Calls for ban on 'anti-vax' social media: BBC News Review

Hello and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.

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

Hi Neil and hello to our audience.

Today, we're talking about the Covid-19 vaccination,

which is being trialled in the UK at the moment.

We are also looking at calls to ban anti-vax social media content.

Now, 'anti-vax' means anti-vaccination – 'vax' short for vaccination.

If you want to test yourself on any vocabulary that you learn today,  

you can find a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

Before we go any further, let's hear a BBC News report on this story:

So, the story is about the UK government  

and the UK Covid-19 vaccine trials, which are happening at the moment.

The government has met big tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google  

and asked them to help them to get this vaccine out to the population.

But the UK opposition party, Labour, say that this is not enough

and Labour want Facebook and other social media platforms to ban anti-vax content.

So, they want an emergency law to stop anti-vax posts.

OK. Well, you've been looking around at the headlines and the  

media interest in this story. You've picked out three words and expressions. What have you got?

Yeah. My three words: 'outlaw', 'nonsensical' and 'peddled'.

'Outlaw', 'nonsensical,' and 'peddled'.

OK, let's start with your first headline then please, Tom.

My first headline is from here in the UK, from home – it's from the BBC. It says:

'Outlaw' – to make illegal or ban.

So, this is pretty straightforward, this word. It's made up of two parts:  

'out' and 'law'. Tell us some more Tom.

Yeah. As you said Neil, this is one word: O-U-T-L-A-W – 'outlaw'.

So, the first part I want to talk about is 'law'.  

A 'law' is a rule which is legal. OK. And the other one is the preposition 'out'.

So, you have this idea of something being 'outside' the law or 'outside' the... what is legal.

So, are we talking about crimes here?

We are talking about crime, yeah. So, it's the act  

of making something illegal or turning it into a crime. A good example could be

the UK smoking ban in bars. Do you remember when you could smoke in a restaurant or in a bar?

Yes. You could go to a bar or a pub  

and you would go home stinking of cigarette smoke, because people could smoke.

They could smoke inside, yes. So, in 2007 smoking indoors was 'outlawed'  

by the UK government. You couldn't do it anymore; they turned it into a crime.

OK. So, I noticed that you used that in a passive form there.

You will often see it used in the passive form, yeah. I say, 'Smoking was outlawed.'

The reason for this, most probably, is because it's obvious who outlaws it: it's the people  

that make the laws. It's the government. So, you'll often see it in a passive form.

Yeah. So, we've seen it there as a verb and used in the passive as well.  

Also this word is often used as a noun to describe a person.

Yeah. So, 'an outlaw' – exactly the same spelling –

is someone that lives outside the law: so a criminal.

A criminal. Are we talking about, sort of, everyday,  

any kind of crimes here? For example, you know... you know Rob likes his biscuits

and nothing will stop him from getting biscuits when he wants them – even a lack of money.

So, you know, he has been known to steal a biscuit. Is Rob an 'outlaw'?

Well... no. Rob stealing a biscuit is not really the same as Rob being an 'outlaw'.

So, an 'outlaw', you get this sense of someone that lives their whole life outside the law.

So, I like comics – Batman, for example – the Joker, or Bane: these would be 'outlaws'.

OK. And then from, sort of, history and legend we have Robin Hood.

Robin Hood, exactly, would be a great British example of an 'outlaw'.

OK. Let's have a summary:

If you would like to watch another video about crime and laws,  

we have the perfect one for you, haven't we Tom?

We do and you can access it by clicking the link.

OK. Let's have a look at your second headline.

My second headline is from Metro, again from the UK. It says:

'Nonsensical' – silly or stupid.

So, this word here – again, there are clues in it about its meaning.

There are words within the longer word, so can you take us through that?

There are, yes. So, the main word or the root word  

is 'sense' and if something 'makes sense', it's clear or obvious.

Now, we have the prefix 'non-', so 'nonsense' is the opposite of 'sense': it doesn't make sense.

And I-C-A-L, '-ical', is the suffix: that makes it an adjective.

So, 'nonsensical' – adjective for something that does not make sense.

OK. Great explanation there. 'Nonsensical' is quite a, sort of, formal word, isn't it?  

In the explanation there, we said silly or stupid; those are much more informal, aren't they?

They are much more informal, yes. And if you look at the quote in the headline,  

the quote will be from, you know, somebody important – probably from a politician.

So, if they said, 'This is silly,' or, 'This is stupid,' you know, that's not appropriate  

for the government where they would be saying that.

OK. So, you're more likely to see this word 'nonsensical'  

perhaps in a debate or perhaps in an academic essay or something.

Yeah, or in a paper or something like that, where we want to avoid offence.

Yeah. OK. What else can we say about this word?

We would most often use the noun form actually, which is 'nonsense', OK.

'Nonsense', the noun, is something that doesn't make sense.

So, if I said to you, 'Neil, you're talking nonsense!'  

I said, 'Neil, you're just not making sense.'

OK. Thank you for your explanation, which made complete sense. Let's have a summary:

If you would like to watch another video about social media companies,  

we have one for you. What is it and where can they find it, Tom?

This is another News Review, about the time Facebook said sorry  

because they got it wrong, and you can find it by clicking the link as usual.

OK. Let's have our next headline.

OK. Our next headline is from The Daily Mail – another UK news outlet. It says:

'Peddled' – spread as an idea in order to make people believe something.

Now, I know this word 'peddle', Tom – it's connected to selling, isn't it?

Yeah. One common use of 'peddle' – 'to peddle'...

'Peddled', before we go further Neil – here we have 'peddled', which is the past participle form.  

The verb is 'to peddle' – P-E-D-D-L-E. And a common use of 'peddle' is to sell something.

This is this idea that you, sort of, move around and sell a product. So, if you 'peddle your wares',  

it means you sell your products and you could 'peddle your wares' at a market, for example;  

or you could go from house to house to sell things to 'peddle' your product.

Now, there is a sense in this word that there's something a little bit  

dishonest going on with this type of selling.

Yeah. That's a very good point. You notice that I said 'peddle' instead of 'sell'.

'Sell' is neutral: we would usually use 'sell'.

If you 'peddle' something, there's this idea that it's a bit negative, you know –

kind of, a bit dodgy, or there's something not quite right happening here.

Yeah, OK. Now, moving this on slightly, we're talking about selling something  

slightly dishonestly; what's this got to do with an idea? Because the anti-vax thing is an idea.

Well, it's kind of similar actually. If you think, when we 'peddle' something we move it around;  

what's happening if we 'peddle' an idea is we spread this idea and there's a reason why.  

We don't do it for money, but when we 'peddle' ideas and rumours and things, we move them around  

because we want people to accept them, or we want them to be seen as truthful.

OK. Let's have a summary:

Time now for a recap of our vocabulary please, Tom.

Thank you. Our vocabulary today: 'outlaw' – to make illegal or ban.

'Nonsensical' – stupid or silly.

And 'peddled' – spread as an idea in order to make people believe something.

Don't forget to go to our website bbclearningenglish.com to do a quiz  

on the vocabulary and we are also all over social media.

Thanks for joining us and goodbye. Bye.