Pharmacy Products
Two friends discuss pharmacy products. The Grammar focus is on Quantifiers.
Tate: “I have to get some medicine.”
Gavin: “Do you need a doctor?”
Tate: “No, my guy at the pharmacy is good enough.”
Gavin: “What for?”
Tate: “I need this Chinese herbal remedy. I have it written down.”
Gavin: “What does it do?”
Tate: “Lots of things. I also need some new sunglasses, these are no great shakes.”
Gavin: “What pharmacy do you go to?”
Tate: “The one behind the tattoo parlor.”
Gavin: “I’ve never been to that one.”
Tate: “It’s the best in town. He also does acupuncture. Why don’t you come with me?”
Gavin: “Okay, show it to me.”
VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS
No great shakes means not very good, mediocre. See online Idioms Dictionary.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Quantifiers
“I have to get some medicine.” Quantifiers indicate a nonspecific quantity of the noun that follows. As a Quantifier, “some” can be a determiner or, when the referent is clear, a pronoun. Here it is a determiner.
Here it is an example of a pronoun: “Never mind, I’ll get some tomorrow.”
INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED DIALOGUE
New Idioms are “Give me an earful” and “This, that, and the other.” The English Grammar focuses on the Present Perfect Tense.
Nancy: “Go with me to the pharmacy, will you?”
Betsy: “Sure. I need a couple of things there anyway.”
Nancy: “There’s one right around here, isn’t there?”
Betsy: “Just past the bookstore over there. Do you need some medicine?”
Nancy: “I just need some ibuprofen and maybe some skin lotion, I want to see what they have.”
Betsy: “What’s the ibuprofen for?”
Nancy: “I hurt my back moving some furniture around, like a dinghead. So now I need some meds for a day or two.”
Betsy: “Good thing you don’t need a prescription.”
Nancy: “I know, doctors are so time-consuming and so expensive!”
Betsy: “Does taking that hurt your stomach?”
Nancy: “I take it with meals. Three times a day, but only one or two days at the most, so I’m not worried.”
Betsy: “Were you redesigning your living room? Didn’t anybody help you?”
Nancy: “Last time I asked for help, my husband gave me an earful for this, that, and the other. So this time I didn’t even ask.”
Betsy: “Does he feel guilty now?”
Nancy: “He rips on me for anything he can turn against women’s lib. So I haven’t told him anything.“
Betsy: “Not good.”
VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS
Dinghead means a stupid person. See the Free Dictionary online.
Meds means a medication or dose of medication. See the Free Dictionary online.
Gave me an earful means to scold someone, give one a reprimand or lecture. See the Free Dictionary online.
This, that, and the other means a lot of different, varying things; miscellany. See the Free Dictionary online.
Rip on someone means to mock, ridicule, or deride someone in a highly critical manner. See the Free Dictionary online.
ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Present Perfect Tense
Example: “So I haven’t told him anything.” The Present Perfect tense has a core meaning of “prior” but the situation that began at that time continues into the present. That indicates that Nancy intends or foresees at some time talking to her husband about these things. If she had no intention of doing so, she probably would have said “So I didn’t tell him anything,” because the Simple Past states facts and the sense is that the situation is over and done with.
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