Tornadoes devastate US states: BBC News Review

The US state of Kentucky has been hit by a powerful tornado.

US President Joe Biden, says:

it's one of the largest tornado outbreaks in US history.

Hello, I'm Rob and this is News Review

from BBC Learning English

and joining me today is Roy. Hello Roy.

Hi Rob and hello everybody.

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

all you need to do is head to our website

bbclearningenglish.com to take a quiz.

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

So, more than 90 people are now confirmed dead

after tornadoes hit the Midwest of the USA on Friday.

Most of the confirmed dead are in Kentucky.

Sadly, some people believe that that number of dead

is still expected to rise.

And we've got three words and expressions from the news headlines

about this story that we can use to talk about this story.

What are they please, Roy?

We do. We have: 'wiped out', 'hell on Earth' and 'trail of destruction'.

So, that's 'wiped out', 'hell on Earth' and 'trail of destruction'.

Right Roy, well, let's have a look at your first headline please.

OK. So, our first headline comes from the Telegraph and it reads:

That's 'wiped out' – destroyed; removed from existence.

OK. So, this is a phrasal verb.

First word: 'wiped' – W-I-P-E-D.

Second word: 'out' – O-U-T.

And it means to completely remove something or destroy something.

Now, this phrasal verb, 'wipe out' is actually a separable phrasal verb,

which means that you can 'wipe something out'

or you can 'wipe out something'.

Now, let's focus first of all on that first word, 'wipe'.

Rob, you know what 'wipe' is, right?

I do. I mean, the verb 'to wipe' means often to clean something.

For example, I might 'wipe' the windows to remove all the dirt.

And in my car I have 'windscreen wipers',

which are those blades that go back and forwards to remove the water,

remove the rain from the windscreen, so I can see clearly.

So, it's about removal, isn't it?

Yes, absolutely. It's this kind of action usually,

if we use our hands: we do that.

We 'wipe' something away.

In this sense, when we say 'wiped out',

it means completely remove or destroy completely.

In the terms of the headlines, we're talking about

the 'wiping out' of a town or buildings.

Now, this expression also gets used quite a bit

when we're talking about populations,

and populations being eradicated from history:

they're 'wiped out'.

Yes. Now, a good example of this:

if something is removed from history – we could look at the dinosaurs.

Now, we know that dinosaurs existed but they're no longer here.

We don't have dinosaurs here with us in the modern times,

but we know they existed because we have bones and fossils.

Now, these animals were...

or they went extinct: they no longer exist.

In other words we can say: 'The dinosaurs were wiped out.'

And in this news story though, we're talking about towns

that have been destroyed and completely eradicated

because of the power of that storm.

Absolutely.

And also, I've heard this expression used perhaps more informally,

when people are tired and exhausted.

They say they're 'wiped out'.

In this sense we use it as an adjective.

It comes after a verb: 'I feel wiped out' or 'I was wiped out.'

And it's when you're talking about being extremely exhausted.

All of your energy has basically been removed: 'wiped... wiped out'.

So, you say – maybe after a long day at work you'd say, 'Oh, I am wiped out.'

You've got zero energy left.

Yes, I feel like that quite often,

but here of course we're talking about a more serious context.

We're talking about this powerful tornado that's 'wiping out'...

well, towns and villages – quite serious stuff.

That's right.

OK. OK. Let's have a summary of that phrase:

So, we talked about people being eradicated

in history – being 'wiped out'.

Well, we did a programme about the possibility of humans becoming extinct.

This was 6 Minute English and you can watch that again,

but tell us how, Roy.

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

Yeah, have a look down below. Thanks.

Right, well, let's have a look at our next expression

from a news headline please.

OK. So, our next headline comes from

the South China Morning Post and it reads:

So, that's 'hell on Earth' – a place or situation that is terrible beyond words.

Yes. So, this is a three-word expression.

First word: 'hell' – H-E-L-L.

Second word: 'on' – O-N. Third word: 'Earth' – E-A-R-T-H.

And it basically describes a situation that is really...

a situation or place that is incredibly horrific.

And 'hell' – that's a religious reference, isn't it?

Yeah, absolutely.

In religion people often describe this place, 'Hell',

as being a horrible place.

It's full of fire, punishment – it's a terrible environment.

So, if you're saying that 'Hell' has come to Earth,

you're saying this place – this horrible place

full of evil, devastation, destruction – has arrived on Earth.

Yeah, and in the news we hear about situations such as war and famine

as been described as 'hell on Earth' because,

you know, nature perhaps is destroyed – the environment.

It's such an awful place to live

or you don't want to live there because it is so bad.

That's right, yeah.

And are there any other ways we can use his expression?

Well, yeah, of course.

I mean, obviously if you're talking in that sense of these terrible situations,

people also sometimes use the expression to exaggerate.

So, maybe somebody is having a really bad day.

I don't know – they miss the train, they get stuck in the rain,

their clothes get destroyed and they could say:

'Oh, this day is just hell on Earth!'

Or you can say – like, a situation between two friends

that has become so hostile, so intolerable, is...

it's like 'hell on Earth' when you have to see this person.

But, again, these are examples and I'm really exaggerating,

using that expression 'hell on Earth'.

Yeah, I say, here we're talking about a pretty serious situation

over in Kentucky, where it really is like 'hell on Earth'.

Yeah.

OK. Let's have a summary of that phrase:

We've discussed many things here on BBC News Review

and one of them earlier this year

was about the Earthshot Prize.

Now, this is the prize that Prince William was awarding to people

for their contribution to helping the environment.

How can we watch that programme again, Roy?

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

Great. OK.

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

OK. So, our next headline comes from the Times and it reads:

So, that's 'trail of destruction' – evidence of damage or chaos

caused by something or someone.

OK. So, another three-word expression here.

First word is 'trail' – T-R-A-I-L.

Second word: 'of' – O-F.

Third word: 'destruction' – D-E-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-O-N.

Now, 'destruction' is the noun form of 'destroy'

and basically what it is – it's like evidence

that you can follow that shows the chaos

and destruction caused by someone or something.

Well, the first word 'trail' – I know what a 'trail' is.

I mean, I follow a 'trail' sometimes,

if I go out into the countryside or into the forest.

I follow a route from the beginning to somewhere else,

and that is a 'trail' that I'm following.

Absolutely. It's, kind of, like a path

and I know you do this quite regularly.

You go on these 'trails' and you maybe hike,

and that idea is something...

the 'trail' there is something that you can follow.

Now, in other uses of the word 'trail' we talk about a 'trail of evidence'

in a criminal investigation.

Maybe there has been a crime and a detective will follow

a 'trail of evidence' or clues to find out who committed the crime.

Now, in this sense we're talking about the tornado in the headline...

Sorry, we're talking about a tornado leaving behind it

a 'trail' that you can follow to where the tornado was when it finished,

or where it is.

OK. Let's have a summary:

OK. Roy, time now for you to recap today's vocabulary please.

Yes, we had 'wiped out' – destroyed; removed from existence.

We had 'hell on Earth' – place or situation that is terrible beyond words.

And we had 'trail of destruction' – evidence of damage or chaos

caused by something or someone.

Right, thank you for that Roy and don't forget –

you can test yourself on this vocabulary on a quiz,

which is on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

That's the place to go to for lots more Learning English resources

and don't forget we're also on social media.

Well, that's all for today's programme. Thank you so much for watching.

Do join us again soon. Bye for now.

Bye!