Speaking English – How to give criticism and compliments

[Singing]

E, what you...? Hi. James from engVid. I've noticed my friend, E, is putting butter

all over his little wormy body, and standing in the sun. I think he wants to be tanned.

This is not the best way to get a tan, by the way. I'm just telling you. Don't put butter

on yourself and sit in the sun. But this is strange: "Butter me up, baby." Hmm. And then:

"Flattery will get you everywhere with Mr. E." What does that mean? That's today's lesson.

What we want to talk about is "criticism" and "praise", or "criticize" and "praise".

We have synonyms we're going to work with, and then some common popular expressions.

Right? To help you be able to use them in real life, so you can become like a native

speaker. And let's go to the board to start.

We have a little seesaw here. or heehaw, whatever. And you notice a balance, it's balancing down

for criticize, because criticism is usually considered negative. Okay? And praise is usually

considered good. So you can think of devil - dun-dun-dun-dun", or angel - aaah. Okay?

So, when we say somebody criticizes something it's they say something bad about something.

Okay? "The food is too salty, it's too hot. The room's too warm. The car's too big." They

criticize it. When they praise it, they might say: "It's very roomy", or: "The food is full

of flavour", or: "You did a good job." To praise. Opposites. Right?

So let's go start over here because I'm that kind of guy, and I'm going to look at "critic".

So the noun, a person who criticizes is a critic. Now, a critic doesn't necessarily

always have to be negative. It's considered negative, because when a critic speaks, they're

going to talk about the things that didn't go well or weren't as good as they thought.

Okay? Now, a critic is also a job, because they might go see a movie or a book, and they'll

tell you what they loved about the book. But no critic will keep their jobs if they just

say: "Everything was just great. I loved everything. I love all of the movies." They won't have

a job very long, because people say: "Not everything's good." So a critic's job is to

look at things, maybe say some things are good, but to tell you what was missing and

what could have been done better. So that's an official job, a critic. But a critic could

also be someone who finds faults, so we mean they look for things to be wrong, and then

mention it. They can't just be happy. You're eating dinner, it's a good restaurant, but

the lighting's not quite right and they're like: "Everything good, but the lighting wasn't

right and I don't like it." Why do you got to be such a critic? Why do you have to bring

something negative?

The second one is "cynic". Oh, sorry, I'm wrong. "Pessimist". A pessimist... Unlike

a critic, a critic as I said can be a job or someone who finds some fault. A pessimist

sees almost everything in a negative light. They see any situation, in a person - they

see the worst or something bad. You say: -"It's a beautiful sunny day. Like the birds are

out, children are smiling. I got a new car, a new job." -"It's going to rain soon." -"Why

you got to bring that up? The children are out, everything's good. Why do you have to

talk about it?" -"It will rain. It always does." -"Yes, but not today." Okay? So a pessimist

will say something will happen or you go: -"Look at my brand new car." -"It will break

down." -"Okay. Leave it alone. I just got it. Okay?" Pessimist.

So, cynic, we get it. Could be a job or someone finds some fault in something. Okay? A pessimist

sees everything is negative, there's always a negative something to everything. It's not

just looking at a book. Life's a bad situation. "You're born and you're going to die." This

is a pessimist. They can't see: but you are alive.

So what's a "cynic"? Or what's this "kynikos", kynikos, kynikos. K9, k-ni-, kyninikini. Well,

let's look. This is actually a Greek word, and this Greek word has to do with doglike.

So what does doglike and cynic have to do? Well, the pessimist is negative about everything.

Everything's bad. Sun: "Oh, the sun's out. You're going to get cancer." I'm drinking

water. "Yeah, you're going to have to pee." Nothing is good. A cynic is a special brand

of animal. A cynic, my friend, thinks that people only do things for themselves; it's

all about you. They're always about self-interest. They're not saying everything in the world

is bad. They don't think the sun is necessarily bad or water is bad, but they think... A cynic

is: -"Oh, he helped you move the couch. He wants a date." Everything someone does is

for a reason. They're looking for self-interest. That's what cynics think.

So, why this word here? Well, it's really a Greek word. You see, the Greeks use this

word, K9, if you know the word for dog is K9, kynikos, it means like a dog. This word

means like a dog. So a cynic sees people like a dog. A dog [pants like a dog] does everything

for self-interest. Right? It's man's best friend because it will... [Pants like a dog]

Wants a home and wants food. It loves you because you will take care of it, and they

think cynics are like that. They only look for interest for themselves. "What am I going

to get? That's why I did it." So anything humans do that are good, a cynic thinks you

did it for a reason because you benefit. And that's what makes it different from a pessimist.

So, hey, even if you speak English, you just got schooled, Bub. Okay? A pessimist sees

everything negatively, a critic picks certain things, while a cynic looks at the human animal.

Right? [Pants like a dog] Like a dog.

So what's a "backseat driver"? Got to put it up there. Ladies, gentlemen, you know you're

driving and you're driving 50 and the speed limit's 50, there's always some idiot in the

back, saying: "Just go 60. There's no one on the road. I don't know why you don't go

60. And you know, you could also..." That's called a backseat driver. They are a critic

of the worst kind. They tell you how to drive when they're sitting in the back and it's

all relax for them, got a drink in one hand, hamburger in the other one: "Hey, you know

what else you can do?" They got all the answers. Right? You know what I'm talking? You know

who I'm talking about. There's that one person. And it's worse, they don't sit in the backseat,

they actually sit beside you and tell you how you should drive, and you just want to

go: "Okay, take the wheel. Drive. I would like to relax." So a backseat driver always

has something to say about what you're doing. Usually it's involving a car. It doesn't have

to be backseat; it can be right beside you, and they've got criticism that they spew...

Spew, throw out like vomit, blah, at you as you drive. So you're like: "I would kill you

if I didn't have to drive this car right now. That's right." Okay? And it came from backseat

because usually it was the person in the back who didn't have a license who had all the

advice. Okay, we're done.

These are the nouns. Okay? You can even say that about a relationship, even. Like: "You

don't have a girlfriend. Why are you telling me what to do, you backseat driver? Get a

girlfriend, then talk to me." Okay, sorry. It just went there. I went there.

All right, "disparage", "lambaste", and "denounce." These are synonyms for the verb "criticize".

We talked about what criticize means, okay? So now we're going to talk about the action.

"Disparage", many of us native speakers talk about disparaging or lambasting and denounce,

and you go: "It's the same. You know, it's the same." Enh - wrong. When you disparage

someone or something, you give it little value or worth. When someone's disparaging you,

they're saying: "You have little value or worth. Maybe you shouldn't exist. You're valueless."

So disparage somebody's work is to say it has little value. It means it means nothing

to anyone; it's not important to anyone. Mm, interesting. Put that away. [Laughs]

"Lambaste". Okay, I like to do things to help me remember, and in this case, you know, if

you think about Easter there's those little lambs [baas like a lamb]. They're so cute

and innocent and nice. Okay? So you've got the word "lamb". This will help you remember.

Trust me. And "baste", when we baste things in English, we cook it. You know, you cook

it on the oven, and slowly cook it. You totally cook it, so you burn that meat, you eat it,

you kill it. When you lambaste something... I'm sorry. To lambaste something is to attack

it violently. So you're attacking something. Now think of that [baas like a lamb], that

little innocent lamb being attacked violently over and over. So when you lambaste somebody,

you seriously and strongly and severely criticize them. You just go after them and you just

kill them. So when you think of lambaste, think of the lamb being cooked, that innocent

little lamb going around and around, going: "He-e-e-elp me", and somebody's barbequing

the hell right out of it. Okay? That's to lambaste. Severely criticize. It's one thing

if someone criticize you, lambaste is to literally destroy you, violently attack. Whew, got that

out of my system.

"Denounce". I love this one. A lot religions do it and politicians. "We denounce you!"

It means to say publically you think something is wrong or evil. Okay? See the little devil

thing? "It's evil. I denounce you." So if your parents denounce you, that's some serious

stuff. Almost better to be lambaste. I don't know. Tough stuff either way, if you ask me.

So when we're looking at the verb for "criticize", we can go from "disparage", say you have little

worth; "lambaste you", attack you violently; or "denounce" you and publically say: "I consider

you evil and wrong in all ways." Man, this negative stuff is not good. Okay. No wonder

they thought people were like dogs. Look at the things we come up with.

Okay, but you know what? Now to go on the side of the angels, aaah. Let's start praising

people. Funny enough, I couldn't find a lot of words about praise. And I think it has

to do with English does have a sort of a history with religion with our language, and it's

okay to criticize because criticizing is what we do for humans. Right? But praising is usually

something we do for the gods above us, so there's not many words for it. In fact, when

you come over here, you're going to see some of the words for praising aren't really that

good if you're a human talking about another human, but that's another story.

Let's go to the board. When you praise somebody or something, it's to say that that person

of goo-... Is good or institution is good. "McDonald's makes great hamburgers and they

make the best Chicken McNuggets." We're praising their service. We're saying they're good at

what they do. They're good, which is the opposite is to criticize.

So, what do you call a person who says nice words about the work somebody else does? Why,

boys and girls, I could only find one word that we actually use regularly, and it is

the word "flatterer". "To flatter", as a verb-I didn't put it here because I have to explain-is

to say nice things. The problem is "flatter" is it means to say things you don't really

mean. Like you're saying to somebody who is not necessarily or not really beautiful: "You're

beautiful, and your hair is like, like, like the finest straw, so dry and so, so falling

apart. And your legs are like broomsticks, they have no shape and it helps people who

have to", do you understand? You say nice things that aren't really... You don't believe

them, but you say them. Usually when you want to get a job or a date or you want somebody

to do something, you flatter them and say: "My, James, you look good today." I'm like:

-"Really? I do?" -"No, I don't think so. Yes you do!" -"Don't flatter me." Remember here?

Flattery will get you everywhere, because we're all suckers, which means we like to

be told nice things, we want to believe them,

and we'll do nice things to keep hearing nice things.

Here's the problem: "flatterer" is supposed to be a good word, but it can be negative

because it means insincere or not real praise. Huh? Sorry, kids, I did my research. There

are other words we can use that are similar to "flatterer" that the dictionaries threw

out for me. Want to see a couple of them? "Boot licker", a boot looker-, licker. I'm

wearing some boots. Is a person who's like [licks boot] you do not lick somebody's boots.

If someone is from Saudi Arabia watching right now, they're like: "Oh my lord!" because this

is such a bad thing I'm showing the boot. This is bad in many countries. Never show

your foot to someone. A boot licker actually [licks] licks these boots. So to be a boot

licker is similar to being a flatterer. There's another word I'm not allowed to use, but maybe

I can. You can be a [makes noise] licker. See? I didn't say it, you two people, so you

can't get upset with me. I didn't say it. Okay?

Another one is a "brown noser". What do I mean by "brown noser"? Imagine this is somebody's

bum, imagine this is your nose. You put your nose inside their bum and go: "You're lovely.

I just love you. You're the best person in the whole world." That's a brown noser. Do

you know what comes out of people's nose? That's right, they're full of that stuff,

ladies and gentleman. So this is the closest word I can get to a person who praises someone.

There is no such word as a "praiser", or an "applauder", or a "complimenter". They don't

exist for some strange reason, but we've got all of these negative words. I love my language.

Next: so why don't we talk about the verbs? We do have some verbs you can use to talk

in a positive way about something. You can "applaud" somebody. Applause is like this,

clapping. You're like: "You did a great job. We applaud you." It's another way of saying

"approve". Not even "praise", we approve. We say: "What you did was okay." "Compliment",

we can compliment you. And we can "congratulate" you. -"Way to go, Johnny!" -"Thanks, Bob!"

We can do all of these verbs to praise you, but it's not the same as praise because praise

is like speaking up and saying: "Oh, you're wonderful and godlike." Okay?

We do have words that are similar to "praise", but what I found was most of these words are

religious. So to "glorify", "exalt", and "eulogize". You won't find people saying these at times

like: "We exalt Brad Pitt." No, but they will exalt God and they will glorify God, and eulogize

this. So it's not used in common speech, but if you go to church and you're religious,

I just made you the A1 brown noser for the priest. Okay? Sorry. I'm just joking.

All right, so I've got a little box here, and every once in a while we put something

in the box, so you want to pay attention here, and it's something that will help you. Because

sometimes you might see the word "critic" and "critique". Now, if you've never seen

them before, you're going to go like: "Hmm, they seem the same. I think it's the same."

And I'm going to teach you now, there's a couple of differences that you want to be

aware of. A "critic", as we discussed, is a noun, a person who reviews or says bad things.

Right? They review magazines or papers and movies, and gives you some idea like is a

good movie or bad one, or they'll say negative things about things. Also, it's a short sound:

"Critic", i-i-i. Not a long vowel sound. Okay? So that's one of the difference. Person and

it's a short vowel sound. When we look at "critique, critique, critique", it's a long

sound. Right? So we've got: it's a noun, that's the one difference, it's a noun. You can make

a critique on something. Sorry. It's only got one "i" in there. You can make a critique

about something. Okay? But it's also a verb, they're critiquing your work, meaning they're

looking at your work carefully because this is a detailed review of a subject or some

kind of work. So they're critiquing the work now, which is a verb. "Critic" can't do that.

Right? We have to say: "Criticize", we have to change the word. But a "critique" can be

used as a verb or a noun. "Critic" is simply a noun. And don't forget: when we have the

short vowel sound here; when you say "critique", it's a long sound. It's the long "e", "e":

"critique". Cool? There you go. Just in case you get confused, now you won't. Helped you.

Pay attention to the special boxes - all those little things that might come up and be confusing,

we're going to make them not confusing for you. Anyway, you know what we got to do now?

Of course, we've learned some words, we've learned, you know, the positive and the negative.

Why did he say that?

That's the next part when we come back. Right? Are you ready?

Back in a flash.

[Snaps] And we're back. Whew, you know what? Not to criticize you guys, but man, you're

making my day really long with all these explanations. Let's go to the board. Shall we? Let's be

positive. "Praise", we talked about doing popular expressions, and we're going to start

off with the praise, the positive way. "Praise", "p", "positive". Remember that. Okay?

"Something is first rate". When you say something is first rate, think of the number one, or

"top notch", okay? We're saying think of top is like the very high, like the top of my

head. We're saying it's the best. We can use this for things or people. "That hotel is

top notch." One of the best. "He's a top notch student." Very good. "She's a top notch mathematic...

Mathematician or first rate mathematician." First, premier, number one. Okay? So "first

rate" means the best. We can use it for people or things. All right?

"Somebody is on the ball". Can you imagine...? Okay, here's a ball and somebody's standing

on it. It's very difficult to stand on the ball. All right? So you have to work hard.

When we say somebody is on the ball, there's a couple of meanings. Number one, we're like:

"They know. They know their stuff. They know the latest trends and they know the newest

information; they're on the ball." It's also they're doing their job. Remember I told you

being on the ball is difficult? When they're on the ball, they've got stuff... They know

what's going on, they've got stuff going. They're moving. They're on the ball. All right?

They're taking care of things. And it also means they know a lot or they know the newest

or latest trends or ideas; they're on the ball. Think about being on top of the world.

Right? Knowing everything.

"Head and shoulders above the rest". Well, it's an expression that kind of makes sense.

My head and my shoulders are above my body and my legs, so when you're head and shoulders

above the rest, you stand tall and everybody else is underneath you. So they're here and

you're up here. "Look at me! I'm over here." It means, when we talk about people: "head

and shoulders", it means superior to or better than. It's used a lot in competition, because

"head and shoulders above the rest" means you are here. Okay? And the other people are

here, so they're lower. So there's usually competition. So if you say: "What is the best

water producer?" You say: "Coca-Cola." Actually, yeah they do make water, believe it or not.

Yeah, that's one of their divisions. And you say: "It's head and shoulders above the rest."

Oh, Perrier. Head and shoulders above the rest. It's better than the competition. It

can also be used for people and things. Okay?

"Out of this world". Woo-oo-oo-oo. Think of something, if you're playing baseball and

you connect, and you hit this ball out of this world, it's going to go far, far, far.

And we usually say this. It means something is outstanding. Out of normal measurement.

And we usually say that about things. "This pizza is out of this world. It's delicious.

It's amazing." Nothing like it. Right? Because anything out of this world, there's nothing

like it here on Earth. So if you're an... If you're a student that is out of this world,

you're outstanding. But to be honest, it's usually used for things; food, technology

- out of this world, not people.

We've done the praise, let's do the criticism or the negative. Remember the balancing thing?

We balance down. We're coming here: criticism. "Pick apart". Imagine somebody doing this

with every little damn thing, everything. Picking apart, taking one part at a time.

It means to criticize something, everything about it, every little piece. Nothing is left

alone. So when you pick apart someone, you will talk about their hair, their eyes, their

shirt, their pants, their job, their wife, their husband, their... You get the point.

Everything. Okay?

Another criticism, this is personal: "scaredy cat". [Meows] Cats are easily scared. Stamp

your foot, a cat will run. Or a [bocks like a chicken] a chicken. They're called a chicken

for a reason. If you look at a chicken and a chicken looks at you, and you look at the

chicken, the chicken will run. It doesn't know why, but it figures: "I could be dinner,

I'm out of here." So chicken and scaredy cats are usually easily scared. So if someone says

to you: "Are you a scaredy cat or a chicken?" That mean you're easily frightened, weak,

or cowardly. Okay?

"Somebody is trying to butter somebody up". Do you remember we talked about flattery?

This is the bad side of flattery. See Mr.... Well, he's gone. But Mr. E was on the board,

he had the butter, we were putting the butter on him. Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. Butter makes

everything taste good, but it's not good for you. Okay? Too much butter, bad heart; it'll

kill you. So when you butter somebody up, you start giving them: "Oh, you're wonderful.

You're amazing. Everybody loves you. You're the best." It's giving false praise. I don't

even believe what I'm saying to you. Okay? So when you're buttering them up, you're saying

nice things in order to get them to believe you so maybe they will do something for you.

"Something takes the cake". Hmm? Something takes the cake? Cake is good. Imagine something

bad happens and another bad thing happens, and another bad thing happens, and another

bad thing happens. So now you've got four bad things, and then this other bad thing

happens - this is so much worse than these ones. When we say: "Takes the cake", we means

of all the bad things, this is just the biggest example of something being bad and unbelievable.

Example: somebody comes late. They come to work, they come to work late five minutes

on Monday. Okay, not so good. Tuesday they come 20 minutes late. Okay. Wednesday they

come an hour late. Now you're saying: "This is bad." Thursday, they don't only just come

late, they come late and they let out the biggest fart and just kill the whole room.

Everyone says: "Oh my god. We got to leave!" That would just take the cake. Not only are

you late, but you smelled up the whole room and everybody left. That just takes the cake.

You just went over the top. Okay? So after someone doing something bad, bad, bad, they

do one more thing that's so big, so bad it's just unbelievable. All right?

And finally: "A snake in the grass". [Hisses like a snake] Oh, I bit my own tongue. Now

I sound like a snake. [Hisses like a snake] Mike Tyson snake. [Laughs] Sorry. A snake

in the grass. Grass, you know, there's the trees and that, you're walking, you cannot

see a snake, but the snake might bite you. And if it bites you, it gives you poison.

You can never trust a snake in the grass; you have to be careful that when you're walking,

you check for snakes because they will hurt you if they get the opportunity. Right? This

is usually used for people. Okay? So we say: "This person cannot be trusted." You go: "They're

a snake in the grass." They're there, they're out there, and they want to hurt you, but

you can't see them so you must be careful to watch all around you that the snake is

not there to hurt you. Okay? You can have a friend who's a snake in the grass. You can

have a boss who's a snake in the grass. Hell, you can have a husband who's a snake in the...

You get the point. Okay? You can't trust them. All right?

So we've learned criticism, the expressions for that; expressions for praise; we did words.

We did words earlier on. Why don't we play a little game? Shall we play a game? I got

four questions up there, and the winner, the winner will win my undying love and gratitude

forever-er-er-er. Whatever. Right? Okay, let's just go to the board and take a look.

First question: "Mr. E was __________ up when he said I looked good."

[Snaps] Remember? E was putting the butter

on at the front? Yeah, he was buttering me up. He was saying something... Remember we

talked about that? Where are we? Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo-doo. He was buttering me up. Giving me false praise.

It wasn't real; he just said it. It wasn't nice. He just said things he didn't believe.

How about number two? "You can't trust her. She's a __________."

What?

That's right. She's a snake in the grass. Can't be trusted. Right? Don't turn your back,

because she will stab you.

Number three: "This pizza is delicious. It's __________."

Remember this one? [Whistles]

Out of this world. Right? "Out of this world" is used

for things, not people, so that was your first hint. "It's delicious", "it" is a thing. Yeah,

you're good.

I bet you're going to get four out of four with the last one. Ready? Here we go.

"Why do you __________ everything I do? It makes me feel bad."

And I don't know what they could possibly be. What could it be? [Hums] Another word

for chews - correct: "pick apart". When somebody picks something apart, they criticize or complain

about everything about that thing.

And hey, don't mean to end this lesson early, because I'm not, we're finished I think. Yes.

But Mr. E's gone so that means I have to go, too. Now, we've done all we can for this.

We've been playing... Praise and criticize. But here's what I want you to do: I want you

to go take the quiz at, where? www what? Eng as in English, vid as in video .com (www.engvid.com)

where we have this video, the quiz, and so many more quizzes you can take to improve

your English. And once again, I want to thank you for being with us. We appreciate it, and

we look forward to seeing you again soon. All right?

Have a good day.