She has a bun in the oven | Culips ESL Podcast

In this episode, Maura’s friend Melanie visits to talk about slang terms for being pregnant. Melanie is a bit of an expert on this topic, because she’s pregnant herself! There are tons of expressions to talk about being pregnant. Some of them are polite and some of them are a little bit rude. But don’t worry; Maura and Melanie will explain which are which. If you’re in the family way, you’ll especially enjoy listening to this episode.

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Expressions included in the learning materials

A giveaway
Morning sickness
Nesting
To glow
To have a bun in the oven
The womb
Preggers
Magazines at the supermarket
To put two and two together
To be knocked up
To be in the family way; to be with child; to be expecting
What to Expect When You’re Expecting

Sample transcript:

Maura: Today’s episode is special, of course, because my friend Melanie is here with me. And we’re going to do a Catch Word episode. And that’s where we look at different expressions and we talk about how they’re used and we give you examples. Today we’re going to look at expressions and slang terms for being pregnant. So you may have guessed that that’s why my friend Melanie is here; because she’s pregnant. So, tell us, how far along are you?

Melanie: I’m four months, so still pretty early.

Maura: Yeah, still pretty early, but over the three-month mark, because a lot of people wait until they’re three months pregnant before they start to tell any people who aren’t really close family or really close friends.

Melanie: That’s right. So, we told our family and some very close friends, because they guessed it. But other than that, we kept it a secret till three months exactly and then I couldn’t hold it in any longer.

Maura: So it was hard to keep it a secret from everybody.

Melanie: It was. So the people that I saw every day, like my close friends, they caught on because I had to change my activities a little bit. I had to slow down a little bit. I was really tired, no more alcohol. So, that was a quick giveaway.

Maura: Mmhmm. So how have you been feeling over these past few months?

Melanie: Well, I’m starting to feel a lot better now. I have a lot more energy. At the beginning, though, I was really, really tired all the time and had to take naps whenever I could. I felt a little bit nauseous too. I never did throw up, but all day I would have a sick stomach. I stopped eating vegetables, which is weird because I’m a vegetarian. And eggs too. I couldn’t eat eggs. Really strange what happens.

Maura: Yeah, that is strange. Now, did you have morning sickness?

Melanie: Well, I did feel sick all throughout the day. Now, morning sickness is kind of a funny term for it because it means in the morning, that you throw up in the morning, but actually it can happen any time during the day. And not everybody throws up, and I was one of the very lucky ones that didn’t.

Maura: That’s so funny. I didn’t know that. And it sounds so strange that morning sickness isn’t just in the morning, but if you feel nauseous at any time throughout the day when you’re pregnant.

Melanie: Maybe for most people it happens in the morning and it just can happen at other times. Maybe that is why they named it that. Maura: That makes sense. I think that’s a good reason. And how have you been preparing for the baby that will be here in another five months?

Melanie: Five months? Wow! In all honesty, I haven’t been doing a whole lot to the house. I’ve just been reading a lot and going to my doctor’s appointments. There’s a lot to learn.

Maura: Isn’t there, like, some kind of nesting period though, where you prepare the home for the baby to arrive?

Melanie: Definitely. And I’ve been thinking about that. In the books, they say it happens a little bit later, closer to, like, seven months, maybe six, seven months. So I have a little bit of time still.

Maura: Yeah, a little bit of time. Well, it looks like that you’re starting to have that pregnancy glow, you know? How people say that once women become pregnant, they really start to be their most beautiful and their skin and hair maybe glows and they just have a radiance around them.