Diego Maradona: Doctor’s house searched: BBC News Review

Hello and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.

I'm Neil and joining me is Catherine. Hi Catherine.

Hello Neil and hello everybody. Yes, last week saw the death of Diego Maradona,  

the world famous footballer. His doctor has been accused of not taking care of him properly.

OK. Well, if you want to test yourself on any of the vocabulary you learn in this programme,  

there's a quiz on our website: bbclearningenglish.com.

Now, let's hear some more about this story – about Diego Maradona – from this BBC News report.

So, Argentinian footballer Diego Maradona died last week at the age of 60.

He had various health problems including diabetes and substance dependency.

He'd recently had a brain operation as well.

Now, his doctor is being accused of not looking after him properly.

You've been looking at the various news stories about this on the internet

and you've picked out three words that are useful to talk about it. 

What have we got?

Yes, we have: 'negligence', 'breaks down' and 'raids'.

'Negligence', 'breaks down' and 'raids'. Let's start then with your first headline.

Yes, we're starting in Australia today with SBS News – the headline:

'Negligence' – failure to take enough care.

Yes. It's a noun. It's spelt N-E-G-L-I-G-E-N-C-E and the pronunciation is 'negligence'.

OK. Interesting pronunciation:

we've got two 'g's in a short space, but they're pronounced differently.

They are indeed the first 'g' is pronounced 'guh'

and the second 'g', which is followed by an 'e', is pronounced 'juh'.

So, we have: 'neg-li-gence' – 'negligence'.

Right. Now, when we talk about 'negligence' it's fairly serious, isn't it?

We're not talking about forgetting to bring your laptop to work, or something like that.

No, that's just being forgetful; 'negligence' is where you don't do something

that you really should do or you're required to do by law and if you don't do it,

something bad – very bad – may result.

Yeah. So, we often see this word in combination with the area that concerns it,

for example, 'medical negligence'.

Yes, or we can have 'corporate negligence', for example.

And it's often used in the context of accusations or even criminal or civil lawsuits.

So, it's very much used in legal terms as well.

Yeah. So, 'negligence' is when someone or somebody 'neglects' its duty.

You used the verb form there, Neil – I heard that.

Yes, 'neglect' is the verb form and 'neglect' is also a noun as well.

So, if you 'neglect' a child or a child experiences 'neglect',

it means you're not looking after its basic needs properly

and often, again, the authorities will step in. There might be police or social workers involved.

Yes. And there's also an adjective?

'Neglected'. Yes, if a child is 'neglected'

or in this case if Diego Maradona's healthcare was 'neglected', there will be serious consequences.

Yes, and we can also say that someone or something is 'negligent'.

Yes, that is also the adjective form. You can be 'negligent'.

OK. Let's have a summary:

If you would like to hear another story about 'negligence' and 'neglect',  

we have one about air pollution. Where can they find it, Catherine?

You can find that story by clicking the link.

Right. Now, it's time for your next headline.

It is and we are now in the UK, looking at The Star – the headline:

'Breaks down' – starts crying.

Now, in this headline there's a clue because it says 'breaks down in tears',

but we don't need the 'in tears' and it still means crying, doesn't it?

Absolutely, yes. Now, 'breaks down'... B-R-E-A-K-S. Second word: D-O-W-N.

If you 'break down', it means you really start to cry,

kind of very emotionally, very suddenly and you can't really control yourself.

Now, this is not the kind of crying that you get at the end of a film, Neil,

when you're watching a sort of sad film and you get – a little tear comes to your eye.

Do you ever get that?

When I'm watching one of those Disney Pixar films with my kids

and it's got the bit that appeals to the grown-ups and the tear appears...

No, no this is not 'breaking down' – that's just a little...

No, that's not breaking down – when your kids go, 'Daddy, why are you crying?'

and there's a little tear down your eye. No 'break' – if you 'break down',

you really lose control of your... of your emotions:  

you cry very loudly, you cry very suddenly.

You really, kind of, can't control yourself and it's not a nice experience.

It's a human experience, but it's not like you enjoy a sad film crying;

this is proper kind of losing control: crying, sobbing, almost getting hysterical. Yeah.

Yeah. It can be for happy reasons though as well.

Oh yes, you know, if something really good happens that you've been waiting for a long time.

You've been... you had an exam result that's really important to you.

You get the grade you wanted – you might 'break down' in tears of happiness or tears of relief.

So, it's not always 'breaking down' because of bad things, but often it is:

we get a shock, we get bad news, there's a crime being committed, somebody dies,

you have a really bad breakup and you lose all control of your emotions

and you cry loudly and noisily, and people can't calm you down.

That's what we mean by 'to break down'.

Yeah. So, that's a verb and we've got two words there: 'break' and 'down'.

There is a noun, a 'breakdown', which is one word but that's slightly different, isn't it?

We're talking about a full sort of emotional collapse.

Yes. Yeah, if you have a 'breakdown', you may well cry uncontrollably,

but often it's more to do with a sort of a mental health issue.

So, if you have a 'breakdown' – a psychological 'breakdown' – as well as crying,

you've got other associated difficulties and you probably need some professional help

or some certainly some time and treatment to help you to recover from that.

Now, like many phrasal verbs, 'break down' has various meanings,

which may not seem connected, but we think there is a connection between them.

So, for example over the weekend my car 'broke down'.

Now, it doesn't mean it started crying, does it?

No. But it does mean it wasn't working like it normally would,

and if we think of... although 'breaking down' in tears

is something that happens to most of us and it's part of being human,

you're, kind of, not on the normal functioning that you  

would expect and like to have on a daily basis.

Just as your car – if it stops working – it 'breaks down' and doesn't work anymore,

when a human 'breaks down' and cries,

you're not doing what you'd normally do on a good day, let's say.

OK. Let's have a summary:

So, for a happier sporting story we have one about Rafael Nadal,

the Spanish tennis player who won his 20th Grand Slam recently.

Where can they find it, Catherine?

They can find this story by clicking the link below.

OK. Onto your next headline, please.

Yes, we're now at the BBC – the headline:

'Raid' – action by police in which they suddenly enter a building.

Yes. So, this is spelt: R-A-I-D. It can be a verb and it's also a noun: 'raid'.

OK. So, we're talking here about a sudden and very dramatic break in to a property...

Yes, very dramatic.

...in order to try to find something or someone.

That's exactly it. Often done by the police or it can be done by the army, the military:

they surround a house but they do it very quietly and by stealth

so that the people in the house or other building don't know that they're there.

Then, suddenly, in they go – often they have to force the door – they go in

and they make sure everything's secure and then they look for something

or they try to do something that they need to do inside that house.

So – surprising, it's very forceful, often done at nighttime when people aren't expecting it.

In they go, and then they look for usually a person or drugs

or in the doctor's case we don't know what they were looking for or trying to do,

but something they had to do in the house and they wanted to do it by surprise.

Now, the word 'raid' is the sort of word that ordinary people use

and also obviously in news headlines. It's probably not the official term

for this type of action that the police would use or the military.

There's probably... in their documentation there'll be a particular way of saying it,

but for you and me and the papers we say the police 'did a raid'

or the police 'raided' the house or building or nightclub or whatever.

Yeah. And the people involved in the 'raid' are 'raiders'.

They are 'raiders', yes.

And you will know that name if you're a fan of films:

you'll know Tomb Raider and also Raiders of the Lost Ark.

That's right, yes.

OK. Let's have a summary:

Time now then for a summary of our vocabulary, please.

Yes. We had 'negligence' – failure to take enough care.

We had 'breaks down' – starts crying.

And we had 'raid' – action by police in which they suddenly enter a building.

Don't forget to test yourself on the vocabulary on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

We're also all over social media. Take care and goodbye.

Goodbye.