ESL Podcast 508 – Regretting Past Actions

Dennis: Oh, why did I let my temper get the best of me? I never should have said those things to the new client!

Nora: Don’t freak out. I’m sure you didn’t do any damage that can’t be rectified¹. It’s true that, in retrospect², you probably shouldn’t have called Nathan, the head of the project, a twerp.

Dennis: Don’t remind me of what I said! Hindsight is 20/20. Now they’re going to think we’re running a dog and pony³ show.

Nora: No, they’re not. Nathan was being unreasonable⁴ and you tried to sugarcoat your objections the best you could. Everybody could see that you were trying to pull your punches, but that guy just wouldn’t give an inch.

Dennis: Nevertheless, this is going to have repercussions⁵.

Nora: Oh, here comes the boss now. I think she wants to talk to you.

Dennis: I’ve no doubt about that.

Nora: What do you suppose she’s going to say?

Dennis: I know exactly what she’s going to say: “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out!”


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 rectified   

[医]矫正的，调整的

参考例句：

• I am hopeful this misunderstanding will be rectified very quickly. 我相信这个误会将很快得到纠正。
• That mistake could have been rectified within 28 days. 那个错误原本可以在28天内得以纠正。

2 retrospect   

n.回顾，追溯；v.回顾，回想，追溯

参考例句：

• One's school life seems happier in retrospect than in reality.学校生活回忆起来显得比实际上要快乐。
• In retrospect,it's easy to see why we were wrong.回顾过去就很容易明白我们的错处了。

3 pony   

adj.小型的；n.小马

参考例句：

• His father gave him a pony as a Christmas present.他父亲给了他一匹小马驹作为圣诞礼物。
• They made him pony up the money he owed.他们逼他还债。

4 unreasonable   

adj.不讲道理的，不合情理的，过度的

参考例句：

• I know that they made the most unreasonable demands on you.我知道他们对你提出了最不合理的要求。
• They spend an unreasonable amount of money on clothes.他们花在衣服上的钱太多了。

5 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》