Is vaping as bad as smoking cigarettes? BBC Learning English from the News

From BBC Learning English.

This is Learning English from the News -

Our podcast about the news headlines. In this programme:

Is vaping as bad as smoking cigarettes?

A new study suggests it might be.

Hello, I'm Beth. And I'm Neil.

In this programme, we look at one big news story

and the vocabulary in the headlines that will help you understand it.

You can find all the vocabulary and headlines from this episode,

as well as a worksheet on our website, bbclearningenglish.com.

So let's hear more about this story.

Information from a new study by Manchester Metropolitan University,

which will be published soon,

has found that e-cigarettes and vapes are just as bad for health

as cigarettes.

Researchers gave volunteers fitness tests which measured things

like blood flow to their brains.

Results show that long-term users of vapes and e-cigarettes are equally

at risk of dementia, heart disease and organ failure

as regular cigarette smokers.

This is because of damage to artery walls and reduced blood flow.

Let's have our first headline.

This is from the Mail Online.

Vaping 'more dangerous than smoking',

bombshell, first-of-its-kind study reveals it raises risk

of three deadly diseases.

And that headline again from the Mail Online: Vaping 'more dangerous

than smoking', bombshell

first-of-its-kind study reveals it raises risk of three deadly diseases.

So this headline is about the results of this study on vaping.

Vaping is inhaling an e-liquid that contains nicotine

and often has different flavors.

We're interested, though,

in the word 'bombshell' from this headline, which sounds very dramatic,

Beth, what does it mean?

Well, it is dramatic.

So if you think about a literal bomb, it blows things up, causes an explosion,

and it's not usually something good.

Now here, bombshell is used metaphorically and it means

sudden, shocking and often bad news.

This report is a bombshell for people who vape, according to this headline.

Now bombshell is commonly seen as a noun,

but in this headline it's used as an adjective - a bombshell study.

So it means the study has revealed bad news.

Yes. And that's bad news for people who vape,

because the study revealed that vaping increases the risk of three diseases.

You'll often hear the word bombshell used in the news,

for example, you might see a headline such as 'Celebrity reveals secrets

in bombshell interview'.

It means something really shocking is about to come out.

And note that we often use the noun bombshell with the verb drop.

For example, I could say my sister dropped a bombshell last night.

She told us she's lost her job.

We've had bombshell - describes sudden, often bad news.

For example, the company's bombshell email announced huge job losses.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're talking about a new study into the health effects of vaping.

53% of current vapers in the UK,

that's around three million people, used to smoke cigarettes.

Many people have moved to vaping because they believe

it's less harmful than smoking.

The UK's National Health Service says that inhaling nicotine vapour

from e-cigarettes is substantially less harmful than smoking.

This new study questions this.

And that's what our next headline is about.

From the Daily Star.

Deadly side of vaping revealed as bombshell study blows initial theory

out the water.

And that headline, again from the Daily Star: Deadly side

of vaping revealed as bombshell study blows initial theory out the water.

So firstly, we can see that word bombshell used again in this headline

to describe the study.

It says this study blows initial theory out

the water. Blow out the water is what we're talking about.

And it's a very interesting phrase.

What does it mean, Beth?

Well, this is another expression that is dramatic and related to explosions.

So imagine a bomb hitting a boat.

The boat will be blown out the water - completely destroyed.

And we can use this literal meaning to help understand

the metaphorical meaning.

Yes, so if you blow something out the water, you completely destroy or defeat it.

The headline says this study blows initial theory out the water,

And the initial theory they're referring to

in the headline is that vaping is not as harmful as smoking.

But this new study destroys this theory,

that's according to this headline,

it blows it out the water.

So how else can we use this phrase?

Well, imagine a court case.

Maybe some new evidence shows that the defendant is obviously guilty.

So it blows his defence out of the water.

He's going to be found guilty,

or in sport, if you beat a record by a long way,

you've run a minute faster than anyone has before,

you could say the previous record was blown out the water.

We've had blow something out of the water, destroy something completely.

For example, she jumped 30cm higher than anyone ever has.

It blew the record out the water.

This is Learning English from the News, our podcast about the news headlines.

Today we're discussing vaping.

So far we've been talking about a study which will be published in March

and that is on adults vaping.

But now a new UK research project is coming.

It will investigate long-term health effects of vaping on

young people's health and well-being. The research will track the health

of 100,000 young people aged eight to 18 over ten years.

Last year, British National Health Service research found that a quarter

of 11 to 15-year-olds have tried vaping and nearly one in ten vape often.

And there was a press release on this new study from the UK government.

So this is from gov.uk: 10-year study to shed light on youth vaping.

And that headline again from gov.uk.

10-year study to shed light on youth vaping.

So this headline is about another study,

but this one is about vaping and young people.

We're looking at the expression 'shed light on'.

Now, shed is a word which has lots of meanings,

but here it simply means put or throw light onto something

and shed light on something is a fixed metaphorical expression.

Yeah, so literally,

if it's dark and you shine a light, then you can see what's in front of you.

Something is revealed by the light.

And metaphorically, when you shed light

on something, it has that same sense of something being revealed.

Shedding light on something reveals new information.

So in the headline, that new information that's being revealed is

on vaping and young people's health.

Shed light on is used to talk about serious things.

So you'll hear it on the news, for example,

and it's also used in academic writing.

Yes, so studies like this often shed light

on something because their whole purpose is to reveal new information.

And if you want to learn more language from the news,

we shed light on headlines every week.

We've had shed light on - reveal information.

For example, scientists hope the study will shed light

on the origins of the virus.

And that's it for this episode of Learning English from the News.

We'll be back next week with another news story.

If you've enjoyed this programme, try the worksheet on our website

to test what you've learned. Visit bbclearningenglish.com.

And don't forget to check us out on social media.

Just search BBC Learning English.

Bye for now. Goodbye.