#1 curious
Sheldon annoys Howard and Raj at work, and they send him away. Sheldon doesn’t fully understand why.
Transcript:
Howard: Sheldon, there’s a diploma in my office that says I have a master’s in engineering.
Sheldon: And you also have a note from your mother that says I love you, Bubele. But neither of those is a cogent argument for titanium over nanotubes.
Howard: Sheldon.
Sheldon: Yes.
Howard: Go away.
Sheldon: Did Leonard tell you to say that?
Howard: No, I thought of it all by myself.
Sheldon: Huh. It can’t be a coincidence. There must be some causal link I’m missing.
Scene: Raj is exiting his office.
Raj: Go away. (Sheldon exits)
Sheldon: Curiouser and curiouser.
Vocabulary:
diploma = a document given by a college or university to show that you have passed a particular exam or finished your studies
master’s / Master of Arts = an advanced college or university degree in a particular subject such as engineering
engineering = Engineering is the work involved in designing and constructing engines and machinery.
Bubele = a Yiddish word meaning “little one”
cogent = A cogent argument is clearly expressed and persuades people to believe it.
nanotube = a tubular molecule composed of a large number of carbon atoms
coincidence = an occasion when two or more similar things happen at the same time
causal = a link between two things in which one causes the other
curiouser and curiouser = stranger and stranger (first used in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland; strictly speaking, this term is not grammatically correct)
(definitions partly taken from the Cambridge and Collins Dictionary)
#2 delicate
Howard wants to engage in a conversation with Summer Glau, a famous American actress. So, he is working on his opening line.
Transcript:
Leonard: So aren’t you going to go talk to her?
Howard: I will, I’m just working on my opening line.
Leonard: She’s probably heard every possible line, Howard. Why don’t you just try hello?
Howard: No, no, no, that always creeps girls out. I need to come up with something that’s funny, smart and delicately suggests that my sexual endowment is disproportionate to my physical stature.
Leonard: You’re gonna need more than 11 hours.
Vocabulary:
gonna = going to
opening line = the first sentence of a planned conversation or speech
to creep somebody out = to cause someone to have an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness or fear
delicate = something that is delicate needs careful treatment
sexual endowment = An endowment is something that you have from birth. With sexual endowment, Howard is referring to the size of his penis.
disproportionate = too large or too small in comparison to something else
physical stature = referring to someone’s height
(definitions partly taken from the Cambridge and Merriam Webster Dictionary)
#3 engaged
Penny is having Christie over, also referred to as the whore of Omaha by Sheldon. Howard has to jump at the chance, of course.
Transcript:
Leonard: So, if you don’t like this Christie, why are you letting her stay?
Penny: Well, she was engaged to my cousin while she was sleeping with my brother, so she’s kind of family.
Sheldon: Yeah, I apologize for my earlier outburst, who needs Halo when we can be regaled with the delightfully folksy tale of the whore of Omaha?
Leonard: Oh, I don’t think she’s a whore.
Penny: No, yeah she’s definitely a whore. I mean, she has absolutely no standards. This one time, she was at… where’s Howard?
Howard (voice off): Bonjour mademoiselle, I understand you’re new in town.
Sheldon: Oh, good grief!
Vocabulary:
to jump at something = to accept an opportunity eagerly
engaged = having formally agreed to marry
outburst = a sudden forceful expression of emotion, especially anger
Halo = a video game
to regale somebody with = If somebody regales you with stories, they tell you a lot of them, whether you want to hear them or not
delightful = very pleasant, or enjoyable
folksy = something simple and informal; You sometimes use folksy to show disapproval of something because it seems unsophisticated.
folksy tale / folk tale / folk story = a story, usually of anonymous authorship and containing legendary elements, made and handed down orally among the common people
whore = an offensive word for a woman who is thought to have a lot of sexual partners
bonjour mademoiselle = greeting someone in French
Good grief! = used to emphasize how surprised, angry, or shocked you are
(definitions taken from the Cambridge and Collins Dictionary)
#4 eventually
Sheldon tells Penny that he and Leonard have lied to her. Leonard is not happy, and Sheldon does not understand.
Transcript:
Penny: What do you want?
Sheldon: Remember how Leonard told you we couldn’t come to your performance because we were attending a symposium on molecular positronium?
Penny: I remember symposium.
Sheldon: Yes, well, he lied.
Penny: Wait, what?
Sheldon: He lied, and I’m feeling very uncomfortable about it.
Penny: Well, imagine how I’m feeling.
Sheldon: Hungry? Tired? I’m sorry, this really isn’t my strong suit.
Scene: The living room.
Leonard: You told her I lied, why would you tell her I lied?
Sheldon: To help you.
Leonard: I’m sorry, I’m not seeing the help.
Sheldon: She was going to see through your lie eventually, so I told her that you were lying to protect me.
Leonard: Oh, I’m getting a bad feeling.
Sheldon: Hunger? Indigestion, I’m sorry I’m really not very good at this.
Vocabulary:
symposium = an occasion at which people who have great knowledge of a particular subject meet in order to discuss a matter of interest
positronium = a short-lived entity consisting of a positron and an electron bound together
strong suit = a particular skill or ability that a person or an organization has
indigestion = difficulty in digesting food, accompanied by abdominal pain
(definitions taken from the Cambridge and Collins Dictionary)
PS: In case you came here via Google (or any other search engine): This post is part of my online course on typical mistakes people with German as their native language make in English. You can get to the course here: Englisch lernen: Hoffentlich machst du diese Fehler nicht!