Taliban: No beard, no job!: BBC News Review

'No beard, no job' for government workers in Afghanistan.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

I'm Rob and joining me to talk about the language

behind the headlines is Neil. Hello Neil.

Hi there, Rob, and hello everyone.

If you'd like to test yourself on the vocabulary we look at in this programme,

there is a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

But now, let's have a look at some details of that story

from this BBC News report:

So, as you just heard there, the Taliban government in Afghanistan,

which took control back in August,

have put out an order that men without beards will be sent home

and lose their jobs.

It's amongst a series of measures that have been brought in.

And we've got three words and expressions that you can use

to talk about this story from news headlines.

What are they please, Neil?

We have: 'hardliners', 'bars' and 'show up'.

That's 'hardliners', 'bars' and 'show up'.

OK. Let's have a look at the first news headline please.

The first headline is from The Times of India and it reads:

That's 'hardliners' — people with strong beliefs or views.

That's right, yes. So, the first thing to say is

that this word 'hardliner' is quite clearly made up of two parts:

'hard' and 'liners'.

And in this headline, in this version of it,

the words are separated — or connected even — with a hyphen,

but you will often see this word as just one word.

Yeah. So, if we break this...

this expression down, we've got 'hard', which is something very strong,

and then 'liners' or a 'line'

is when you follow a particular belief or opinion.

You follow a particular line, don't you?

Yeah, that's a really useful way of thinking about it.

The word 'hard' in this case means strong

and 'line', as you said, is opinion.

So, we can use the word 'line' to refer to your point of view or opinion:

'What is your line on something?' It means what do you think about it.

And so, a 'hardliner' is someone who has a very strong interpretation

of how something should be.

So, it's very difficult to get them to change their mind, I guess.

Yes, these are inflexible people:

people whose minds don't change

and who often have the strongest interpretation

of a particular point of view or opinion,

even amongst a group of people with the same opinion.

So, within, for example, a political party,

the people in the party will have a similar opinion to each other,

but the 'hardliners' are the ones with the most extreme,

or strongest, or strictest interpretation.

And in the headline, we were using 'hardliners' as a noun,

but you can also use this as an adjective, can't you?

Yes, you can use it as an adjective,

for example, ahead of the word 'approach':

a 'hardline approach' to something.

And again, it means that you have a very strict approach to whatever situation.

So, if I was in the office and, you know, I like to drink tea;

I won't consider drinking coffee.

Does that mean I'm taking a...

I'm taking a 'hardline approach' towards drinking tea?

Well, you could say that... it would be a little bit strange to be honest,

because we use 'hardliner' or 'hardline approach'

usually to refer to something which is pretty serious

and your decision between tea and coffee I'm afraid,

Rob, is not that serious.

However, you could use it in a, sort of, humorous way

because it exaggerates the importance of... of this thing.

OK. Let's have a summary:

So, we're talking about the Taliban today

and of course last year we covered the story

where they took over Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan

in our News Review programme. How can we watch that video again?

All you have to do is click on the link below.

OK. Now, let's have a look at your next news headline please.

Yeah, the next headline comes from Reuters and it reads:

So, that's 'bars' — officially prevents something from happening.

Yes, that's spelt B-A-R-S.

In this headline it's a verb: 'to bar' something.

But, it's useful to think of it as its noun form: 'a bar'.

Now, a 'bar' is usually a long piece of metal,

often used, for example, on a prison window or door

to prevent people getting out,

and that is how it's used as a verb.

It means to prevent something from getting through.

If you imagine, for example, a pathway or...

you're trying to get through a door and there is a 'bar',

the 'bar' is going to prevent you from getting through where you want to go.

And as a verb, if you 'bar' someone from doing something,

it means you stop them.

Yeah, and a criminal — if we put them in prison,

we sometimes say: 'We put them behind bars,' don't we?

That's the noun again — the physical 'bars'.

That's right, yes. Yeah.

And we can use other words, such as 'bans'

and 'prevents' and 'stops' as well, yeah?

Yes, 'bans', 'prevents', 'stops':

they all have the same meaning as this word 'bars'.

Great. Thanks for that. Let's have a summary:

So, we were looking at words like 'bars', 'bans' and 'prevents'.

We did a programme about the difference between 'prevents' and 'avoid':

it's English in a Minute. How can we watch that again please, Neil?

If you've got just one minute to spare,

you could learn something really useful:

click the link below.

Now, let's have a look at your next headline please.

Yes. My next headline comes from The Daily Sabah and it reads:

That's 'show up' — appear at a place.

So, 'show up' is a phrasal verb made up of two parts:

'show' and 'up'.

Now, let's break that down. I know about a 'show'.

A 'show' is something I might go and see in the West End,

where people are dancing and singing and things like that.

Is it that kind of show we're talking about here?

No, it's not, Rob.

'Show' in this sense is connected to arrival, appearance.

So, to 'show up' somewhere is to arrive or to appear in that place,

often in a slightly unplanned way.

So, for example, you might want to make a reservation in a restaurant,

for example, and you phone up and you say:

'Do I need a reservation or can I just show up?'

and that means arrive — appear,

as I said, without necessarily a, kind of, firm plan.

But, if you do have a plan and you're late,

then we can say you 'show up' late.

Yes, it can also be used, kind of, generally to mean arrive

and informally, as you just said then, if somebody arrived late,

you could ask them why they have 'shown up' late

or you could complain about a bus 'showing up' late.

Yeah. And I 'showed up' late for this recording, didn't I,

because I was showing off my new shoes?

There's a few more meanings of 'show' there.

A couple of meanings of 'show' there. So, we have the one

we're talking about: to arrive, appear.

And then you've got 'show off', which means to...

well, kind of, display proudly something and it...

What we see here is how we can have phrasal verbs

that only alter in the second part —

the particle, the preposition part:

the 'up', 'off', 'on', those parts —

and it radically changes the meaning.

It's just something you have to learn, I'm afraid.

And also a similar meaning for 'show up' is 'turn up', yeah?

Yes, 'turn up' is the same as 'show up'.

OK. Let's now have a summary:

Now, it's time to recap the words

and expressions that we've talked about today please, Neil.

Yes, we looked at 'hardliners' — people with strict views or beliefs.

'Bars' — officially prevents something from happening.

And 'show up' — appear at a place.

Now, if you want to test your understanding

of these words and expressions,

we have a quiz on our website

at bbclearningenglish.com.

And that's a good place to go to to check out

all our other Learning English resources.

And don't forget — we're on social media as well, so you can't miss us.

Right, that's all for today's News Review.

Thank you so much for watching and we'll see you next time.

Bye bye.

Goodbye.