Please watch the video below. Remember: Don’t write anything. Just watch and listen. By the end of the lesson you will understand everything!

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Mark: So this is another one of the famous—I mean, in a city full of amazing architecture, this building, called the Flatiron Building, is one of the standout (more impressive) buildings. And yes, it is as thin as it looks. This little wedge.

Greg: Wow.

Mark: Now, we’re in it so you can get some perspective. My sister was still with us so she took this picture. And yeah, it’s an amazing building. I have never been inside it. But it just—it just….It looks as cool in reality as it does, certainly, in the picture.

Greg: So the name of it is “Flatiron”? What do you think that—what’s the name coming from on that? I have seen this building, of course, many times. But I never knew — actually knew the name of it.

Mark: I don’t know why its called that. Although I wonder if, you know, back in maybe the— again, totally guessing, please don’t hold me to this — but lets say it was built in the 30’s. Maybe back then, that’s what—maybe that kind of shaped iron was called. I mean, irons…The front of an iron kind of has that shape. So, maybe? You know, either of us could just pop on to Wikipedia, type in “flatiron,” and we would be given the answer on the history of the name. But we’ll let our readers do that, if they’re truly curious why it’s called “Flatiron.” It could also just be the name of the company, you know, that built it. But my guess is due to the shape.

Greg: Okay. So if you do go look and check it out, send us an email and tell us why this is called “Flatiron.”

Mark: Yes, good point!

– – – –

Greg: So this is Grand Central Station, is it not?

Mark: Oh, sure. So….the thing that even most Americans get wrong is they call it Grand Central Station but the official name is Grand Central Terminal. And I love this place! I don’t know….They totally re-did (reformed) the ceilings. They used to be kind of crumbly and it was looking kind of grimy. But again, another Guiliani genius was, he put a lot of money into fixing this up. And you’re sort of proud to walk into here. As before it was not so pleasant to go through Grand Central. And, you know, there’s malls and stores and it’s kind of very upscale now. It’s just great! I love the energy of Grand Central. And Dasha was just standing there in awe watching, because…We were in there a couple of times, and just the flow of humanity (all the people) going through there. You know, especially around rush hour. It’s just incredible.

Greg: Wow, cool! Actually, I have never been in there. But it does look nice, now, compared to pictures I have seen where it was pretty bad before. So, good job for the mayor.

Mark: You use Grand Central to get out of the city. So these are the—it’s not the subway, this is the trains that you use to go to Connecticut, to go upstate New York (anywhere north of the city), to get out of the—not to go a really long distance. So if you’re going to Boston, you’re going to go to a different train station, called Penn Station, that’s where you take Amtrak (name of a train company). But these are the—what’s called the Long Island Railroad and the White Plains lines, to get just kind of to the suburbs of the city.

So if you go to the next picture…This is where we were going, to see, to my friend. I have a friend named Gregg, with two G’s at the end of his name: G-R-E-G-G. And he lives in Westchester County, which is a—the main suburb of New York. And this is his house that we’re standing in front of.

Greg: What I do love about the east coast, though, is basements.

Mark: Oh, yes!

Greg: Definitely awesome!

Mark: We’ll see the inside of Gregg’s house. I wish….We have video of it, I just didn’t take photographs of his basement. His basement is bigger than any house I’ve ever had. It’s….His basement is huge. He…literally…They made a disco there. There’s a full-scale (normal size) bar, hot tub, Jacuzzi, shower, bedroom, office. I’m not exaggerating. That’s his basement. It runs the entire span of that huge 6000 sq. ft. house as it is. So…

Greg: That’s great, man.

Mark: It is! It’s incredible. But one thing before we leave this picture, I just thought it was funny….So, we take that, you know it’s maybe a 45-minute train ride from Grand Central to his train stop. And somehow, in our sort-of excitement of just being on the train, talking, it was a Friday, we were just psyched to hang out ….We left our bags on the train!

Greg: Oh, you’re kidding!

Mark: Just…no! So, just as we go to his car, you know, he opens his trunk, obviously. And you know, we’re all looking at each other, “Oh my—!” I wont curse here, but, “Oh my f***ing God! Our stuff is on the train!”

Greg: Jesus! (wow, that’s incredible and not good)

Mark: You are looking at us wearing our brand new clothes that, you know…He immediately took us to Macy’s. I mean I had nothing. My contacts (contact lenses), my, you know—everything was in those bags. Luckily, my wallet was in my pants. And so these are brand new clothes that we bought at Macy’s that night before. And so what he immediately did was call the railroad line, and sure enough, it was at Grand Central Station in the lost and found. They immediately put it in this–it’s great, their system. They immediately lock it in a container, like, on the train! They put it inside a locked container. That way (because of that), you know, it’s impossible for that guy to steal anything. They bring it, then, to the—that locked container—to Grand Central and they have this pretty good system. I mean, there was nothing missing, you know? It was very impressive.

Greg: Great! The impressive part is that after that, you guys managed to smile for a picture.

Mark: Yeah! Well, they had told us, though, over the phone when we called. They said, “We guarantee you your stuff will be waiting for you in Grand Central when you come in on Monday.” So we were relaxed about it. And Dasha was happy because it meant a trip to Macy’s that was otherwise unplanned.

Greg: Of course!

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don’t hold me to this (that) = I’m not certain

Remember, in these four groups of sentences below, a native speaker will usually use the 2nd version. So, "don’t hold me to that" is the advanced phrase we want to learn.

I’m not certain, but I think I’ll have the project done by Friday.
Don’t hold me to this, but I think I’ll have the project done by Friday.

Her name is Amelia, I think…but I’m not certain.
Her name is Amelia, I think…but don’t hold me to that.

I believe he lives in Dubai, but I’m not certain.
I believe he lives in Dubai, but don’t hold me to that.

I’m not certain, but I think it’s called the Flatiron building because of its shape.
Don’t hold me to this, but I think it’s called the Flatiron building because of its shape.

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to pop on to = to go quickly to

Remember, the 2nd version (using "to pop on to") is how a native speaker will probably say these sentences.

I need to go quickly to my email before we leave.
I need to pop on to my email before we leave.

Let’s go quickly toGoogle and find the website.
Let’s pop on to Google and find the website.

I went quickly on to Facebook and posted some photos.
I popped on to Facebook and posted some photos.

One of us could just go quickly to Wikipedia and look for the answer.
One of us could just pop on to Wikipedia and look for the answer.

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in awe = in amazement

I watched in amazement as the magician seemed to walk through a brick wall.
I watched in awe as the magician seemed to walk through a brick wall.

We were in amazement of her beauty.
We were in awe of her beauty.

I was in amazement of the scenery.
I was in awe of the scenery.

Dasha was standing in Grand Central, in amazement of all the people.
Dasha was standing in Grand Central, in awe of all the people.

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to be psyched = to be excited

I got the job at Microsoft! I’m so excited!
I got the job at Microsoft! I’m so psyched!

I’m so excited to finally meet you!
I’m so psyched to finally meet you!

We are excited to go to Paris!
We are psyched to go to Paris!

We’re excited to be spending some time together.
We’re psyched to be spending some time together.

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to hang out = to spend time (socially, for fun, relaxing, etc)

After school, my friends and I usually spend time at the mall.
After school, my friends and I usually hang out at the mall.

I like to spend time with my brothers.
I like to hang out with my brothers.

We spent time at the bar until midnight.
We hung out at the bar until midnight.

It was fun to spend time with Greg.
It was fun to hang outwith Greg.

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brand new = very recently purchased

I just got a very recently purchased laptop.
I just got a brand new laptop.

Steve has a very recently purchased phone.
Steve has a brand new phone.

Look at my very recently purchased bike!
Look at my brand new bike!

In this photo we are wearing our very recently purchased clothes.
In this photo we are wearing our brand new clothes.

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sure enough = as we expected, as was expected, etc

I thought I had two of these ties, and as I expected, I found the other one in my closet.
I thought I had two of these ties, and sure enough, I found the other one in my closet.

As I expected, my car was out of gas.
Sure enough, my car was out of gas.

As we expected, it started to rain.
Sure enough, it started to rain.

As we expected, our bags had been found and were being held at Grand Central.
Sure enough, our bags had been found and were being held at Grand Central.

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Easy: I’m not certain, but I think I’ll have the project done by Friday.

Advanced: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___, but I think I’ll have the project done by Friday.

Easy: I need to go quickly to my email before we leave.
Advanced: I need ___  ___  ___  ___  my email before we leave.

Easy: I watched in amazement as the magician seemed to walk through a brick wall.

Advanced: I watched ___  ___  as the magician seemed to walk through a brick wall.

Easy: I got the job at Microsoft! I’m so excited!
Advanced: I got the job at Microsoft! I’m so ____ !

Easy: After school, my friends and I usually spend time at the mall.
Advanced: After school, my friends and I usually ___  ___ at the mall.

Easy: I just got a very recently purchased laptop.

Advanced: I just got a ___  ___ laptop.

Easy: I thought I had two of these ties, and as I expected, I found the other one in my closet.

Advanced: I thought I had two of these ties, and ___  ____ , I found the other one in my closet.