Thomas: Happy New Year!
Emily: Happy New Year to you, too! Shall we go for a drink or a bite to eat?
Thomas: Let’s go for a coffee and a sandwich. I’m giving up alcohol for a while.
Emily: Oh, new year’s resolution, is it?
Thomas: Yes, exactly. I’m laying off the booze and taking up running. Got to get in shape.
Emily: Well done, you! I’m giving up smoking myself.
Thomas: Hey, that’s great! I was wondering why you hadn’t nipped outside yet.
Emily: Yes, well, it’s not easy. I’m having quite a hard time of it, actually.
Thomas: I’m sure. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve done myself, but I feel all the better for it — especially when I run.
Emily: Yes, maybe I should join you!
Thomas: That’d be great! It’s really boring by myself. I go before breakfast around 6am.
Emily: Ugh, perhaps not then. I hate early mornings…
NOW LET’S REVIEW THE VOCABULARY!
A bite to eat is an idiom referring to a snack or a small meal.
The phrasal verb to give up in this context means to stop doing something, usually a bad habit like smoking or drinking. Other verbs used include ‘to quit’ or ‘to stop’.
Making new year’s resolutions is a tradition of setting personal goals for the year ahead.
Lay off the booze is a colloquial phrase for giving up alcohol. You can also say ‘lay off the bottle’.
To take something up means to start a new habit, like running or painting.
To get in shape means to get fit, usually through exercise or a healthy diet.
To nip is an informal way of saying ‘to go quickly’.
When you have difficulty doing something, you have a hard time of it.
When you feel (all) the better for something, you experience an improvement as a result of it, in this case, quitting smoking.
By myself means ‘alone’.