Informal Familiar

Conversation A.

1. ♫

Sue: ‘Cheers!

Tony: ˈCheers, ‚Sue! >Well, ˈwhat’s the ‘news then? ˈHow ‘is ˌeverybody? I supˈpose ˙old ‘Arthur’s ‚still there. ˈStill˙trying to ˈkeep ˙everyone in ’order.

Sue: Oh, _\yeah. ^↘He’ll go ˙on for ˇever. ^↘Nothing ˙changes for ‘Arthur. ¯Or if it ‘does, ‘he doesn’t _\notice. ¯You reˈmember that ˆfriend of his ˌthough, the ˈguy who ˈcame from _\Liverpool… He ˈalways ˙came on _\Friday, and ˈnobody ˈquite ˙knew _\why.

Tony: ‘Oh that ‘tall ˌguy, ‘yeah. ˈHad an ˙old ‘Bentley or ‚something, ’didn’t he? ¯We ˌused to ˈsay he was –

Sue: _\Yes. _\Well, ˈnobody ˈknows ˈwhat _\happened, but ¯he had a ‚nasty ˆaccident ¦ of ˈsome _\sort.

Tony: An ˆaccident?

Sue: In his “car. ¯But you ^↘know ‘Arthur – ¯he ‚never ‘tells you ˌmuch. _\So ¯we ‚don’t ˌreally ˌknow “what it ˌwas.

Tony: _\Oh, ˌdear.

Sue: ‘Anyway, ¯he ˈsuddenly ’stopped ˆcoming. ¯Rather _\sad, ‚really.

Tony: ˈWhat about ˈJane and ‘Ted, up‘stairs?

Sue: ‘Ah, ˌwell ¦ ‘Ted’s still ‚there. He’s ^↘not very ‘happy aˌbout it, ‚though. He’d ^↘like a ‘move if he could ˇget one, ¦ but he ˈsort of ˈseems to be _\\stuck. And ˇJane – ‘she ‚went ¦ about a ‚couple of ‘years a‚go.

Tony: ˇReally?

Sue: ˈI haven’t ˙seen her for ‘ages, ¦ ˌso I ˈdon’t ˙know what she’s _\doing. ‘Nobody ˌseems to be in ˇtouch with her. ¯Had ˆMary ‚come be˙fore you ˙left?

Tony: ˌMary _\who?

Sue: ˈMary in _\Accounts. She’s _\Irish.

Tony: I ^↘don’t ˇthink so, ˇno. I ^↘knew ˇSarah. I reˈmember ‘she was in Ac‚counts. >And ˈthen there was that ‘other ˌJane, ˈJane ‘Harrison. And ˈthen there was ‘Angela, ¯of _\course, a ˈrather ‘serious one. But I ^↘don’t re^↘call a ˇMary.

Sue: >Well, ‘she must have ‘been after you ‘left, ˌthen.

2. ♫

***

So I say to Claire ‘Where’s David, Claire?’ and she says ‘Oh, he’s staying at home to do his homework,’ and of course I thought ‘Oh no, he’s not!’ Because I saw him, you see, going into the café with Lorraine and I said, ‘Hi, David!’ and he went completely red, and Lorraine said, ‘We’re doing school project together,’ and I thought, ‘Oh, yes, I know what kind of project that is!’

***

A: I said to terry, I said ‘Can you open the door for me?’ and he says, ‘Open it yourself!’ Can you believe it!

B: I know. That boy’s so rude! I said to his father, I said ‘you should do something about that boy,’ and do you know what he said to me? He said, ‘It’s none of your business.’

A: Oh, he’s just as bad as Terry. ‘Like father like son’ as they say.

***

A: Ugh! This coffee is really horrible!

B: Yea, I know. Machine coffee, I mean, why do we drink the stuff?

A: It’s sort of like… someone puts the contents of an ashtray in water and… ehm … like, heats it up or something, you know.

A: Yeah, that’s what it tastes like … and… I mean, having you tried the … ehm… the tea?

B: Ah yeah, the tea! That’s even worse!

A: I mean the plastic cups don’t help, do they?

B: No, I know … plastic cups! … We like even had champagne in plastic cups, you know, at what’s-her-name’s leaving party…

A: Jenny. Jenny. Glen. Yeah, I remember that, last January it was … I … kind of … liked Jenny. I wonder what she’s doing now…