0012 Small Talk About the Weather

0012 Small Talk About the Weather.pdf
0012 Small Talk About the Weather.mp3

[start of story]

I admit that I'm not very good at small talk. When I'm with friends, I can just shoot the breeze all day long. But when I talk to a stranger or someone I don't know very well, I'm always casting about, searching for something to talk about. Politics and religion are definitely taboo subjects, at least here in the United States. But you have to chat about something, otherwise there are these uncomfortable silences.

So we end up talking about - what else? - the weather. This usually begins with something like, "So, nice weather we've been having!" or "It sure is a warm one out there today." Of course, we have to comment on the temperature. My favorite is, "It's not the heat that's so bad, it's the humidity!" Actually, I think that's true - I hate it most when it's muggy outside.

Back in my home state of Minnesota, everyone is obsessed with the weather report! Every TV station has its own meteorologist with a high-tech radar giving you the 5 day forecast. They tell you when the temperature is rising or falling, what kind of clouds are moving in, and how cold the wind chill is.

My favorite quote about the weather comes from Mark Twain, who once said, that everybody talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it!

[end of story]

I begin our story by saying that “I admit that I'm not very good at small talk.” “Small talk” is an expression we use to describe things we say to someone just to fill time. “Small talk” is always about something that isn't really very important. It could be the weather. It could be a movie that you've seen recently – anything that isn't controversial, that’s not going to get you into a fight with that person. We use small talk often with strangers – people we don't know. I said that, “When I'm with friends, I can just shoot the breeze all day long.” The expression “to shoot the breeze” (breeze) is an informal one, which means to talk about lots of different things but nothing, again, very important. It's a little different than small talk. Small talk is almost always with someone who perhaps isn’t very close to you, someone you don't know very well. “To shoot the breeze” just means to talk a lot about something usually with a close friend. I say, “I can shoot the breeze all day long,” meaning for a very long time. “When I talk to a stranger or someone I don't know very well,” I continue, “I'm always casting about searching for something to talk about.” “To cast (cast) about” means to look for something. It could be a physical object. I'm casting about for new pen, or it could be, as in the case of the story here, a topic that I want to talk about. I say, “I’m always casting about searching for something to talk about.” I continue by saying that “Politics and religion are definitely taboo subjects, at least here in the United States.” A “taboo” (taboo) is a subject that is considered inappropriate to talk about, not something you should talk about, something that is even forbidden. You're not supposed to talk about it. To talk about politics and religion – two things that people often disagree about – is considered taboo in the United States. Those are taboo subjects. We don't usually talk about those with strangers. We often don't talk about them with family either, if your family doesn't agree with your politics or your religion.

I continued by saying that, “You have to chat about something. Otherwise, there are these uncomfortable silences.” The verb “to chat” (chat) just means to talk to someone in an informal environment, an informal situation. The verb “to chat” is usually used when things being discussed are not very important. You're not talking about anything very important. You're just chatting. You’re just talking. It could also be used to mean the same as shooting the breeze. I say that, “If you don't chat about something, there will be uncomfortable silences.” You know what happens, when you're talking to someone and neither of you can think of something to say and then there's just silence. No one is talking. If that goes on for too long, it could be uncomfortable. It could make you feel a little strange, like something is wrong. I continue in the story by saying that “We end up talking about – what else? The weather.” “We end up” means after a certain time, this is what happens. We talk about the weather. I continue, “This usually begins with something like, ‘So, nice weather we've been having,’ or ‘It sure is a warm one out there today.’” These are expressions that you might use as small talk. However, because they're so common now, because everyone uses them, some people use it almost as a joke. To say that means that you can't think of anything better to say. A little less common and perhaps, a better choice in this situation is an expression such as, “It sure is a warm one out there today,” or you could say, “It sure is a cold one out there today.” You're saying it's very cold out. You’re talking about the weather to allow the other person to give his or her comments. Again, it's something that people aren’t going to argue about. They’re not going to have a fight about whether it's cold or warm out. Most people will agree one or the other.

“Of course,” I say, “I had to comment on the temperature” – how cold or hot it was. I say that, “My favorite,” that is, my favorite expression, is, “It's not the heat that’s so bad, it's the humidity.” This is an old expression, maybe in many countries but certainly in the United States. When people complain during the summertime about the weather being hot, they'll often say, “Well, it's not the high temperature that's the problem. It's the humidity.” It's the amount of water in the air that makes you feel uncomfortable. “It's not the heat. It's the humidity,” we say. I then say in the story that that's true. I hate it most when it's muggy outside. “To be muggy,” (muggy) means to be very humid. If you are in Florida, in southern Florida, for example, it will be very muggy in July and August. The temperature will be very high and there will be high humidity, a lot of water in the air.

I'm originally from Minnesota in the north central part of the United States and there, I say, “Everyone is obsessed with the weather report.” “To be obsessed” (obsessed) means to be concerned about one thing, typically one thing only. That's all you talk about. That's all you think about. I say that “Minnesotans are obsessed with the weather report.” The “weather report” is when you listen to the news or read the newspaper and you find out what the weather is going to be today or tomorrow or this week. So, report here, really means news report, report about what the weather is going to be like. I say that, “Every TV station has its own meteorologist.” A “meteorologist” is someone who goes to school to study meteorology, that is the weather – the science of the weather. You could call it. I say that, “Every TV station has its own meteorologist, with a high-tech radar giving you the five-day forecast.” “High tech” means very high technology, very sophisticated, very expensive. When we talk about the TV station giving you the five day forecast, I mean they're telling you what the weather will be in the next five days. A “forecast” (forecast) is a prediction about what will happen, obviously what will happen in the future. I say that, “They tell you” – “they,” meaning the meteorologists – “when the temperature is rising” – is going up – “or falling” – is going down. They tell you what kinds of clouds are moving in. “To move in,” here means to arrive. What kind of clouds are arriving from a different part of the country. The phrasal verb “to move-in” can also mean to go and live with someone, but we’re not talking about that. We’re talking about the weather.

Meteorologists in Minnesota will also tell you, at least, during the wintertime, how cold the wind chill is. “Wind chill” (chill) is used to tell you how cold it feels on your skin, not always how cold the temperature is. So, if it's 10 degrees below zero – 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit – it’s very cold. But if there's also a wind, a strong wind, the wind may make it seem even colder. It will feel colder. And so, there is a way of estimating a figuring out what's called a “wind chill” – how cold it feels typically on your skin – when you are out in a cold temperature with the wind blowing. I end by saying that, “My favorite quote about the weather is from Mark Twain.” Mark Twain is a famous American author, what we would call a humorist. He was a novelist but he was also a very funny man. He says, or once said, that “Everybody talks about the weather but no one does anything about it.” People talk about the weather but of course, they don't change the weather. That's normally something we can’t do.

Glossary
small talk – casual conversation; discussions about ordinary events that are not very important

• While Nguyet waited for the play to begin, she made small talk with the people seated next to her.

to shoot the breeze – to speak with someone casually; to talk informally with someone to pass the time

• Dexter enjoyed shooting the breeze with his friends after a week of hard work.

to cast about – to search for something, usually in a worried manner

• When Margaret’s brother told her about his big problems at work, she desperately cast about for something she could tell him to improve the situation.

taboo – something that is forbidden; a topic that is not allowed or not wise to talk about

• Sydney did not like to talk about his family and mentioning the topic around him was taboo.

to chat – to talk in a casual and social way; to have a casual and friendly conversation with someone

• Joanne did not have any specific news to tell her mother, but it had been a few weeks since they talked, so Joanne called her to just chat.

weather – the condition of the air, temperature, and moisture outdoors

• The weather today is cool and rainy.

temperature – a measurement of how hot or cold something is

• The outside temperature is supposed to get colder as winter approaches.

humidity – moisture in the air; the amount of small water drops in the air

• The humidity was very low yesterday, so the air felt very dry.

muggy – humid; a condition in which the air feels very moist

• The air outside was so muggy that Brian could feel the moisture sticking to his skin.

weather report – a report of current and future weather conditions, usually shown or presented on the television or radio news

• The weather reporter on TV mentioned that a storm is coming soon.

meteorologist – a professional trained to predict what the weather will be like in the near future

• The meteorologist predicted that there will be snow next Tuesday.

high-tech radar – an advanced computer program used to detect or discover rain, snow, and other weather conditions

• No signs of incoming storms appeared on the high-tech radar.

forecast – a prediction of future weather conditions; a guess based on scientific information about what the weather will be like

• The forecast shows that the next three days will be sunny.

to rise – to go up; to increase

• If we had known how much this stock would rise, we would have bought shares six months ago!

to fall – to go down; to decrease

• Last night, the temperature fell to 15 degrees Fahrenheit.

to move in – to come in slowly; to arrive little by little

• Storm clouds began moving in blocking the sun.

wind chill – a measurement of how much colder the air outside feels due to the amount of wind

• Even though the temperature was above freezing, the wind chill made it feel like it was below freezing.

Culture Note
The Environment and “Greenwashing”

The importance of protecting and not harming the environment is an issue that more and more Americans are paying attention to, especially after Vice President Al Gore’s influential 2006 “documentary” (movie based on true events) An Inconvenient Truth.

American companies are trying to “appeal to” (make themselves more attractive to) consumers by claiming that their products are “earth-friendly” or “eco-safe,” when it is not clear whether they are or not. (“Eco” is short for “ecology,” which is the study of how people and other living things interact with their environment.)

This “practice” (way of doing things) is called “greenwashing,” since the color green is associated with nature and the environment. This new word comes from the old term “whitewashing,” which means to cover up or hide a mistake, problem, or “flaw” (imperfection; weakness) by putting something appealing or correct in front of it so people can’t easily see those problems. “Greenwashing,” then, means that a company is trying to hide the real way it does business by saying or claiming that the way their products are made does not harm the environment.

The U.S. government “regulates” (controls; supervises) how some words are used in advertising. For example, companies must meet “minimum” (lowest acceptable) requirements before they can call their products “organic” (grown or developed naturally, without chemicals) or “recycled” (turning waste or garbage into new products). However, as of 2012, there are no regulations about who can use terms like “eco-friendly” and “environmentally-safe.” So, buyers looking for “green” products have to “beware” (be careful). Consumers have to ask themselves: “Is this a product that will not harm the environment or is the company simply “greenwashing?”

[故事的开始]

我承认，我不太擅长闲聊。当我和朋友在一起时，我可以一整天都在闲聊。但当我和陌生人或我不太了解的人交谈时，我总是东张西望，寻找可以谈论的话题。政治和宗教绝对是禁忌话题，至少在美国是这样。但你必须聊点什么，否则就会出现这些令人不舒服的沉默。

因此，我们最终谈到了--还有什么？- 天气。这通常以这样的话开头："那么，我们的天气不错！"或 "今天外面肯定很暖和。" 当然，我们必须对温度进行评论。我最喜欢的是，"这不是热的问题，而是湿度问题！" 事实上，我认为这是真的--我最讨厌外面闷热的时候。

在我的家乡明尼苏达州，每个人都痴迷于天气报告！每个电视台都有自己的流星预报。每个电视台都有自己的气象学家，带着高科技雷达给你提供5天的预报。他们告诉你温度何时上升或下降，什么样的云正在移动，以及风寒有多冷。

我最喜欢的关于天气的一句话来自马克-吐温，他曾经说过，每个人都在谈论天气，但没有人对它做任何事情！[故事结束]。

[故事结束]

在我们的故事开始时，我说："我承认我不太擅长闲谈。" "闲聊 "是我们用来描述我们对某人说的事情，只是为了填补时间。"闲谈 "总是关于一些并不十分重要的事情。它可能是天气。可能是你最近看过的一部电影--任何没有争议的事情，不会让你和那个人发生争执。我们经常对陌生人--我们不认识的人--使用闲聊。我说，"当我和朋友在一起时，我可以整天都在拍微风"。"拍微风"（breeze）是一个非正式的说法，意思是谈论很多不同的事情，但没有什么，还是非常重要的。这与小谈有点不同。闲聊几乎总是和一个也许和你不是很亲近的人，一个你不太了解的人。"闲聊 "只是意味着谈论很多东西，通常是和一个亲密的朋友。我说，"我可以一整天都在吹风，"意思是吹很长时间。"当我和一个陌生人或我不太了解的人交谈时，"我继续说，"我总是在寻找可以谈论的话题。" "寻找 "的意思是寻找某种东西。它可以是一个实物。我在寻找新的笔，也可以是，就这里的故事而言，我想谈的一个话题。我说，"我总是在寻找可以谈论的东西。" 我继续说，"政治和宗教绝对是禁忌话题，至少在美国这里是这样"。"禁忌"（taboo）是一个被认为不适合谈论的话题，不是你应该谈论的东西，甚至是被禁止的东西。你不应该谈论它。谈论政治和宗教--人们经常有不同意见的两件事--在美国被认为是禁忌。这些都是禁忌的话题。我们通常不与陌生人谈论这些。我们通常也不与家人谈论它们，如果你的家人不同意你的政治或宗教。

我继续说，"你必须要聊点什么。否则，就会出现这些令人不舒服的沉默。" 动词 "聊天"（chat）只是意味着在一个非正式的环境、一个非正式的场合与人交谈。动词 "聊天 "通常用于正在讨论的事情不是很重要的时候。你不是在谈论任何非常重要的事情。你们只是在聊天。你只是在说话。它也可以用来表示与拍摄微风的意思相同。我说，"如果你不聊些什么，就会有不舒服的沉默。" 你知道会发生什么，当你和某人谈话时，你们都想不出要说什么，然后就会出现沉默。没有人在说话。如果这种情况持续太长时间，可能会让人不舒服。它可能让你感到有点奇怪，好像有什么不对劲。我在故事中继续说："我们最后谈到了--还有什么？天气。" "我们结束了 "意味着在一定时间后，会发生这样的事情。我们谈论的是天气。我继续说："这通常以这样的话开头：'那么，我们的天气不错，'或者'今天外面肯定很暖和'。这些都是你可能作为闲谈使用的表达方式。然而，因为它们现在如此普遍，因为每个人都在使用它们，有些人几乎把它当作一个笑话。说这句话的意思是，你想不出有什么更好的说法。在这种情况下，一个不太常见的、也许是更好的选择的表达方式是，"今天外面肯定很暖和"，或者你可以说，"今天外面肯定很冷"。你是在说外面很冷。你在谈论天气，让对方发表他或她的意见。同样，这也是人们不会争论的事情。他们不会因为外面是冷还是暖而发生争执。大多数人都会同意其中之一。

"当然，"我说，"我不得不评论一下温度"--它有多冷或多热。我说，"我最喜欢的，"也就是说，我最喜欢的表达方式是，"糟糕的不是热，而是湿度。" 这是一个古老的表达方式，也许在许多国家，但肯定在美国。当人们在夏季抱怨天气炎热时，他们经常会说："嗯，问题不在于高温。而是湿度。" 这是空气中的水量，让你感到不舒服。"这不是热的问题。是湿度，"我们说。然后我在故事中说，那是真的。我最讨厌外面闷热的时候。"闷热，"（muggy）是指非常潮湿。例如，如果你在佛罗里达州，在佛罗里达州南部，在7月和8月会非常闷热。温度会非常高，而且会有很高的湿度，空气中会有很多水。

我最初来自美国中北部的明尼苏达州，在那里，我说，"每个人都对天气报告很痴迷"。"迷恋"（obsessed）的意思是关注一件事，通常只关注一件事。这就是你谈论的全部。那是你所想的全部。我说，"明尼苏达人对天气报告很着迷"。"天气报告 "是指当你听新闻或读报纸时，你会发现今天或明天或本周的天气会如何。因此，这里的报告，真正的意思是新闻报告，报告天气将是什么样的。我说，"每个电视台都有自己的气象学家"。"气象学家 "是去学校研究气象学的人，也就是天气--天气的科学。你可以叫它。我说："每个电视台都有自己的气象学家，用高科技雷达给你提供五天的预报。" "高科技 "意味着非常高的技术，非常复杂，非常昂贵。当我们谈论电视台给你五天的预报时，我的意思是他们告诉你未来五天的天气情况。一个 "预测"（预报）是关于将发生什么的预测，显然是未来将发生什么。我说，"他们告诉你"--"他们"，指气象学家--"当温度上升"--正在上升--"或下降"--正在下降。他们告诉你什么样的云正在移入。"移入"，在这里是指到达。什么样的云从该国的不同地方到达。短语动词 "迁入 "也可以指去和某人一起生活，但我们不是在谈论这个。我们谈论的是天气。

明尼苏达州的气象学家也会告诉你，至少在冬季的时候，风寒是多么寒冷。"风寒"（chill）是用来告诉你皮肤上的感觉有多冷，而不一定是温度有多冷。因此，如果是零下10度--华氏零下10度--那就非常冷。但是如果还有风，强风，风可能使它看起来更冷。它将感觉更冷。因此，有一种方法可以估算出所谓的 "风寒"--当你在寒冷的温度中吹风时，你的皮肤通常感觉有多冷。我最后说，"我最喜欢的关于天气的一句话是来自马克-吐温"。马克-吐温是一位著名的美国作家，我们称之为幽默大师。他是一个小说家，但他也是一个非常有趣的人。他说，或者曾经说过，"每个人都在谈论天气，但没有人对它做任何事情"。人们谈论天气，但当然，他们不会改变天气。这通常是我们无法做到的事情。

文化说明
环境和 "洗绿"。

保护和不损害环境的重要性是一个越来越多的美国人关注的问题，特别是在副总统阿尔-戈尔2006年有影响力的 "纪录片"（基于真实事件的电影）《无法忽视的真相》之后。

美国公司正试图 "吸引"（使自己对消费者更有吸引力）消费者，声称他们的产品是 "地球友好 "或 "生态安全"，而他们是否如此并不清楚。("生态 "是 "生态学 "的简称，是研究人和其他生物如何与环境互动的学科。)

这种 "做法"（做事的方式）被称为 "洗绿"，因为绿色与自然和环境有关。这个新词来自于旧的术语 "粉饰"，意思是通过把一些吸引人的或正确的东西放在前面来掩盖或隐藏一个错误、问题或 "缺陷"（不完美；弱点），使人们不容易看到这些问题。那么，"洗绿 "意味着一家公司试图通过说或声称他们的产品制造方式不损害环境来掩盖其真正的经营方式。

美国政府 "监管"（控制；监督）广告中一些词语的使用方式。例如，公司必须满足 "最低"（可接受的最低要求）的要求，才能称其产品为 "有机"（自然生长或发展，没有化学品）或 "回收"（将废物或垃圾变成新产品）。然而，截至2012年，没有关于谁可以使用 "生态友好 "和 "环境安全 "等术语的规定。因此，寻找 "绿色 "产品的买家必须 "当心"（谨慎）。消费者必须问自己。"这是一个不会损害环境的产品，还是该公司只是在 "洗绿"？