Kamala Harris makes history: BBC News Review

Hello and welcome to News Review.

I'm Rob and joining me today is Catherine – hello Catherine!

Hello Rob and hello everybody. Yes we've

got a great story today about a female politician who's making

history in the United States.

Great and if you want to test yourself

on the vocabulary that we're going to be talking about today

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

but before you go there let's have a listen to today's news story with this

BBC News report:

Yes, so Kamala Harris is making history in the United States.

She is the first Black, Asian woman to accept a nomination

to run as vice president in the American elections.

Yes. And we've got

three words to talk about today to help you talk about this story.

What are they Catherine?

They are: 'nod', 'mongering' and 'blasts'.

So, that's 'nod', 'mongering' and 'blasts'.

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

Of course, and we're starting with the

International Writers' website – the headline:

OK. So, that's 'nod' – official act to suggest that someone should be given a prize or position.

That's right. It's a three-letter word: 'nod' – N-O-D.

It's a noun and it describes a movement.

Rob, do you like biscuits?

I do. You're nodding your head, aren't you?

Moving up... I am – up and down – yes to mean 'yes'.

Yes, OK. And Rob, can I have your biscuits please?

Er no! Shaking your head – this movement –

in a lot of cultures means 'no'. So, left to right is 'no'.

Up and down means 'yes'. And that's the idea

of 'nod', when we use it in this sense. It's not a head movement, but it is an

agreement. It is saying yes: in this case saying yes

to somebody doing something of importance,

or somebody getting a position of importance:

maybe a recognition, maybe a promotion. It's when somebody gets

something good that is given to them.

OK. So, it's not just a physical nod –

it's not just somebody going: 'Yes, you've done well.'

No, no it's not. In fact, you can give somebody a nod by talking

to them, by giving them a phone call, by an email,

maybe by an announcement in a newspaper or somewhere else.

So, you 'give somebody the nod' that they are

able to do something, or they've received a recognition,

or they've won a prize, or in this case they've been recognised as

worthy of being the candidate.

Right. Now, I went for a promotion in the

department last week to be head of biscuits and...

Really?? Yes, and the good news is

that the boss gave me the nod.

You got the nod? Fantastic! I got the nod.

You got the nod. ...I got the job.

Fantastic – ooh, by phone call? So, you got the nod by a phone call?

By phone call, yeah. I've got a job which means... And now – brilliant.

...good quality biscuits all round in the office now.

Can't wait.

OK. Well, should we have a summary of the word 'nod'?

So, we've been talking about people giving us the nod but you can also

'give us a bell'. That's another expression, isn't it Catherine?

It is and to find out what it means and how to use it

just click the link.

OK. Time now to look at our next headline.

And next up we've got the Guardian here

in the UK – the headline:

OK. So, that's 'mongering' – encouraging an activity that is damaging or hurtful.

Yes. So, the spelling is: M-O-N-G-E-R-I-N-G – the pronunciation is 'mongering'

and we always use this word

with a noun in front of it and a hyphen. So, in this case 'fear-mongering'.

Now Rob, do you like fish?

Yes, I love fish.

Where do you buy your fish?

I go to a fishmongers: an expert in fish –

somebody who really knows their fish. ...and sells it.

OK. Do you like tools?

Hand tools: hammers and nails and things.

I do. I have plenty in my shed.

Where do you buy them?

I buy them at an ironmongers.

An ironmongers – somebody who works with and sells metal

objects made of iron. Less common these days,

but a fishmonger and an ironmonger are people who sell

fish and iron. Now, we're not talking about

real things that you can hold – like fish and iron – here,

but what we are talking about is somebody who

spreads and perpetuates feelings like fear, like worry,

like doom. It's things – so, if you're a 'fear-mongerer'

you make people afraid: you say things to make them

more fearful than they need to be. You concentrate on the negative.

You spread – you can be a worry-mongerer

and you make people worry by saying worrying things to them.

You can also have... You're not selling worry – you're not selling fear.

You're not selling it in the sense of money,

but you are selling it in the way that more

and more – you want more and more people to have it.

It's just some people do it. Some people look on the bad side of things.

Some people also – if you're fear-mongering – often they think it's the

right thing to do. If you're making people worried about

something, it's often because you think it's a very worrying thing, but

other people might see it differently and say:

'Actually, there isn't anything to worry about. You're just a worry-mongerer.'

And there was some rumour-mongering going on

during the coronavirus pandemic, I found.

Quite a lot. Yeah, particularly about toilet rolls,

I noticed. There were rumours going on that

the supermarkets were going to sell out

of toilet rolls, so I got down to the supermarket – I joined a long queue.

When I got in I found that there were loads of toilet rolls for sale, so it was

just rumour-mongering that got everybody in a bit of a panic, I suppose.

Well, yes, around your way, yes. If everyone was saying there's no toilet rolls and

then there was, somebody was rumour-mongering, yes.

OK. Well, should we have a summary of that word, now?

Let's do that.

Well, if you like all this talk about US elections and politics, we talked about

another story a few weeks ago with Kanye West, who wanted to be

president of the US. How do we find that story, Catherine?

As always, to find out more just click on the link

and you'll go straight there. Down below.

OK. Let's have your next headline, please.

And next we're going to BBC News, here in

the UK – the headline:

'Blasts' – severely criticises.

Yes. Now the spelling here is B-L-A-S-T-S – the pronunciation:

I say 'blasts' but Rob you say... 'Blasts'.

'Blasts' – so I say it with 'a' sound and you say it with an...

'Ah' sound. So, which one is correct?

Which is correct? They're both correct Rob.

My 'a' is the British Northern 'a' sound and your 'ah' is...

A British Southern accent: 'blasts'. Yes.

And both of them are fine. You can say

'blasts', you can say 'blasts' – it's the same word. People will

understand you, so choose the one you like.

So... I know – I know about this word 'blasts'.

It's to do with cannons and rockets blasting off into space, isn't it?

That's right, yes. A blast is a big explosion.

So, you can talk about a blast from a gun

or rockets going into space is a blast-off.

So, it's a word of power and

force, but we're using it here not to talk about

real explosions: we're using it here to talk about anger.

Angry outbursts: when you shout at someone, you get very cross with

them, you have a lot of criticism, you're very vocal,

you're quite – almost quite scary. You really tell someone

that you're not happy with them: you're blasting them.

So you're very angry.

Yes. When did you last blast someone, Rob?

Well, when I went to the pub the other

night the landlord pulled me a pint out, but he didn't

fill the glass to the top. There was a bit missing – I didn't get my full pint.

Ooh. And you went really crazy, did you?

Yeah. I had to blast the landlord there and tell him this isn't fair.

So, are you allowed back into the pub now after blasting the landlord?

Unfortunately not. I think I'm gonna have to try somewhere else for my pint of beer.

You're gonna have to say sorry

because 'blasting' is not something you do to someone in an everyday situation.

If you do, you really have to apologise if you wanted to stay friends with them.

It's a very strong word. That's why newspapers

like it. And it's the idea of really strong criticism, so if you blast someone

in real life they probably won't speak to you again.

...or you'll have some apologising to do.

Choose your moment.

Yes.

OK – good. Well, let's have a summary of 'blasts'.

OK. Catherine, it's time now for you to recap the vocabulary

that we've talked about today, please.

Yes. We had 'nod' – official act to suggest that someone should be given a prize or position.

We had 'mongering' – encouraging an activity that is damaging or hurtful.

And 'blasts' – severely criticises.

If you want to test yourself

on the vocabulary that we've been talking about today, we have a quiz

on our website at bbclearningenglish.com

and don't forget we've got lots of Learning English materials all over social media.

Well, thanks for joining us today. Bye-bye. Bye Catherine.

Bye!