Sold: Most expensive piece of 20th century art: BBC News Review

Warhol's Marilyn Monroe

becomes the most expensive piece of 20th century art.

This is News Review from BBC Learning English.

Hello, I'm Rob and joining me

to talk about the language behind this story is Neil. Hello Neil.

Hi Rob. Hi everyone.

If you want to test yourself on the vocabulary,

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

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

So, a portrait of Marilyn Monroe by the American pop artist Andy Warhol

has set a world record.

It was auctioned and sold for over $195 million

and that makes it the most expensive piece of 20th century art ever sold.

And you've chosen three words from news headlines about this story, haven't you?

What are they please?

I have, yes. We have 'iconic', 'fetches' and 'enthral'.

That's 'iconic', 'fetches' and 'enthral'.

OK. Let's look at the first headline then please.

So, the first headline comes from The Guardian in the UK and it is:

So, that's 'iconic' — very famous; represents an idea.

That's right, yes. And this word 'iconic' is an adjective,

but it's helpful if we break it down and look at that first part: 'icon'.

Now, we see the word 'icon' in a couple of contexts,

don't we, Rob? Can you tell us?

Yeah. So, we've got the religious idea:

something that people perhaps look up to or worship.

And then you've got that little thing on your computer:

an 'icon' that you click on.

That's right, yeah. And the thing that connects those two 'icons'

is that they represent something.

The religious 'icon' represents the religion that you follow

and the little thing that you click, on your computer,

represents the area that you want to go to.

And so, with this word 'iconic' as an adjective,

what we mean is that something represents a certain era,

a certain idea.

And so, in the headline here, it's saying that

the portrait of Marilyn Monroe is 'iconic'

because it represents that whole pop art era.

Mmm. And I read in the news recently about Maradona

and a special T-shirt, an 'iconic' T shirt, that was sold.

That's right, yeah. Maradona, the...

one of the world's most famous and greatest footballers of all time —

the shirt he wore during a World Cup match in the 1980s,

in which he scored one absolutely amazing goal,

one of the best goals ever,

and one goal where he used his hand — it's an 'iconic' shirt

because it represents the two sides of Maradona's genius.

Mmm. And I don't know about you, but back in the 1990s

I was a big fan of the Spice Girls.

They were an 'iconic' pop band from that era, weren't they?

That's right, yes.

You can imagine a picture of the Spice Girls with their individual looks:

they are 'iconic': they represent what it was like in the 1990s.

Yeah, OK. Great. Well, let's have a summary now of that word:

OK. Talking of 'iconic', the Great Barrier Reef symbolises the beauty

and also the fragile nature of Earth's beauty

and we talked about that on News Review, didn't we, Neil?

We did and all you have to do to learn all the vocabulary in that programme

is click the link below.

OK. Let's move on now to your next headline please.

Yeah. The next headline comes from RTE, which is from Ireland, and it is:

That's 'fetches' — sells for a certain amount of money.

Yeah. Now, 'fetches' — the verb 'fetch' — is an old English word

and it's got a sense of going somewhere to get something.

And there's actually... there's an old nursery rhyme, isn't there, Rob?

Ah, yeah. You're thinking of Jack and Jill.

'Jack and Jill went up the hill To fetch a pail of water.'

Yeah, to 'fetch' a pail of water:

to go up the hill and get it and bring it back.

And we use this word — it's pretty informal —

to mean go and get me something, often used with 'me'.

So: 'Rob, could you go and fetch me a coffee please,' for example.

OK. A good example — I'm not going to do it now...!

But here, 'fetches' in the headline, we're not talking about

physically getting something; it's more to do with getting a price.

That's right. But you gave the...

gave away the key there, Rob: 'getting' a price.

So, it's a different kind of usage here.

We're talking about something attracting a certain price, usually in an auction,

but the thing that connects it to the other meaning of 'fetch' —

going to get — is obtaining: getting something.

We don't use this when we're talking about things with...

with fixed prices — sorry. We talk about it...

we use it when we're talking about, usually, auctions.

Now, Rob, you had an old bike that you sold recently, didn't you,

on one of those online auction sites?

Yes, I did. It's quite a special bike, actually,

and amazingly it 'fetched' a very good price.

It 'fetched' a higher price than the one I originally paid for it,

so I was quite pleased about that.

Lucky you, Rob!

Right. Shall we 'fetch' some examples now?

Good idea. Let's have a summary:

Are you interested in money and lifestyle?

Well, we have a 6 Minute English programme all about that.

How can people watch it, Neil?

Who doesn't like money and lifestyle?

All people need to do is click below.

Yeah, just click down there.

And now, Neil, could we have your next headline please?

Yes, we have a headline from thewire.in from India and it is:

That's 'enthral' — keep your attention; be extremely exciting.

Yes, it's a lovely word: 'enthral'... 'enthral'.

And we're not just talking about

ordinary levels of excitement, are we, Rob?

No, this is about something that is very, very exciting

and it captures your attention, so you can't think about anything else.

You're really hooked on this thing that you're watching or reading.

Yeah. So, we're talking about really exciting sporting events,

for example, where you just cannot take your eyes off it.

Films, TV series:

you've been watching Squid Games — is that right, Rob?

Indeed, yes.

The Squid Games — what a brilliant series.

I was 'enthralled'.

I just couldn't take my eyes off the TV.

I wanted to watch the next episode and the next episode...

and it took my mind off other things as well,

so I found it very 'enthralling' and, as I say, I was 'enthralled'.

OK. So, you've used two different versions there of an adjective.

We have the verb to 'enthral', but you said 'enthralled'

and also it was 'enthralling' and that's how we describe these things

that totally take our attention and excite us.

A bit like News Review, I hope.

Absolutely! The definition of 'enthralling'...!

OK. Let's have a summary:

OK. It's time now to recap the vocabulary we've discussed today please, Neil.

Yes, we had 'iconic' — very famous; represents an idea.

'Fetches' — sells for a certain amount of money.

And 'enthral' — keep your total attention; be extremely exciting.

OK. If you want to test your understanding of those words,

we have a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com

and that's a good place to go to for lots of other Learning English resources.

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

Right, well, that's the end of News Review for today.

Thanks so much for watching and we'll see you next time. Goodbye!

Goodbye!