‘Delay Afghan withdrawal’ UK asks US: BBC News Review

Kabul airport – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to speak

to Joe Biden from the US about the evacuation deadline.

I'm Catherine. This is BBC News Review from BBC Learning English

and joining me today is Roy. Good morning Roy.

Hello Catherine and hello everybody.

If you would like to test yourself on the vocabulary around this story,

head to our website bbclearningenglish.com to take a quiz.

But now, let's hear more about this story from this BBC News report:

Thousands of people are still trying to leave Afghanistan.

US soldiers are there at the moment, trying to help people leave,

but those soldiers are due to leave in the next week.

There are concerns that that doesn't leave enough time

to get everybody out.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected

to speak to US President Joe Biden

about extending that evacuation deadline.

Thank you, Roy, and you've been looking at the words and phrases

that are being used in news headlines around the story.

What do you have for us today?

We have: 'press', 'plead' and 'push'.

'Press', 'plead' and 'push'. Let's have your first headline.

OK. So, my first headline comes from at home, here in the UK,

from the BBC and it reads:

'Press' – forcefully try to persuade.

Roy, what are you telling us about this word?

So, this word is spelt P-R-E-S-S and it is a verb,

and it means to apply pressure to persuade somebody to do something.

Right. That's interesting when you say it's about people because,

you know, I get in a lift and I 'press' the button –

'press' that button – then the lift starts moving.

So, where are the people in all of that?

Well, you're absolutely right. That...

that isn't connected to people there.

So, when we talk about 'press' in that sense,

it's about applying pressure to something:

so, in the case of a button, or keys on a keyboard –

now, that's talking about the physical 'pressing'.

In the sense of the headline, it's about applying pressure

to someone through communication to do something, over and over again.

So, it could be through many emails, communications, calls,

conversations – trying to persuade somebody to do something.

Right. And the more you send them emails and call them and ask them,

the more they're going to feel, 'Oh, my goodness! You know,

this person really wants me to do that.'

And they are going to start feeling some pressure.

They are. They are. They're going to feel pressured.

They're going to feel a bit stressed.

So, let me give you an example of this:

in... in work, for example, your boss may need you to do something

and there's a sense of urgency. It's something that is...

has a very tight deadline and they 'press' you to do the work,

and it's maybe through many emails,

through a lot of calls, through a lot of conversations – just:

'Come on. We've gotta get this done – let's do it.'

It's about 'pressing' someone and it can be quite stressful.

Yeah, or even negative if it goes on too far, but the idea is,

you know, you're really forcefully persuading someone.

So, what are the prepositions?

How do you use the word 'press' in a sentence?

OK. So, we use it with 'for' or with the infinitive.

So, you can 'press for' something: you can 'press for change'

or you can 'press for... for answers',

but you can... You can 'press somebody'...

Sorry, you can 'press somebody for something' as well, can't you?

You can put a 'somebody' in there. Absolutely...

Yes, you can. So, you... you 'press'... 'you press my...'

'I pressed my boss for answers', for example.

Or you can also 'press somebody to do' something.

Lovely, Roy. Let's have a summary:

Right. Talking of pressing buttons,

we have a programme about exactly that, don't we Roy?

Yes, we do. It's an episode of 6 Minute English

and all you need to do is click the link.

Just press a button on your keyboard...!

And now, let's have your second headline.

OK. My second headline is from Sky News and it reads:

'Plead' – urgently request. Tell us about 'plead', Roy.

OK. So, this word is spelt P-L-E-A-D

and it's about dramatically and emotionally asking somebody –

'please, please, please' – to do something.

So, there is that element of drama: the... the kind of...

the emotion to it – to ask them to do something,

or to change their position on something.

Yeah. And when I think of the word 'plead',

I often think about people on their knees,

kind of, looking up at somebody standing in front of them.

Maybe their hands are clasped together.

Maybe they're even crying because they want this thing so much,

but they have to ask somebody else to do it, or give it to them.

Yeah. That's... that's the exact meaning here. So, it's a kind of...

like, really, really emotionally – 'please, please, please'.

And that's where this word 'plead' comes from –

to 'plead' for something.

OK. And obviously for the... the politicians may not be on their knees,

but the idea is it's really important and they're almost

begging them to do this thing, yeah?

Yeah, it's all about that emotion.

It's really important for Boris Johnson – for Joe Biden to do this.

So, he's 'pleading' for that.

I see. Now, what prepositions can we use with the verb 'plead'?

Well, we can use it with 'plead for' something:

so, we 'plead for change' or we 'plead for answers', for example.

Or you can 'plead with' somebody:

  so, 'I pleaded with him to change his mind'

or 'pleaded with him for the answers'.

OK. Thank you very much. Now, let's get a summary:

Alright. Now, talking of asking for things,

we have an episode of 6 Minute Grammar all about asking questions.

Roy, where is that programme?

All you need to do is click the link in the description below.

Thank you very much and onto our next headline.

Our next headline comes from the Telegraph, in the UK, and it reads:

'Push' – apply pressure.

OK. Now Roy, at the top of the programme,

I gave an example of getting into an elevator

and 'pressing' a button to operate the lift.

I could also 'push' that button and the meaning's not the...

the meaning doesn't change at all.

So, is that the same for these headlines?

'Push' and 'press' – do they mean the same thing here?

To be honest, yes, they do. They're very similar.

It's about applying pressure to make somebody do something,

or change their... their standpoint on something.

So, for example, your boss can 'press you for something'

or 'push you for something'.

You can 'press somebody for answers'

or you can 'push somebody for answers'.

It's a very similar meaning about applying pressure to somebody.

However, when we're talking about the physical actions of 'press' and 'push',

there are some slight differences.

For example, when you go to a supermarket, you get a trolley –

a supermarket trolley – and you 'push' that trolley.

When you open a door, you 'push' the door.

So, it's when there's some kind of movement involved,

like you're 'pushing' something from one place to another.

Got it... You wouldn't 'press the trolley'.  

You wouldn't 'press the door', really.

OK. Thank you very much. Now, with 'push', what's the grammer?

How do we use this word in a sentence?

Well, you can 'push for' something,

or you can 'push someone to do' something.

Same as 'press'!

Yeah – pretty much!

So, that's politicians. Now, what about everyday life?

Can we use 'push' in day-to-day conversation?

Absolutely. You can use it to mean

strongly encourage someone to do something.

So, you can 'push somebody to learn'

  or you can 'push someone to go somewhere', for example.

And is that, like, positive or negative,

if you 'push' someone to do something?

Well, it depends on your perspective.

Now, for example, if I'm the one 'pushing' the person to do something,

then maybe I consider that that is a positive for them.

But if they're the one being 'pushed', maybe they feel

it's quite intense and quite stressful,

particularly if it's a long period of time with a lot of 'pushing';

it can be incredibly stressful.

OK. Thank you for that and we'll see a summary now:

Now Roy, can you recap today's vocabulary?

Yes, of course.

We had 'press' – forcefully tried to persuade.

We had 'plead' – urgently request.

And 'push' – apply pressure.

Now, if you want to test yourself on today's vocabulary,

go to our website bbclearningenglish.com.

You can find us all over social media too.

Thank you very much for watching. We will see you next time. Goodbye.

Bye.