ESL Podcast 621 – Picking a Fight

I was sitting at my local bar waiting for my friends to arrive to watch the game. Two guys sitting a few seats away kept giving me strange looks, and one of them said, “What are you looking at?” I looked around to make sure that he was speaking to me, and before I could respond he said, “You want a piece of me? You and what army? Let’s take it outside.”

By this time, I realized that this guy was trying to pick a fight with me and I wasn’t sure what to do. I was hoping that I could make peace with him or at least hold him off until my friends got there.

I said to him, “I’m just sitting over here minding my own business. I’m not trying to get in your face. I don’t have a problem with you. Let’s just chill¹ out and I’ll buy you and your friend a drink.” He didn’t seem to like what I’d said.

“Chill out?” he said. “I don’t need to chill out. Those are fighting words. Let’s take this outside. I want to see you running with your tail between your legs.” He got up and started to walk toward² me.

Just then, my friends arrived. When the man saw my six friends walking toward me, he stopped in his tracks. I think he was weighing his odds³ and doubting his own chances. He turned around and said something to his friend, and then they both got up and walked out the door.

That was a narrow escape. I had never been so happy to see my friends as I was at that moment. Needless⁴ to say, the first round was on me.


Script⁵ by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 chill   

vt.使变冷，使冷却，使沮丧；n.寒冷，风寒

参考例句：

• With the chill factor,it's nearly minus forty here.加上风寒指数，气温接近零下40度。
• The bad news cast a chill over the whole family.这坏消息使全家人感到沮丧。

2 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

3 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

4 needless   

adj.不必，无须，不必要的，无用的

参考例句：

• Needless to say,I agree.无须说，我是同意的。
• It is needless to add that you are in want of a second.你需要一个助手，那是不必说的。

5 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。