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The Lincoln Lawyer: phone conversation vocabulary

 An English lesson with Netflix's series. Let's improve your vocabulary and get a listening practice with Lorna and Mickey phone conversation. Idiom "ring off the hook" explaining.

Hi everyone, today we are going to learn some vocabulary for phone conversations. You've just seen a morning phone call between famous lawyer Mickey and his assistant Lorna from the TV show The Lincoln Lawyer. In this lesson, we will focus on the words and expressions they used, such as "I gotta take this", "what's going on", "ringing off the hook", "hold on", "please hold", and others.

Words and phrases

The phrase “I gotta take this” is often used to express urgency or importance. Here, Mickey’s phone starts ringing, and he say “I gotta take this” to indicate that he need to answer the call. In this way, Mickey let the photographers to know that he will not be able to continue shooting until he have finished the call.

The phrase “what’s going on” can be used: as a greeting; to ask someone how they are doing and what they are up to; to request information about something that is happening; to express curiosity or concern about a situation; or to start a conversation. Here, Mickey says “what’s going on” to ask Lorna for information.

“jam-packed” means full of people or things that are pushed closely together.

“renovation” means the act or process of repairing and improving something, especially a building.

“fortune” means a large amount of money, goods, property, etc.

“ring off the hook” is an idiom that means “to ring constantly or excessively”. Lorna used it to describe a telephone that is ringing so much that it is difficult to answer.

The phrase “hold on” is used to ask someone to wait or pause for a moment. Here, Lorna says “hold on” to someone who is calling to her, and, in this way, asks them to wait until she ends the current conversation.

When someone asks you to “please hold”, it is important to stay on the line and wait for them to come back.

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