| William: | Hello and welcome to the English We Speak, I'm William Kremer. |
| Yang Li: | And I'm Yang Li. |
| William: | Li, are you wearing make-up? |
| Yang Li: | Yes, do you like it? It's not too much? |
| William: | I think you look sick. |
| Yang Li: | What? |
| William: | Sick! |
| Yang Li: | But I feel fine. I'm perfectly healthy. |
| William: | No, you don't look ill Li, you look sick! |
| Yang Li: | Sorry I just don't get it. I'm not ill! |
| William: | Sorry Li, I should explain. It's our expression for the day. Lots of young people in the UK use the word sick to mean cool or great. |
| Yang Li: | English can be weird can't it? Sick means cool? |
| William: | Yes, it is a bit odd. I know one teacher who was confused by this word when his student used it in a class. |
| Yang Li: | Really? What did they say? |
| William: | Something like this: |
|
| Student: | Mr Griffiths! |
| Teacher: | Yes? |
| Student: | Sir, are you wearing new shoes? |
| Teacher: | Yes, I am. Why? |
| Student: | Because they are sick! |
| Teacher: | Sick? |
| Student: | Totally sick, sir. |
| Teacher: | Well, young man. As you find them so terrible, how about you give me 100 lines saying ... saying ... |
| Student: | No, no, I like them! Sick means cool! |
| Teacher: | First I've heard of it. |
|
| Yang Li: | Lines. Lines are a form of punishment which teachers used to give students—copying out the same sentence again and again. You never had to write lines, did you William? |
| William: | Erm ... Maybe I won't go into that here! |
| Yang Li: | So anyway, what do I say if I really am sick? |
| William: | I'm feeling sick. Or I'm feeling ill. |
| Yang Li: | So we can work it out from the context. |
| William: | Exactly, that's it. Anyway, like I was saying I love the make-up Li. But maybe next time don't wear green eye-shadow. |
| Yang Li: | Why? |
| William: | It makes you look, erm sick. |
| Yang Li: | Oh, I give up. Bye. |
| William: | Bye. |
