Man flu
| Jen: | Hello, I'm Jennifer. Welcome to The English We Speak. I'm joined today by Li. Hi Li! |
| Li: | Hi Jen! |
| Jen: | I thought that Neil was supposed to be joining me today—where is he? |
| Li: | Oh Jen, haven't you heard? He's very, very sick. I heard the boss saying he has man flu! |
| Jen: | Man flu! That's probably correct. |
| Li: | Is man flu very contagious? Perhaps we had better clean all of our desks in case we get infected too? |
| Jen: | No, I think we'll be OK, Li. |
| Li: | No ... I think that we should all go to the doctor's to see if we can get an immunisation. |
| Jen: | I really wouldn't worry too much about it. |
| Li: | But Jen, you should take it more seriously! Alltypes of flu are very bad—it can leave you very sick for many weeks! |
| Jen: | Well, proper flu can, yes. Flu is short for influenza, which is a very infectious virus. It can cause fever, headaches, coughing ... And some strains, or types of flu, can cause death! |
| Li: | Death! Oh, I don't want Neil to die. Should we send him some flowers? |
| Jen: | Hold on a second. Neil won't die. Man flu is a bit different to normal flu. In fact, it's not even a real virus. |
| Li: | So what is man flu, then? |
| Jen: | In English, when a man gets a minor cold or perhaps a sore throat, many women refer to it as man flu. |
| Li: | Why? |
| Jen: | Well, lots of men tend to exaggerate their symptoms when they have a minor illness; in other words, they make it sound worse than it actually is. |
| Li: | I see! So when the boss said that Neil had man flu, she meant that he had a small cold, but is exaggerating his symptoms. |
| Jen: | That's right! |
| Li: | Well, I want to talk to him. I'm going to phone him right now and get him to come into work. |
| Jen: | Oh dear ... |
| Phone rings | |
| Li: | Hello Neil, yes, I've heard you're very sick ... Yes, yes, that's terrible. I just wanted to let you know that we're having a party in the office tonight, and I'm going to bring lots of lovely food and cakes for everyone. It's a shame you can't make it because you're too sick ... Oh, oh really? OK then! |
| Li puts phone down | |
| Li: | He's coming into work now. |
| Jen: | Why did you tell him we're having a party? |
| Li: | I thought if I told him there was going to be food and cakes that he might decide to come into work, after all! |
| Jen: | Wow, Li, I think you've just found a cure for man flu—cake! |
| Li: | Just call me Doctor Li! |
| Jen: | Join us again for another edition of The English We Speak from bbclearningenglish.com. Bye for now! |
| Li: | Bye! |