This mini episode teaches you the useful word “jaywalking.”
Episode 227 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you the useful word jaywalking. You probably know what jaywalking is—maybe you have jaywalked before!—but you might not know the word for it. Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi there! This is Ryoko Takao, from Tokyo, Japan. And you are listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 227 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let's get on with this mini episode.
The episode
Today, we are going to talk about a word that you might not know. The word is jaywalking. Jaywalking. That's spelled j-a-y-w-a-l-k-i-n-g. Jaywalking.
What is jaywalking? Jaywalking means crossing the street in a way that is dangerous because you are not paying attention to cars or other traffic, or crossing the street somewhere that isn't a crosswalk, or crossing the street in some other way that is illegal. Jaywalking means crossing the street in a way that you shouldn't. That's really all there is to jaywalking.
You have probably seen people jaywalking before. And you have probably done this yourself. I know that I have. And now you know the word for it. But now you might be wondering, “Why is it called jaywalking? What does that mean? What is a jay, and what does it mean if you walk like a jay?”
Well, those are good questions. Here is where the word jaywalking comes from:
The first part—the jay part—comes from an old meaning of jay: an inexperienced or unsophisticated person. That's what jay used to mean. It doesn't mean that anymore. Now a jay is a kind of a bird.
And originally, a jaywalker, or someone who was jaywalking, was somebody who walked on the wrong side of the sidewalk. Somebody who walked on the wrong side of the sidewalk. This used to be a big problem in some American cities, more than a hundred years ago.
The meaning of jaywalking has changed a little bit. Now it has to do with people who cross the street in a way they shouldn't. But originally it meant somebody who is walking on a sidewalk in a way that they should not.
Wherever the word comes from, I think this is a useful word for you to know.
Outro
We have reached the end of episode 227 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have any questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions about the podcast, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can use at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Ryoko recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I'll be back soon with another episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. Goodbye! I'll see you soon.