Sara: “Hey – you feeling OK?”
Dan: “Ugh. I’m hung over.“
Sara: “On a Tuesday morning? Seriously?”
Dan: “You know my brother – the one who’s a bit of a party animal? Well, he’s gonna spend a semester in Australia, and he left this morning – so we had a send-off for him last night.”
Sara: “Must have been one hell of a party.”
Dan: “We went to Dino’s on 52nd Street.”
Sara: “Was it any good? I went there once, and it was sorta dead. Plus I thought the $20 cover charge was pretty steep.”
Dan: “I guess they have a new DJ or something – the place was packed. My brother ordered round after round of shots – said drinks were on him – we musta run up a $200 tab.”
Sara: “Hope you had a designated driver.”
Dan: “Oh, we took a cab home after getting kicked out of the club.”
Sara: “What?! How’d that happen?”
Dan: “So… my brother’s girlfriend couldn’t make it, and he started chatting up this blonde chick. Well, there was some other guy who was also hitting on her, and he threw a punch at my brother. Things kinda got outta hand, and the bouncer came and threw us all out.”
Sara: “Uh… sounds like… fun. Was your brother hurt?”
Dan: “Nah. He was so wasted, he thought the whole thing was hilarious.”
Conversation Notes
Dan says that he is hung over. This word refers to the bad feeling you have the morning after you drink too much alcohol (having a headache, being tired, feeling sick). You can say “I’m hung over” or “I have a hangover.”
He describes his brother as a party animal – that’s a person who REALLY loves to party, and is constantly going to bars and nightclubs. Before his brother went to Australia, Dan and his friends had a send-off for him – that’s a party to say goodbye to a person who will be leaving.
Sara remarks that it must have been one hell of a party. The expression “one hell of a _______” means the object is very impressive. This expression is a bit strong – in professional situations, use “one heck of a party” instead. Notice the pronunciation of “must have been” – it sounds like mustabin.
The last time Sara went to Dino’s nightclub, it was rather dead. This means that the place/party was not very exciting, and didn’t have many people. Also, she thought the cover charge – the price you pay to enter the club – was steep (that’s an informal word for “expensive”).
According to Dan, the club was packed – that means extremely crowded, full of people. His brother ordered round after round of shots. Shots are small portions of very strong alcohol (tequila, rum, etc.) and a round means that he ordered drinks for the entire group of friends. “Round after round” means they ordered many times. Dan estimates that the tab – that’s an informal word for the bill at a bar – was around $200.
Sara hopes Dan and his friends had a designated driver – that’s a person in the group who agrees not to drink any alcohol, so that he/she can drive their friends home while sober (not drunk).
Dan says his brother’s girlfriend couldn’t make it – that means she could not come to the party. You can use the expression “I can make it” or “I can’t make it” to describe your availability to attend an event, meeting, or social encounter. Dan’s brother started chatting up a blonde chick – that means he started flirting with a blonde woman.
But another guy who was also hitting on her (that’s another word for flirting with) started a fight that got out of hand – it got out of control. The bouncer – that’s an employee of the nightclub who is responsible for security – threw everyone involved out of the club.
Dan’s brother was so wasted (that’s an informal word for “drunk with alcohol”) that he thought the situation was funny. There are many additional slang words for being drunk – including trashed, plastered, hammered, juiced, sauced, sloshed, and shit-faced.
Image source: Salvatore Vuono, FreeDigitalPhotos.net
