The Queen: 70 years on the throne: BBC News Review

Queen Elizabeth II celebrates 70 years as British monarch.

Welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.

I'm Rob and joining me today is Neil. Hello Neil.

Hi Rob and hello everybody.

If you would like to test yourself on the vocabulary

you hear in this programme, there's a quiz on our website

at bbclearningenglish.com.

Now, let's hear more about that news story from this BBC radio report:

Queen Elizabeth II, the monarch of the United Kingdom,

has been on the throne for 70 years.

Now, that is a record for a British monarch;

nobody has been on the throne that long before.

The Queen became Queen 70 years ago,

when she was 25 years old,

when her father George VI died.

Another announcement the Queen made is that she wishes Camilla —

that is, the wife of Prince Charles — to be known as Queen Consort

when Prince Charles becomes King.

Yeah. And we've got three words and expressions

from the newspaper headlines

that we can use to talk about this story, haven't we? What are they?

Yes, we have. We have got:

'milestone', 'tributes' and 'heartfelt'.

That's 'milestone', 'tributes' and 'heartfelt'.

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

Yeah, the first one comes from the Independent,

which is based in the UK, and the headline reads:

'Milestone' — important point in someone's life.

Yes. Now, you've just said it's an important point in someone's life,

but let's break this word up to see its origin.

We have the word 'mile' and we have the word 'stone'.

Now, 'mile' is a measurement of distance,

which is the equivalent of... Rob?

Equivalent of 1.6 kilometres.

Yes, 1.6 kilometres is a 'mile'.

The second word there is 'stone'. 'Stone' is a rock.

Now, you put them together; you have a 'milestone'

and a 'milestone' is a marker that used to be on the side of the road,

which would tell you how far it was to a certain place.

Yeah. So, it's a kind of marker, as you say.

Therefore, metaphorically a 'milestone' is a marker in someone's life.

That's right. So, we're not talking literally here

about a 'stone' with 70 written on it for the Queen.

It's figurative. It's metaphorical

and we use 'milestone' to talk about important points in someone's life.

And we also use 'milestone'

in connection with project management, don't we?

We do, yes.

In project management, often 'milestones' are set.

Now, these are points or dates in a project

when certain things should be achieved by,

to make sure that the project is going smoothly.

OK. What about you, Neil?

Any 'milestones' in your life coming up?

Well, would you believe, Rob, that I joined the BBC in 2002,

which is twenty years ago,

so that is an important 'milestone' for my career.

It sounds like it. We'll put a special plaque up on the wall

to mark this important 'milestone'.

Yes. And I'm looking forward to celebrating your 50th...!

Very good. OK. Well, we've reached the 'milestone'

in our programme for a summary:

In News Review last year, we talked about

a 'milestone' in American politics.

What was that all about, Neil?

Yes, we did a story about Kamala Harris,

the first woman of colour to become the vice president of the United States.

If you want to find out more about that story,

what do our viewers have to do, Rob?

Just click on the link down below.

Just click. Yeah. OK.

Let's have a look at your next news headline please, Neil.

My next headline comes from BBC News and it reads:

That's 'tributes' — announcements showing respect and admiration

for someone or something.

Yeah. So, a 'tribute' — that's a noun.

'Tributes' — plural there in the headline.

And a 'tribute' is something you say or write or do,

in order to mark or pay respects to somebody's achievement.

So, I get that, but what are we, kind of, paying 'tribute' for particularly?

OK. So, in this case, it's an important anniversary.

The Queen has been on the throne for 70 years.

That's very significant and so we pay 'tribute':

it means we say nice things, we write nice things,

we reflect on the achievement.

You might also hear it in connection with somebody's death.

So, when somebody important dies — or not just important actually,

somebody close to you — you might pay 'tribute',

which is a sort of formal way of saying

that that person was really wonderful.

They did lots of good things and you'll notice that I said there 'pay tribute'.

Thats a collocation. Those words go together:

to 'pay tribute' to someone.

Yeah, just to clarify, we're not handing money over here for a 'tribute', are we?

We're not paying someone.

No, it's not payment in terms of money, no.

We say 'pay tribute', meaning to —

in the same way we say 'pay respect' —

it's to give.

OK. And I also hear that you can be a 'tribute to' someone.

Yes, that's right.

For example, Rob, I've met your children.

They're really, really wonderful, friendly kids.

You've done a great job bringing them up.

They are a 'tribute to you'.

Thank you very much, Neil. You're giving me a 'tribute', are you, here?

That's right, but I'm using that expression

that someone is a 'tribute to' something.

It means they've done a really good job of something

and they deserve to be recognised.

Well, thank you very much for that.

Let's have a summary:

In News Review last year, we talked about people paying 'tribute'

to the drummer of Rolling Stones, Charlie Watts.

You can watch that video again, but how can people watch that, Neil?

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

Great. Let's have a look at your third headline please.

My next headline comes from the Daily Express,

another UK-based news organisation,

and the headline is:

'Heartfelt' — strong, sincere feeling.

Yeah. Lots of really interesting vocabulary in that headline,

but we're focusing on 'heartfelt'.

Again, another word we...

we can break up and look at the individual parts

and try to understand it that way.

So, we have 'heart' at the beginning:

'heart', obviously, the organ in your body, which pumps blood around,

but used very often figuratively, metaphorically

to talk about things connected to emotion,

love and that type of thing.

And 'felt', obviously, there is the past of 'feel'.

So, put together, 'heartfelt' —

we are talking about sincere emotional responses.

So, it's something we really feel inside.

It's not somebody we casually feel or casually say;

it really is a feeling that we have inside,

a genuine feeling for someone.

Yeah. If... if we were in the office and you made me a cup of tea, Rob,

I wouldn't give you a 'heartfelt' thank you.

I would... that's a little bit over the top,

but if I'm at a wedding, I might hear a speech

by the father of the bride giving a 'heartfelt' speech

about his daughter.

It would be very emotional — very sincere.

OK. If I spilt this cup of tea over you, of course,

and made a mess of all your clothes,

I would give you a 'heartfelt' apology.

Well, if I was about to go and do something really important

and you completely ruined my outfit, so it was quite serious,

then a 'heartfelt' apology might be... might be a good idea, yes.

OK. Let's now have a 'heartfelt' summary:

OK. It's time now to look back

at the words we've been discussing in this programme, Neil.

Yes, we had 'milestone' — important point in someone's life.

'Tributes' — announcements showing respect and admiration

for someone or something.

And 'heartfelt' — strong, sincere feeling.

Thank you. Now, if you want to test your understanding of those words,

we have a quiz on our website

at bbclearningenglish.com

and that's the place to go to for all our Learning English resources.

We are of course all over social media as well, so check us out.

That's all for News Review for this week.

Thanks for watching and we'll see you next time.

Bye bye.

Goodbye.