah, I know.
Cameron:
That is the part I think that drives me up the wall. Or like you go to a big supermarket. And you have the cart. And if people just stayed to the right side. And they were aware of the people around them, it would be so much easier to shop. But do you ever have that thing where like someone is standing right in front of the product that you want to grab off the shelf. But you can’t grab it.
Kristen:
Yeah. ’cause they’re right there.
Cameron:
‘Cause they’re right there with their carts.
Kristen:
Yeah.
Cameron:
And they just stand there for like three minutes.
Kristen:
Because you don’t want to be like, excuse me. You want to give them some time, but they’re doing something else. Yeah, I know. It’s frustrating. All right.
2) The woman’s annoying laugh drove her date up the wall.
Cameron:
Oh, people like, I mean, I don’t think I have a good laugh. Oh. But yeah, laughs can drive them up the wall.
Kristen:
Do you think some of our listeners, do you think your laugh drives them up the wall?
Cameron:
I’m sure. I’m sure.
Kristen:
I hope not.
Cameron:
I’m sure for some people. ‘Cause it’s a very big laugh, right? When I used to–
Kristen:
Oh me too.
Cameron:
Here’s kind of like some behind the story. I used to laugh into the microphone. But now every time I laugh, I have to turn away.
Kristen:
Oh.
Cameron:
Because it’s so, like it’s loud. So I have to like turn my face.
Kristen:
Oh, but we like– I like your laugh. It’s genuine.
Cameron:
Well, thank you very much.
Kristen:
Okay.
Cameron:
But yeah, things that can drive you up the wall, mosquito in your bedroom when you’re trying to sleep.
Kristen:
At 4 a.m.
Cameron:
At 4 a.m. That can drive you up the wall.
Kristen:
Sure, sure.
Cameron:
Or someone’s high pitched voice like that.
Kristen:
Yes.
Cameron:
Oh, this can drive you up the wall.
Kristen:
I’m very sensitive to people’s voices. So, if it’s very squeaky or like it’s too nasal, it can drive me up the wall.
Cameron:
Or right now in my neighborhood, they’re changing the pipes, the water pipes under the street. So the jackhammer.
Kristen:
You’re like,
Cameron:
That’s driving me up the wall right now.
Kristen:
Construction noises can drive you up the wall for sure.
Okay, peace and quiet means where it’s quiet. Well, we know 평화, 고요함. But how it’s used, this is important.
Cameron:
평온
1)
A: I’m thinking of spending a weekend camping with myself in the mountains.
B: That sounds nice. I could use a little peace and quiet myself.
Kristen:
So it’s really when you don’t have any distractions. I think this is a key point. Nothing is disturbing you. Yes.
2) How do you find peace and quiet in such a big city?
Cameron:
That’s so true.
Kristen:
Yeah, how do you?
Cameron:
It is a really hard thing because I think that many places in Seoul are just really loud all the time. But every once in a while, I think there are little parks sometimes that you can find. Like I’m going to the Hangang, to the Han River. Sometimes you can get some peace and quiet there depending on where you go.
Kristen:
Well, in front of my apartment, there is a lovely little park.
Cameron:
There is.
Kristen:
Wow. I mean, I don’t think I’m ever going to move. I think I’m just going to stay here for a long time.
Cameron:
You used to live in Hadong, which was like,
Kristen:
Oh!
Cameron:
Only peace and quiet.
Kristen:
Only peace and quiet.
Cameron:
No noises at all.
Kristen:
And dark.
Cameron:
And dark. And dark.
Kristen:
Okay. All right.
Is it too much to ask is really, it’s not really a question. It’s saying, I mean, am I being that unreasonable?
Cameron:
Yeah. Or you’re ridiculous, you’re crazy, or you’re unreasonable. Not me. For doing this thing.
Kristen:
Okay.
1)
A: Is it too much to ask for you to put your phone on silent?
B: I’m so sorry I forgot to do that when I walked in the theater.
Yeah. So it is very normal, natural, good manners to turn your phone on silent in the theater.
Kristen:
In a concert, yeah. Right.
Cameron:
So the first person is angry that the phone went off.
Kristen:
Yeah.
Cameron:
Is it too much to ask for you to turn off your phone?
Kristen:
Right. It’s like saying, turn off your phone and let us be reasonable.
2) Is it too much to ask for people to let me get off the bus before they get on?
Oh my gosh.
Cameron:
This drives me up the wall. The elevator? Like, I need to get off the elevator, but I can’t because people are getting on? Is it too much to ask for them to wait?
Kristen:
This is great.
Cameron:
Three seconds.
Kristen:
I think this is a great question. Everybody understands like, yes, I agree. Please wait until I get off.
Maybe you could is a light suggestion. Maybe you could get a loan from the bank.
Cameron:
I’ve got bad credit.
Kristen:
Yeah.
Cameron:
My credit scores.
Kristen:
Oh, wow.
Cameron:
2) Maybe you could take a year off from school and travel with me.
Kristen:
Oh, that sounds great, but I don’t know. Yeah, I have to finish. Okay,
infant is our power vocab today on page 18, so do check out the definition. And make sure to…
Infant
An infant is a baby in its earliest stage of life. An infant can’t walk or talk and is fully reliant on its parents or family to survive.