Weird things about the UK

1. What type of body lotion do British women like?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……

2. When Isabel heard music in the street, who did she think it
was? (name two professions)

1. ……………..……. 2. ……………..……

3. What did the man in the fish & chip shop order and what is it?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……
Questions

4. What kind of object is Henry?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……

5. What type of shoes was Margaret Thatcher wearing when she

went to visit The Queen in Edinburgh?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……

6. Why are plastic notes controversial?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……
7. What does "xoxo” mean at the end of a text message?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……

8. What kind of series is Eastenders and when did it begin?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……

9. Why does Phillip think so many people use mobility scooters in

the UK?

……………..…….……………………….……………..……

Amigos Ingleses 1

 1. Nobody wants to have p______ skin!

2. Her skin is orange! I think she’s wearing ______ _____!

3. The ice cream man drives a very retro _________.

Fill in the gaps

4. Can I have a chip _______ please mate?

5. He’s from East London so he has a ________ accent

6. My parents never gave me any _________ money.

7. Why is he using a mobility scooter? He’s not e_________!

8. Please take your shoes off! They’re covered in ______!

9. I’ve lost a £20 _______! Have you seen it?

10. Every episode ends with a ___________! I’m hooked!

Amigos Ingleses 2

 Transcript

Isabel: Okay Phillip, fake tan. What's the deal? Why are there so many women walking
around in the UK looking extremely orange?
Phillip: Hmm. Now that you mention it, yes, it's true. We do have a lot of orange women in the
UK, but the reason is obvious, isn't it? It's because we don't have any sun.
Isabel: But why is it so badly applied? And they look like walking carrots. It's just really
disturbing when you're on the train and there's someone looking at you.
Phillip: Nobody wants to look pale, do they? Nobody likes having pale skin. People want to
look like they've just got back from holiday. If they want to look healthy, they're not doing very
well, are they?
Isabel: I've applied fake time before and nobody noticed. That's the thing.
Isabel: Okay, so just picture yourself, it's a sunny and extremely hot day in August. You're in
the UK. You're walking down the street and suddenly, you hear this strange music in the
background. And it's just getting closer and closer and closer. Is that the, the knife sharpener?
Phillip: No.
Isabel: Not the knife sharpener?
Phillip: No.
Isabel: Is it maybe the upholster?
Phillip: No, it's not the upholster.
Isabel: What could it be?
Phillip: It's the ice cream man who comes around in his ice cream van. So, if you hear this
music, go directly towards it and buy yourself a nice ice cream.
Isabel: Well, I must say they're not very nice.
Phillip: What do you mean it's not nice? It's ice cream. Everybody loves ice cream.
Isabel: Yeah, but it's not very good quality.
Phillip: Have you tried it?
Isabel: Yeah. Did you have an ice cream van in your village when you were a child?
Phillip: Oh yes. Yeah. As soon as we heard that music, we would go running to our mum and
we would ask her for some money.
Isabel: Oh, you didn't have any pocket money saved?
Phillip: No. Don't go towards it with your knives because the ice cream man will drive away
very fast if he sees you coming towards him with your knives.
Isabel: Oh my god. That would be hilarious.
Isabel: It was a Friday evening and I walked into a Fish and Chip shop
Phillip: Okay.

Amigos Ingleses 3

Isabel: And the man who was just in front of me, he looked at the menu and he said, "can I
have a chip butty made?"
Phillip: Oh yeah. a chip butty…
Isabel: I thought “chip butty”? That doesn't sound good. I don't know what that is but that
sounds bad. Can you tell us what the chip butty is? And if you have ever eaten one.
Phillip: A butty is another word for sandwich. So you can have a bacon butty, a sausage butty
or a chip butty. A chip butty is just two pieces of bread with some chips in the middle and
maybe some ketchup on top.
Isabel: So, it is a chip sandwich basically?
Phillip: Yeah, a chip sandwich. Yeah, a chip butty. Have I tried one? Yes, of course I have.
Isabel: It’s a classic?
Phillip: Yeah. It's delicious. Especially if you're hungover, I highly recommended the chip butty.
Haven't you tried one?
Isabel: This is not something negative. Okay, don't panic.
Phillip: Okay.
Isabel: This is something that I actually find extremely cute. And it is that many people in the
UK, they share their flats with or their houses with an adorable little man. He's quite short and
he's called Henry. And he helps you clean the house at the weekend. He helps you clean the
floors. He's amazing.
Phillip: Are you talking about Henry the Hoover?
Isabel: That's it. He's a celebrity, isn't he? Who's Henry the Hoover?
Phillip: Henry the Hoover is the most popular vacuum cleaner in the whole of the UK. I don't
know where he comes from or why everybody seems to have one of them, but.
Isabel: Because he's cute. Can you please describe the students why Henry the Hoover is
such a special vacuum cleaner?
Phillip: Henry the Hoover is a hoover with a face printed on the side and it looks like a
character. So I don't know where it came, I don't know where it came from or why we have it,
but it's very common in the UK, Henry the Hoover. It's a good way to get your children to help
with the cleaning.
Isabel: Ah... That's why then.
Phillip: Maybe.
Isabel: Did your mum use that trick? Did you have a Henry the Hoover?
Phillip: We had a Henry the Hoover, yes. But I don't think I used it very often.
Isabel: Only if you got paid.
Phillip: Yeah.
Isabel: Only if you got some pocket money in exchange. Otherwise, you wouldn't move a
finger, Phillip.

Amigos Ingleses 4

Phillip: Exactly. So, Henry doesn't exist in Spain?

Isabel: No, I've never seen him around.
Phillip: How sad.
Isabel: So if you ever moved to the UK, I don't think you can be fully integrated into British
society until you own a pair of these. What's that?
Phillip: What is it?
Isabel: Wellies.
Phillip: Ahh, wellies, Wellington boots. Yes, it's true. You do need a pair, especially if you live
in the countryside where it tends to get a bit muddy. But don't wear them inside. Take them off
before you go inside someone's house. If you go to the UK, don't be like Margaret Thatcher
who forgot her wellies when she went to visit the queen in Edinburgh. Did you see the episode
of The Crown? Did you see it?
Isabel: I did. She was wearing high heels.
Phillip: Yeah.
Isabel: This is something that is actually pretty cool. And it's that in the UK, you started printing
plastic money a few years ago. I'm not sure when, sorry, I haven't done my research properly.
So, you have plastic notes?
Phillip: Yes, plastic notes. It's not plastic coins, but plastic notes. Yeah.
Isabel: Very impossible to destroy it. And I thought when they released them, I thought this is
actually, this comes in handy for Philip. Because he always puts his trousers in the washing
machine with tissues, notes, coins, headphones. You can find anything in there.
Phillip: Yeah. So the plastic notes are ideal for people like me because they're practically
indestructible. You can put them in the wash as many times as you like, you can go surfing
with them. You can, you can do anything you like with them because they're indestructible.
Isabel: So what happened one day when it was released? There was a little bit of controversy,
wasn't there?
Phillip: Yes, there was because they're not actually vegan-friendly. They contain some part of
an animal in them. So if you're a vegan, don't use the plastic notes.
Isabel: This is something that really surprised me. And it will surprise you as well. If you, if you
live in England or anywhere in the UK, when you have your first friend, you might be texting
your friend on WhatsApp and they might send you a message. And then with one X, two X,
three X, or sometimes with XOXO,
Phillip: Yes.
Isabel: And it happened to me a few times. And then I said, "Phillip, what is this? What on
earth is this? Why is everyone sending me messages with XXX at the end?"

Amigos Ingleses 5

Phillip: Well, Congratulations. It means that your friend loves you because they're giving you
kisses. An X represents a kiss in a message and O represents a hug. I don't actually use the
hug one. I don't use that. I just use the kiss. Just the kiss. But if you want to be extra nice, you
can add an O for a hug. So, don't write literally a kiss or a hug in English, because that sounds
a bit unnatural. Just kiss, kiss, kiss, XXX.
Isabel: Is it common between men, for example? Will you text your friend and just put an X at
the end?
Phillip: No, not between men, typically, not typically. Although maybe with your father, you
could do it.
Isabel: Not on text messages, but for example, if you send someone a birthday card, if you
send the birthday card to your cousin, let's say, would you…
Phillip: Oh, definitely.
Isabel: Write the X? Yeah? Okay.
Phillip: Yes, yeah, definitely. Yeah. Lots of love, Phillip, kiss.
Isabel: They've been watching a series on TV for almost 40 years and people are still really
into it. Like they cannot wait for the next episode. You know what series I'm talking about?
Phillip: You must be talking about EastEnders, right?
Isabel: That's it.
Phillip: EastEnders?Yes. It's a huge part of British culture. Eastenders is a soap opera, which
is basically a series that just never ends. It just keeps going and going and going.
Isabel: They started in 1985. I Googled it.
Phillip: It is set in the East end of London. So, the characters mostly have this kind of London
Cockney accent.
Grant: I don't love you. We're not going to get back together again. And there's no such thing
as well, the Christmas.
Phillip: And it involves a lot of drama, lots of people getting married, divorced, arguments,
people having babies.
Isabel: Oh, yeah, sure. I mean it's 40 years, almost 40 years. So yeah, people must be getting
killed all the time. And new ones are born, I suppose. I mean, I tried to watch it once. Why is
this so popular? But it wasn't my cup of tea. I must say. How can you keep people hooked on a
series for almost 40 years?
Phillip: Well, each episode ends in a cliffhanger. You know what a cliffhanger is right?
Isabel: Yeah. When you're like, "Oh, I can't wait for the next episode."
Phillip: So they just cut it at a moment when it's just going,
Isabel: Just about to get very intense.

Amigos Ingleses 6
Phillip: Yeah, exactly. And as soon as that moment arrives, the music cuts in, the theme
music. And it's a very well-known theme music, and it starts with some drums. So at the end of
the episode, you will hear, and then, the theme music.
Isabel: Just picture me, okay? I had just arrived in England.
Phillip: Uh-hmm.
Isabel: I was getting used to driving on the left-hand side of the road.
Phillip: Yeah, that's tricky.
Isabel: I was in the middle of the countryside and suddenly, I looked on the left-hand side and
there was a guy there on one of those mobility scooters going at 10 miles an hour. I was like,
"What are you doing, man? What on earth are you thinking?" I mean...
Phillip: Did you overtake him?
Isabel: Yeah, I did. But you know, I had reduced visibility because I was, my steering wheel
was on the other side. So yeah. I had to overtake him. But then, I started seeing it everywhere.
People arriving at the supermarket or just people everywhere in the street. Why are there so
many people on those in the UK?
Phillip: I have no idea. But now that you mentioned it, it's true. In the UK, we have a lot of
people who use mobility scooters, usually around the city. I'm surprised that you saw someone
out in the countryside.
Isabel: I would think it was just once. I think it was a few times.
Phillip: So, yeah, mobility scooters are very popular in the UK for elderly people or disabled
people because they're just very convenient.
Isabel: That's what shocked me that there were so many of them. I felt, "hold on a minute,
you're in your thirties, in your forties." And you're not disabled because I've seen them park in
the mobility scooter and just walking off to the pub.
Phillip: It might be because the scooters that you have here in Spain are illegal in the UK. So,
we don't have much electric transportation. So, it was in the news recently, a YouTuber
attempted to cross the United States from New York to LA on a mobility scooter. But he was
not successful because he was stopped by the police. True story.
Isabel: You see? They're all crazy about mobility scooters. I don't get it.

Amigos Ingleses 7
 to apply - aplicar
knife sharpener - a lador de cuchillos
arguments - discusiones
(persona y objeto)

mate - colega, amigo

Key Vocabulary
birthday card - tarjeta de felicitación
de cumpleaños
mud- barro

chip butty - sandwich de patatas muddy - embarrado

fritas
notes - billetes

cli hanger - nal con suspense

pale - pálido

cockney accent - acento típico del pocket money - paga semanal

este de Londres
soap opera - telenovela, culebrón

complaint - queja
theme music - banda sonora

controversial - polémico
to come in handy - servir, ser útil

disabled - discapacitado
upholsterer - tapicero

drums - tambores, batería

wellies - botas de agua

elderly person - anciano

What’s the deal with…? - ¿Qué pasa
fake tan - bronceado arti cial
con…? /¿Por qué tanto alboroto con…?
hug - abrazo

Questions
1. They are talking about fake tan.

2. The knife sharpener and the upholsterer.

3. He ordered a chip butty which is basically a chip sandwich.

4. Henry is the most popular vacuum cleaner in Britain and he’s also know as

Henry “the hoover”.

5. Margret Thatcher was wearing high heels when she went to Edinburgh to

stay with the Queen.

Answers

6. Plastic notes were controversial because they are not vegan friendly.

7. Kisses and hugs.

8. Eastenders is a soap opera and it began in 1985.

9. Because other ways of electric transport, such as electric scooters are

illegal in the UK.

Gaps
1. pale

2. fake tan

3. van

4. butty

5. Cockney

6. pocket

7. elderly

8. mud

9. note

10. cli hanger

Amigos Ingleses 8
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