Learn English Vocabulary Daily #17.2 — British English Podcast

Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast.

My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 17, Day 2 of Your English Five a Day.

This is a series that attempts to enrich or enlarge your active vocabulary by

deep diving into five pieces every day of the week from Monday to Friday.

We're going to start today's list with the adjective mindless, mindless.

We spell this M I N D L E S S.

Mindless.

If something or someone is described as mindless, I think you

can guess, it means that they are stupid or they have no meaning.

So, if an act is mindless, then it's a pointless act.

It's got no reason, no good reason behind it.

Like if someone comes and sets fire to a wooden hut for no reason, just

for fun, just because they're bored.

And that hut contained the objects, the possessions of an elderly couple.

And for them, it was all very important stuff.

It was their memories, their photographs, their life's work.

And someone's just come and destroyed it.

That would be a mindless act.

And you could even refer to that person as being mindless.

Here's another example sentence,

"Have you noticed how many songs out at the moment are full of mindless lyrics?

I remember when songs used to mean something."

Next on our list is an adjective, it is prophetic, prophetic.

We spell this P R O P H E T I C, prophetic.

So bearing in mind here that PH often represents the sound /f/ like

in French, fry, fish, prophetic.

Prophetic means saying correctly what will happen in the future.

So, almost predicting something that's going to happen.

You just say it like it's a prophecy, prophetic.

Have you ever had a prophetic dream?

Sometimes we do, don't we?

We dream something that feels prophetic, or somebody comes to you and says,

"I've got a great idea.

I'm going to do this."

And you say,

"Oh, it will come to nothing."

Or,

"That's fantastic.

I can really imagine that working out for you.

You're going to start your own business and everything.

I can just see it now."

And then it really happens.

And then you look back at what you said and think, wow, that was a

really prophetic statement to make.

Here's an example sentence,

"His predictions about how computer technology would revolutionise the

workplace were completely prophetic.

I wonder if he can predict next week's winning lottery numbers!"

Next on our list we have the noun conformity.

Conformity.

We spell this C O N F O R M I T Y.

Conformity.

Conformity is behaviour that follows the rules or the standards that are

expected by society or by a group.

Do you conform?

If you conform, then that behaviour is conformity.

Here's an example sentence,

"Conformity in the classroom is a must, we cannot have students simply

running around doing what they please.

We need to set some tighter rules for them to follow."

Were you a student who conformed?

I certainly was.

I still hate stepping a foot wrong, stepping outside of the standard,

the rules, the expectation.

I don't like to disappoint people.

It doesn't mean that I always just mindlessly follow the rules.

I will, and have, at times, gone against the rules.

I remember when I was at high school and the rules at this particular

school, which was an all-girls school, was that everyone had to wear skirts.

No matter the weather or the season, we were expected to wear skirts.

And I, as some of you may know, if you've been following the podcast for a while, I

had a fractured femur in my younger days.

And so, when the weather is cold, I tend to feel it in my

bones, in the leg that I broke.

And this was particularly the case in the years after the break.

And so, I really wanted to wear trousers on the days when it was really cold

in the winter, but I wasn't allowed.

So, what I would do, because I'd walk to school, is I would

wear jeans on my commute.

And I'd walk in jeans all the way to the train station, which was close to

my school, and then I'd pop into the changing rooms, or the toilets, in the

train station, and I would change out of my jeans and put on my school skirt,

so that I was only in my skirt for a very short time while walking outside.

And someone saw me.

A teacher driving past caught sight of me wearing jeans and

reported me to the headteacher.

And I was called into the head office and I was told off, basically.

But I put up a fight and I argued my case and I asked my mum to also write

a letter and complain to the school.

I didn't want to just conform and go along with what they

were telling me I had to do.

I was like,

"No, this isn't fair.

Why should I have to wear a skirt on the way to school?"

And they argued that it was because I was representing the school and

that by not wearing my uniform, I was damaging the reputation of the school.

I don't know.

I can't remember the outcome of that story.

I don't think I was allowed to wear trousers in the end.

I think I was told that I had to wear tights instead,

thick tights with my skirt.

Anyway, I am digressing.

So that was conformity.

Let's move on to our next word.

This is an adjective and it is uncanny, uncanny.

We spell this U N C A N N Y.

Uncanny.

If something is uncanny, then it's strange or mysterious, often in a

way that may be slightly frightening.

Here's an example sentence,

"Isn't it uncanny how Mary always knows what Sue is thinking,

it must be a twin thing!"

Moving on, we have a verb and it is dazzled, dazzled.

Dazzle is spelt D A Z Z L E.

Dazzle.

To dazzle is to cause someone to feel really strong admiration for

something or someone like a superstar would dazzle you with their talent.

You'll look at them and feel strong admiration for what they can do.

Who has dazzled you lately?

Have you dazzled anyone?

Here's an example,

"I'm always dazzled by the view when I drive my kids to school,

as we come over the hill, we're greeted by the oceans, mountains

and fishermen out on their boats.

Wow!"

Alright, that's our five for today.

Let's do a quick recap.

We started with the adjective mindless, mindless, something

that's stupid or meaning nothing.

Then we had the adjective prophetic, something that you say about the

future that actually happens.

It's accurate.

Then we had the noun conformity, which is behaviour that

follows the expected standard.

Then we had the adjective uncanny, something that's strange or mysterious,

sometimes in a slightly frightening way.

Then we had the verb dazzle, when you cause someone to have a strong feeling

of admiration for something or someone.

Now let's work on our pronunciation.

If you can repeat after me, then please do.

Mindless.

Mindless.

Prophetic.

Prophetic.

Conformity.

Conformity.

Uncanny.

Uncanny.

Dazzle.

Dazzle.

Wonderful.

Let me test you.

Now, if you do something that has no meaning whatsoever and I think is pretty

stupid, what adjective could I use?

Mindless.

And if your behaviour follows the standard, you do what is

expected, what noun could I use to describe your behaviour?

Conformity.

If something that happens is slightly strange and mysterious,

a little bit frightening, what adjective could I use to describe it?

Uncanny.

Oh, and if I see something that causes me to feel strong admiration,

it's so wonderful, "Look at that!"

What verb would we use?

What is happening here?

Dazzle.

I am being dazzled by the thing that I'm looking at.

Now, if I say something about the future, something I think that's going to happen,

and it turns out to be right, then you could say that my statement was...

prophetic, prophetic.

With that word, you know, I always feel like it sounds very, very close

to a very different word: pathetic.

So, you have to be careful, I think, between those two

words pathetic and prophetic.

Pruh, pruh, making sure you're getting that rrr sound.

Pruh, prophetic.

Bunching your tongue for the R.

Prophetic.

Alright, that was our five.

Now, let's bring them all together in a little story.

Now, I'm not into fortune telling or people predicting my future, I've always

thought of it as mindless words that someone offers in an attempt to make money

and make you feel better about yourself.

However, I hesitantly agreed to go along to see a 'fortune teller' with a friend.

The room was full of people, all sat in what appeared to be a state of conformity.

There was complete silence in the room, which was only broken by a

sudden crash as someone who had clearly had one too many drinks,

walked in and tripped over a chair!

That spectacle over, a lady came onto the stage wearing an outfit that

clearly dazzled the waiting audience.

She wore a bohemian-inspired outfit of a bright, jewel-toned

headscarf, a tight-waisted skirt that floated out at the bottom and

a flowered, puffy-sleeved blouse.

When I looked at her face, I thought to myself, "She has an uncanny

resemblance to my friend Anita."

Anyway, the fortune teller introduced herself as 'Madame Mystique' and told

us all about how she works and how the evening was going to proceed.

I started to feel a little more at ease.

That was until I was called up on stage to be the first 'guest'.

Fast forward four months and everything Madame Mystique had told me has come true!

I now live in a beautiful cottage in the countryside where I run my business from.

And sales have been rising very nicely since hearing those prophetic words.

To this day I still do not know whether 'Madame Mystique' can predict the future,

or whether it is pure coincidence, all I know is that my life improved since

that night that I nearly didn't attend!

And that brings us to the end of today's episode.

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I really appreciate your attention and I hope you'll come back again tomorrow.

Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.