英語趣味課堂：男人與購物-Men and Shopping

Silvia: So Diego, you've asked me about shopping, but what about you?

Diego: I think that now I have to pay for everything myself I'm a much more conservative shopper so I only buy strictly what I need.

Silvia: And that's all.

Diego: I think so, yes.

Silvia: But do you have anything that you can't resist not buying?

Diego: Well, I try to save most of my money because I like to travel. Instead of going shopping, I try to save as much as I can, and then when I'm traveling, I can do whatever I want and worry less about money, so that's where ... I mean if I have to say like what is the thing I shop the most, I would say it's trips. Like I spend most of my disposable income in travels.

Silvia: That's weird because because you know I had a boyfriend. He loved to shop. He would shop more than I, I think.

Diego: Wow!

Silvia: Really good at shopping. We would go to a store, and I really take my time and he will just point, like just this, this, this, this. Try it on. And they will fit it and they were nice. Ok. Let's go. He was an experienced at shopping. What do you think about that?

Diego: Well, I think it's a very bad combination because if you're a big shopper and he's a big shopper, you're a bigger shopper together.

Silvia: I know. Actually, everyone used to bother us. We were studying in Austria for two months and every time we went out just to the store to get, I don't know, milk or whatever, we will end up coming back with bags of stuff. We would just go out for walking around, and every time we ended up with some bag from shopping.

Diego: Yeah, and you know, shopping is like a really bad cycle because once you buy something you have to buy another thing, and then another thing, and another thing. Like if you buy a new computer, you need a new mouse, and then you need a new webcam, and the big speakers and so on I think with girls it's the same thing.

Silvia: But with clothes.

Diego: Yes, but with clothes.

Silvia: We need the bag and the shoes and the belt.

Diego: And one thing gives you another excuse to buy another thing.

Silvia: Yeah, that happens to me often actually.

Diego: OK, so maybe you should stop using your credit cards.

Silvia: Yeah, maybe.

重點詞匯：

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

strictly

I only buy strictly what I need.

Here, Diego talks about a serious rule he has about his personal behavior. Notice the following.

I’m on a strictly vegetarian diet.

In California cities, non-smoking laws are strictly enforced.

disposable income

I spend my disposable income on travels.

Disposable income is the money we have to spend on things we like. Notice the samples.

Silvia spends most of her disposable income on clothes.

It’s a good idea to save some of your disposable income.

That's weird

That's weird because you know I had a boyfriend.

We use ‘weird’ to comment on something that’s strange or unusual. We can use the three words interchangeably. For example:

That's strange because you know I had a boyfriend.

That's unusual because you know I had a boyfriend.

take my time

I take my time when shopping.

When we take our time, we do something slowly. Here are two sample sentences.

I usually eat very fast, but the food was so delicious, I took my time.

I take my time driving to work. It’s both relaxing and safer.

bad cycle

Shopping can be a bad cycle. Once you start buying need to keep on buying.

Here, ‘a bad cycle’ means a bad habit that we can’t stop. Notice the following.

Trying to stay in fashion can be a bad cycle. You end up spending all your disposable income on clothes.

Eating a lot whenever you feel sad is a bad cycle. Gaining weight will only make you feel worse.