In today’s English lesson, Beverly (Leonard’s mom) goes out for a drink with Penny. Beverly gets drunk and suddenly experiences some warm feelings toward her son and Sheldon. She even kisses Sheldon!
For best learning results, please follow the five steps in the prescribed order:
- Watch with Subtitles
- Read the Transcript
- Learn the Vocabulary and Phrases
- Test yourself by watching the whole scene again
- Test yourself with some quiz questions
Step 1: Watch with Subtitles
Step 2: Read the Transcript
Penny: Leonard!
Beverly: Sonny boy!
Penny: Get out here! Your mommy wants to talk to you!
Leonard: What the hell is going on?
Penny: You’re in trouble.
Beverly: Why didn’t you tell me you were tapping my homegirl? Did I say that right?
Penny: Yeah, not bad, not bad.
Leonard: Are you guys drunk?
Beverly: Well, I hope so. Otherwise, why would we have stopped at Del Taco? Now, how could you not tell me you were in a relationship with this lovely, charming young woman?
Penny: Oh, thank you.
Beverly: You’re welcome. Is it because she’s uneducated, trapped in a menial service position?
Penny: What the hell happened to lovely and charming?
Leonard: How come you didn’t tell me that you and Father were getting a divorce? How come you didn’t tell me you had surgery? How come you didn’t tell me my dog died?
Beverly: Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. What I hear you saying is that you want a more intimate mother-son relationship.
Leonard: I do.
Beverly: There. It’s late. Now, go to bed. I’m getting a warm feeling spreading through my heart.
Penny: That’s the Del Taco.
Sheldon: Why is Leonard softly banging his head against his bedroom door?
Beverly: Speaking of warm feelings, come here. No, I’d rather have the busboy.
Step 3: Learn the Vocabulary
Sonny boy! = a male child
The term sonny boy is usually used by an older person and often addresses a young adult man, as in this case Leonard, who is Beverly’s son.
mommy = Young children often call their mother mommy.
Example: The little girl misses her mommy.
What the hell is going on? = an expression of confusion or disbelief about a situation or event
It is often used when someone is surprised by unexpected events or circumstances.
to tap (slang) = to have sex with a woman
To tap in this sense is a very vulgar and disrespectful term, and it should be avoided in conversation. At least, you should be very careful using it.
homegirl = a girl or woman from the same area as you, especially one from the same social group as you
Apparently, that is not the case here. Yet, Beverly uses the word homegirl, as she wants to say that she is now Penny’s close friend. And she is as cool as her because she went for a drink – or rather a couple of drinks – with Penny. And they have shared a lot of intimate details about each other.
Example: She was happy to be back home with her homegirls.
Del Taco = an American fast-food restaurant chain that specializes in Mexican cuisine
Yet, Penny and Beverly didn’t go there to eat but to drink lots of Tequila instead.
charming = pleasant and attractive
Example: We had dinner with our director and his charming wife.
menial = Menial work is boring, and the people who do it have a low status and are usually badly paid.
Beverly is referring to Penny’s job as a waitress at the Cheesecake Factory.
Example: It’s fairly menial work, such as washing dishes and cleaning floors.
intimate = having a close, personal relationship with someone (like in this case, an intimate mother-son relationship)
Example: They shared an intimate physical experience.
to bang = to hit a part of the body against something
Example: She banged her fist angrily on the table.
busboy = a person who works in a restaurant removing dirty dishes and bringing clean ones
Beverly is referring to a young man who works at Del Taco and who she found attractive.
Example: After moving to Los Angeles, he worked as a busboy for several months.
Step 4: Watch without Subtitles
Step 5: Take the Test
Scene taken from Season 3, Episode 11 of The Big Bang Theory: The Maternal Congruence | Definitions and example sentences in the video are partly taken from the Cambridge, Merriam-Webster, and Collins Dictionary.
