Summary:
A wolf is on the loose in Springfield Elementary School. Groundskeeper Willie, the muscular Scottish janitor, rips off his shirt and challenges the wolf to a wresting match. As he holds the wolf in a headlock, he tells Bart to go back to class. The scene ends with the beaten-up wolf lapping whiskey from Willie's hand.
Transcript
Willie: Hey, wolfie, put down that hors d'oeuvre. It's time for the main course! Back to class, lad. Nothin' to see here.
Grampa: Alright now boy! We'd better rub some garlic on you before the next full moon!
Willie: Och, don't feel bad for losing. I was wrestling wolves back when you were at your mother's teat!
Idioms and vocab:
On the loose-- Running around freely (used of animals)
Lapping-- An animal drinking with its tongue
Headlock--A wrestling hold
Hors d'oeuvre-- appetizer
Main course-- The large meal served after the appetizer in French cuisine
Garlic before the next full moon-- Grampa confuses precautions often taken against vampires and wearwolves, according to folk mythology
Back when you were at your mother's teat-- Back when you were a puppy
Now you practice:
Pretend you're Bart telling what would have happened if Willie had not been there. Use the past unreal conditional. "If Willie hadn't been there, I would have been in big trouble..." (Try to say more than "The wolf would have eaten me."
Email your responnse to jpenna@udel.edu for this week's Simpson's practice.