Dialogues with Idioms

Ye for President

Two friends discuss Ye for President. The Grammar focuses on Phrasal Modals and Adverbials.

Jasmine: “Did you hear about Kanye West?”
Tricia: “I heard he’s running for President.”
Jasmine: “It helps if you’re a billionaire.”
Tricia: “What else can you be if you want that job?”
Jasmine: “I thought things were fair here.”
Tricia: “Dollars to donuts, everything is fair. Especially for poor people.”
Jasmine: “Are we going to talk about that?”
Tricia: “Poverty? Actually, I don’t want to.”
Jasmine: “Me neither. It looks like a nice day today. I would rather think about the sunshine.”
Tricia: “Or get out in it.”

VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS

Run for means to stand for election for. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Dollars to donuts means absolutely, certainly. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Get out here implies leaving or escaping from indoors out into the sunny weather. See online Idioms Dictionary.

ENGLISH GRAMMAR
Suggested Topic for Comments: Phrasal Modals

“Going to” is the Phrasal modal counterpart of the Modals “will” and “shall.” The tense of “be going to” is present, but the meaning of the statement is in the future.

INTERMEDIATE-ADVANCED DIALOGUE

Two new Idioms are “Get this” and “Cut ties.” The Grammar focus is on Adverbials.

Alice: “Kanye West announced he’s running for US president in 2024, and asked Donald Trump to be his running mate!“
Bonnie: “You mean the rapper who changed his name to Ye?”
Alice: “He announced ‘Ye24.’ That qualifies as news.”
Bonnie: “Adidas cut their partnership with him last year after he made anti-Semitic comments and other hate speech on Twitter.”
Alice: “Kim Kardashian, his ex-wife, also condemned him for that. Along with some other businesses like Gap and JP Morgan Bank.”
Bonnie: “Forbes Magazine said cutting ties with Adidas brought Ye’s net worth down from $1.5 billion to $400 million.”
Alice: “No longer a billionaire. That’s sad.”
Bonnie: “Maybe the important question is about Trump’s response to Ye’s offer?”
Alice: “Apparently he started screaming. But get this — Milo Yiannopoulos has agreed to run Ye’s campaign.”
Bonnie: “Now there’s a fine specimen of humanity. This news is very uplifting.”
Alice: “Well said. Except that uplifting doesn’t dominate the news.”
Bonnie: “Remember Bambi in the film Bambi Meets Godzilla? It doesn’t acquire film or cartoon status until Godzilla’s foot comes down.”
Alice: “Yep, that is correct. Oh well, Ye is running for president — again. That’s news.”

VOCABULARY WITH IDIOMS

Running mate means either of a pair of candidates running together for two closely associated political offices, especially the candidate for the lesser of the two offices. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Cut ties means to end or discontinue a relationship — romantic or otherwise — with someone or some group. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Get this is used to introduce a piece of information one believes to be particularly remarkable or noteworthy. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) is an animated short film less than two minutes long. The opening credits scroll over an animated image of the character Bambi serenely grazing, and after the credits Bambi looks up to see Godzilla’s foot coming down, squashing him flat. See online Idioms Dictionary.
Oh well is a dismissive phrase typically said after something disappointing has happened. See online Idioms Dictionary.

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