Speak English Like an American » LESSON 14 - Amber and Ted Heat Up the Kitchen

Amber and Ted Heat Up the Kitchen

Amber and Ted are in the kitchen baking cookies. Amber asks Ted to give her a kiss, but Ted tells her he's too busy. Then he feels guilty and goes to her. But suddenly, they 're not alone!

Amber: Ted, when I met you, it was love at first sight.

Ted: I was nuts about you from the beginning too, Amber. Don't forget, I broke up with that girl Tiffany after I met you.

Amber: Come here and give me a kiss.

Ted: Give me a break, Amber! We don't have time for that now. We need to crank out these cookies.

Amber: You don't really love me, do you?

Ted: Amber, I'm head over heels in love with you. But it's crunch time with these cookies.

Amber: Cookies, cookies, cookies — you've got a one-track mind. He loves cookies, yeah, yeah, yeah...

Ted: Amber, I need to keep working, but you can take a break if you want.

Amber: No, I'll keep plugging away... I'm just your cookie slave. Go ahead, treat me like dirt!

Ted: Sorry, Amber. Come here and let me give you a quick kiss.

(Susan enters the kitchen)

Susan: Hey, what's going on in here? Are you two making cookies or making out?

Idioms
  • (to) break up with (someone)
    → to end a relationship with a romantic partner
    EXAMPLE 1: When Nicole's boyfriend told her he didn't want to see her anymore, she replied, "I can't believe you're breaking up with me!"
    EXAMPLE 2: After dating her boyfriend Dan for four years, Erica finally decided to break up with him.
  • (to) crank out
    → to produce rapidly or in a routine manner
    EXAMPLE 1: Last night, Nicole cranked out 200 signs for her campaign.
    EXAMPLE 2: We just bought a new printer at work. It can crank out 20 pages per minute.
  • crunch time
    → a short period when there's high pressure to achieve a result
    EXAMPLE 1: The entire month of December is crunch time for Santa Claus.
    EXAMPLE 2: May is crunch time for many students. It's when they have their final exams.
  • Give me a break!
    → that's ridiculous; that's outrageous
    EXAMPLE 1: You want me to pay $3 for one cookie? Give me a break!
    EXAMPLE 2: You expect me to believe that excuse? Give me a break!

    NOTE: YOU might see this written in its informal, conversational form: "Gimme a break!" This is usually how the idiom is pronounced.

  • go ahead
    → to continue; to proceed without hesitation
    EXAMPLE 1: We have more than enough food for dinner. Go ahead and invite your friend to join us.
    EXAMPLE 2: Let's go ahead and buy our plane tickets now.

    NOTE: "GO ahead" can also be used as a noun, as in the expression "to give somebody the go ahead," meaning to give somebody permission to move forward with an activity.

  • head over heels in love
    → very much in love
    EXAMPLE 1: During the first years of their marriage, Brad and Jennifer were head over heels in love with each other.
    EXAMPLE 2: Sara is head over heels in love with Mark. Unfortunately, he doesn't even know her name!
  • love at first sight
    → an immediate attraction
    EXAMPLE 1: It took Allison several months to fall in love with Karl. It wasn't love at first sight.
    EXAMPLE 2: Tony liked Tara immediately. It was love at first sight!
  • (to) make out
    → to kiss with much passion
    EXAMPLE: Ted and Amber started making out at the stoplight and didn't realize that the light had turned green.

    NOTE: "Make out" also means:

    1. To manage. How did you make out at the doctor's today?
    2. To understand or see with difficulty. It was so foggy, I could barely make out the street signs.
    3. To prepare a check or other payment. Please make out a check for this month's rent.
  • (to be) nuts about
    → to like very much
    EXAMPLE 1 : Ted has every single Metallica album — he's nuts about that band.
    EXAMPLE 2: We're just nuts about our new neighbors. We have them over for dinner once a month.

    SYNONYM: crazy about

  • (to have a) one-track mind
    → having all thoughts directed to just one thing or activity; focused on just one thing
    EXAMPLE 1: Ryan thinks about football all the time. He's got a one-track mind.
    EXAMPLE 2: Mia has a one-track-mind. She thinks about boys all the time.
  • (to) plug away (at something)
    → to proceed with a boring or routine task; to keep trying
    EXAMPLE 1: Only 842 more cookies to bake. Let's keep plugging away!
    EXAMPLE 2: Don't give up on chemistry class. If you keep plugging away, you will eventually learn the material.
  • take a break
    → to stop and rest from an activity
    EXAMPLE 1: Bob always worked 10 hours straight, never taking a break.
    EXAMPLE 2: Let's take a break from our work and go get some ice cream.
  • (to) treat (someone) like dirt
    → to behave in a nasty way towards someone; to treat someone poorly
    EXAMPLE 1: Nobody was surprised when Nicole's boyfriend broke up with her, since she treated him like dirt.
    EXAMPLE 2: I feel sorry for Jeffrey. The kids at school are very nasty to him. They really treat him like dirt.
Practice The Idioms

Susan is telling the story of how she met her husband. Fill in the blanks, using the following idioms:

  • love at first sight
  • plugging away
  • crunch time
  • making out
  • broke up with
  • go ahead
  • treated him like dirt
  • crank out
  • crazy about
  • head over heels in love

I met Bob in college. He was in my English Literature class. I liked him right away. For me, it was __________ . I wrote him several love poems, though I never gave them to him. Then I found out that he had a girlfriend. I saw him __________ with a girl named Joyce. It looked like she was __________ Bob too. But later that week, I heard that she was a nasty person and that she __________ . So I decided to __________ and ask him to the movies. He said he was too busy. It was __________ , and he had to __________ a paper for literature class and study for several exams. But I didn't give up. I kept __________ . Then one day he __________ Joyce and asked me out to dinner. That was 25 years ago, and we're still together. Fortunately, we're still __________ with each other!

Answer Key
Practice The Idioms

I met Bob in college. He was in my English Literature class. I liked him right away. For me, it was love at first sight. I wrote him several love poems, though I never gave them to him. Then I found out that he had a girlfriend. I saw him making out with a girl named Joyce. It looked like she was crazy about Bob too. But later that week, I heard that she was a nasty person and that she treated him like dirt. So I decided to go ahead
and ask him to the movies. He said he was too busy. It was crunch time, and he had to crank out a paper for literature class and study for several exams. But I didn't give up. I kept plugging away. Then one day he broke up with Joyce and asked me out to dinner. That was 25 years ago, and we're still together. Fortunately, we're still head over heels in love with each other!

Answer Key
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