Takunda Mavima: Slang and Cultural Expressions

Approx. time	Expression	Explanation
0:28	world by the tail	in control, in a very good position
0:42	poised to	ready to, set to
0:43	pre-pharmacy program	the undergraduate coursework that leads to a graduate level degree in Pharmacy Science
0:48	night of drinking (alcohol)	In American English, when the verb “drink” is used alone it usually means “drink alcohol (wine, beer, or hard liquor).
0:50	literally... turned upside down	“Turne upside down” means changed in a significant way. In this case, the car crash turned Takunda’s car upside down (and also changed his life by sending him to prison).
0:55	rise from the ashes	to return to a life of respect or success after terrible failure
2:28	apprehensive	worried
2:41	hanging out	spending time talking together with no particular activity planned
2:48	background checks	criminal investigation into someone’s past life to see if they are safe to work with
2:58	due diligence	careful and proper investigation
3:58	my prom	a formal dance party at the end of the high school year where girls wear elegant dresses and boys wear tuxedos
4:08	senioritis	a fictitious “disease” that causes final-year students to lose focus and behave irresponsibly just before graduation
4:42	let go of apprehensions	not be worried, relax
4:44	let loose	be a little crazy, have fun, be a little irresponsible
5:30	head on straight	to be focused, mature, and responsible
5:36	good track record	a history of good performance
5:40	honor student	high-achieving student, one with very good grades
5:42	lenient	lax, flexible, not strict or controlling
6:23	scrawny kid	[slang] thin, not large or muscular young person
6:57	very bad cocktail	very bad combination of circumstances
7:02	goes out the window	is rejected, abandoned, not employed
7:13	Campus Security	the police department of the university
7:17	get caught	be found by law enforcement officers
7:20	Minors In Possession (MIP)	legal charge against under-age citizens who are caught with alcohol
7:43	Hop in!	Get in! Jump in (my car)!
8:18	crash investigator and toxicologist	the officials who check the site of the crash and test the level of alcohol in the crashed driver’s blood
8:24	blood/alcohol level 0.10	Takunda’s level of body alcohol
8:28	.02 over the limit	Takunda exceeded the legal limit by this amount.
8:56	the home stretch	getting close to the destination
9:05	veers off	turns off
9:10	navigate the curve	steer well around the curve
9:49	ejected and killed on impact	thrown outside of the car and died instantly
10:00	aftermath	the time immediately after a terrible event
10:10	in a haze	confused, unable to see or think clearly
10:59	sirens	the sounds of a police car that warns drivers of trouble
11:11	breathalyzer	device to measure alcohol levels through a person’s breath
11:44	start to sink in	begin to become understandable
11:54	wrapping my head around	starting to comprehend
12:03	heavy	serious
12:19	hysterical	full of uncontrolled emotion
12:29	be sedated	be quieted by drugs
12:48	sentenced	told how one will be punished (e.g., prison time, fine, other)
13:12	remorse	regret
14:06	pleaded	begged, urged
14:09	zero time	no time in prison
14:15	profound	deeply meaningful
15:30	immaculate...divine	pure, heavenly
15:40	opened their arms	welcomed, embraced
15:49	unbearable	unable to tolerate
15:54	not coming after me	not attacking me
15:58	putting myself down	criticizing myself
16:02	of all people	compared with all the people in the world; remarkably
17:08	another gig	another engagement (to speak)
17:20	very poignant	sadly meaningful
17:27	Wyoming High (School)	http://bit.ly/1P1tIi1
17:56	same mindset	same way of thinking
18:08	One Choice	Takunda’s message: the choice to be responsible
19:05	[email protected]	Contact Takunda if youÂ’d like him to talk at your school.
19:13	@onechoice520	Follow Takunda on Twitter here.
20:03	relevant	connected, related
20:45	St. John Vianney	Takunda’s church: http://stjohnvianney.net