The new meaning of 'cancelled' - The English We Speak

Hello. This is The English We Speak,

with me, Feifei...

...and hello, it's me, Rob.

Hey, Rob, you look a bit fed up.

I am. I had tickets to see Roy's Rolling

Biscuits next week - but now the gig

has been cancelled.

Cancelled - meaning a planned activity

will now not happen? Well,

lots of things have

been cancelled at the moment.

But this was 'The Biscuits' , you know,

the best band ever!

Well, Rob, to be honest, I cancelled

them a long time ago.

What?! You had tickets and

you cancelled them?

No, Rob. This is another meaning

of 'cancelled'. I didn't like

the bad language in the band's

songs so I stopped supporting

them - I 'cancelled' them.

Oh!

Yep. When you cancel someone,

you don't agree with what they do

or say, and you stop supporting

or promoting them. This particularly

relates to celebrities. So if you

don't like someone,

cancel them!

OK, Feifei. Let's hear some examples...

I was a big supporter of our local mayor

until he agreed to build

the by-pass. I've cancelled

him now.

My favourite singer started singing

anti-climate change songs.

She's cancelled as far as I'm

concerned!

'Cancel culture' means we can shame

celebrities on social media

when they have controversial

opinions.

This is The English We Speak from

BBC Learning English, and

we're talking about a new meaning

to the word 'cancelled'. Cancelling

someone means to stop

supporting or following someone,

particularly a public figure, because

of something they have said or done.

It's also known as

a 'cancel culture'.

So, you've cancelled supporting

Roy's Rolling Biscuits, and my gig

has been cancelled. So

what am I going to do now?

Hmmm... what about trying to get tickets

for that other band you like?

The Bananas? No, no, I'm cancelling

them because their tickets are

always too expensive.

Oh dear, Rob. It looks like you'll be having

a quiet night in. Bye.

What are you doing tonight, Feifei? Bye.