Read the NEWS in English 🌐 Advanced Vocabulary and Grammar from BBC

Would you like to read an article from the BBC  with me? And make sure you watch right until the  

end, because I'm going to read the article in full  at the end so you can follow along and practice  

your pronunciation by imitating me. And also  at the end, I'll share the link to the free PDF  

that you can download and get the notes from this  lesson. So you'll have the article with all the  

vocabulary, grammar and sentence structure that  we review today. Welcome back to JForrestEnglish  

training. Of course, I'm Jennifer and this is your  place to become fluent confident English speaker.  

Let's get started. Welcome to our article, that  headline is gaslighting Merriam Webster's word  

of the year. Of course, Merriam Webster is the  dictionary, the most common dictionary in American  

English Cambridge dictionary being the most common  in British English. And their word of the year is  

gaslighting. Don't worry if you don't know what  this is, you'll learn all about gaslighting the  

new word of the year in this lesson. So let's  continue on when British playwright Patrick  

Hamilton wrote gas light in 1938. Little did he  know how often the word would be used in the 21st  

century. So this explains the image right here.  It's from the film gaslight, I personally have not  

seen this film. I have never heard of this film.  As you can see, it's from 1938, which is probably  

why I haven't heard of it. Now. They will give  us the definition of gaslight. Merriam Webster,  

America's oldest dictionary publisher has just  chosen gaslighting as its Word of the Year,  

searches on his website for the word have spiked  by 1,740% in 2022, according to the company.  

Now let's take a look at this. searches have  spiked, have spiked. So when something spikes  

generally it's something that is on a chart  or on a graph. And when you have a spike,  

it's a very sharp and sudden increase. So you can  think of it as a drastic increase. Let me give  

you another example using spike. Remember, this  is our verb. So we need to conjugate our verb,  

I could say gas prices have spiked, have  spiked. In recent months, it's been months  

now in recent months, gas prices have spiked.  So they went from here to here quite quickly,  

there was a drastic increase have spiked. And What  verb tense Am I using right here, have spiked.  

I'm using the present perfect to show an action  that started in the past, and continues until now.  

And you know that because I also say in  recent months, in recent months, right here.  

Now also notice I have have, because gas prices,  this is plural. So this is what subject it's it,  

I you, he she it, we they, you can  always think back to the subject,  

this is they have spiked. So if  I had something singular, such as  

the price of milk has spiked, the price of milk  has spiked. Now I can definitely use it without a  

time reference and still use the present perfect.  This shows a past action. So this is a completed  

past action. Okay, but I haven't in the present  perfect because there is an impact on the present.  

When I go to the grocery store today, I have  to pay more money for milk. That's the impact  

on the present. Even though the action of the  price increase is completed. It's in the past,  

so that's why it's in the present perfect. And  notice how I'm not saying milk has spiked That  

doesn't really make sense milk. What about it?  It's the price of milk the price. So that's why I  

said here gas prices, gas prices have spiked, the  price of milk has spiked and are subject for this  

is it? If you turn it into a subject I you he she  it? And that's why we have has, it has they have.  

So you can use this when you have items on a chart  price is a great one, sales could have spiked as  

well, which is really positive you see a drastic  increase in sales, sales have spiked for example.  

Now you're probably wondering, well,  what is gaslighting? What does this mean?  

gaslighting is the act or practice of grossly  misleading someone, especially for one's own  

advantage. Okay, this is the definition  here. Now let's take a look at grossly,  

grossly, grossly misleading someone. When  you add grossly. It's the same meaning as  

a lot when you're misleading someone a lot  when you're grossly misleading someone.  

So you can think in this specific  context, you can think of this grossly as  

a lot. And the a lot is referring to how much  you're misleading. Now, if you're not sure what  

misleading someone means, it's when you give  information to somebody that is false. And you  

know that information is false. And you want that  person to act according to that false information.  

So let's say I know that there's a sale on at the  Apple store tomorrow, but they have a very limited  

supply of iPhones that are on sale. And my friend  also wants an iPhone. But there's a very limited  

supply. And I know this sale is tomorrow. But my  friend might ask me, Jennifer, when's the sale.  

And I say, oh, it's next week. The sale is next  week. I just misled my friend because I gave her  

false information. And I did it because I want to  benefit in some way from that. I want the sale for  

myself, I don't want my friend to have the sale.  So I just misled my friend. So it's when you  

to provide false information on purpose to  influence someone's actions or decisions.  

I influence my friend's decision or action  because she isn't going to go to the store  

tomorrow. She's going to go next week and miss the  sale. And then I can add for one's own benefit.  

Which is right here one's own advantage  benefit. They're the same thing. And it  

just means I am going to win and my  friend is going to lose in some way.  

Now I'm going to scroll down because I shared  another definition of gaslighting and some other  

examples. So let's just scroll down and we'll  review those now. And then we'll come back.  

So gaslighting, this is a noun and remember,  you can download this PDF so you can have this  

and it's here's another definition, I provided  the action of tricking or controlling someone  

by making them believe things that are not true,  especially by suggesting that they may be mentally  

ill. So I included this definition because it  shows how severe gaslighting is and is generally  

psychological. It's a form of trying to trick  someone psychologically. So making them think  

that there's something wrong with them when  there isn't something wrong with dump. So I  

shared the second definition and then there's some  examples. gaslighting is a form of psychological  

abuse because you're trying to make someone think  that something is wrong with them. Now notice  

gaslighting we started with our Jaren our Jaren  because gaslighting is a noun, so I'm starting  

my sentence with the Jaren, which acts as the  subject of the sentence. gaslighting is a form of  

psychological abuse. His gaslighting, so is just  the action belonging to him. His gaslighting was  

a deliberate attempt to convince her that she  was losing her grasp on reality. When someone  

loses their grasp on reality, it's another way of  saying that they're, they're going crazy in a very  

drastic way that again, it's that psychological  abuse so you're trying to make someone seem  

like they aren't, aren't okay in their head in  their mind, so losing your grasp on reality.  

Her father used a gaslighting tactic, so  I want you to notice how it's being used  

how the word is being used in these different  sentences. Her father used a gaslighting tactic,  

when he declared that she must have imagined the  entire episode. So imagine you tell your father,  

something traumatic that happened to you,  perhaps there, your laptop was, was stolen,  

okay, and you're telling your father, and  your father is trying to convince you that  

you didn't have a laptop. So now, you start  to doubt yourself and you start to doubt,  

I didn't have a laptop what? I thought it was  stolen, I must be losing my grasp on reality,  

I must be going crazy. There's something wrong  with me psychologically because I thought my  

laptop was stolen. And my father who I trust  is telling me I didn't even have a laptop.  

So as you can see, it's a very severe word and it  has very negative consequences. So get comfortable  

with these example sentences to see how you can  use gaslighting in your speech. Now let's go back  

to our article now that you know what gaslighting  is in this age of MIS information, misinformation.  

So notice when we add this miss on to information,  Miss Information is false, false information.  

Which is interesting because we can take our  word lead, lead someone, but when you add myths  

in front of it, it means that you're falsely  leading them. So it's the same suffix in a  

way. So just remember information but if you add  myths, it means false information. In this age of  

false information, fake news, conspiracy theories,  Twitter, trolls, and deep fakes. gaslighting has  

emerged as a word for our time. Merriam Webster  said in a statement on Monday, notice here has  

emerged This is our present perfect is a completed  action in the past that has an impact on the  

present. The impact is now everybody is talking  about this. It's the word of the year. And notice  

gaslighting is singular. So that's why we have  has it would be conjugated as it it has emerged.  

Curiously, Search interest in the word was not  driven by any single event, the company's editor  

at large told The Associated Press. So notice here  curiously, now watch my face curiously. Hmm, hmm.  

So they're saying this to say, Well, isn't  that interesting? Hmm. Curiously, so they're  

saying they're surprised by this? Curiously, so  you can add that when you want your audience to  

understand that it's not something you expected?  So you might say it curiously, she turned down  

the promotion. So when you turn something down,  you do not accept the offer. So you can say,  

curiously, she did not accept the promotion.  That's the meaning of to turn down is she did  

not accept, but we would expect her to accept the  promotion. Right? So if I say curiously, why did  

she do that? Hmm, it makes you think about it,  it makes you wonder. It's not what you expect it  

surge interest in the word was not  driven by Okay. Was not driven by.  

So this is a great expression. Notice the  sentence structure because this is advanced,  

something is driven by something.  Now, this is another way of saying,  

caused by when you want to provide the reason  why. So I could say recent sales were driven by  

Black Friday. So of course, all  prices are reduced on Black Friday,  

right? There's promotions. So I could say  recent sales were driven by Black Friday.  

This is another way of saying we're caused by when  I want to provide the REASON CAUSE so I can say  

driven by or caused by now notice the sentence  structure because this is in the passive form,  

recent sales. This is plural, there's more  than one. So I mean, I need my verb to be.  

They, they were I need my plural form of the verb  to be and it's in the past simple because it's  

the passive voice. Now driven does not change  because it's in the passive. If I wanted to put  

this in the active sentence, what would I do  any ideas? I need to start with Black Friday  

drove recent sales drove is in the past simple  drive, drove driven I'll write that down for you.  

Drive drove driven those are our three forms as  you can see it's a regular black friday drove  

recent sales that's the active in the passive  recent sales were driven by black Friday's so  

this is our active active so that's an advanced  structure that will sound really great adding  

to your speech. Let's continue. It was a word  looked up frequently every single day of the year.  

Peter SOCO SoCo, lo ski, your guess is as good as  mine. Peter Socolow ski told the US wire service.  

So notice here our phrasal verb to look something  up. This is another way of saying to search for,  

and we use it specifically with internet searches  with Google searches. When you're trying to find  

information. It was a word looked up. So this is  very common. Someone might ask you can you look up  

when the store closes? So they want you to look it  up? They want you to Google? When does the store  

closed? They want you to find the information  and then share the information with them. Can  

you look up when the store closes? Did you look  that up yet? So they're a few minutes later, an  

hour later? Hey, did you look that up yet? Yeah,  I looked it up. But I couldn't find anything.  

Let me call them. So you're saying you tried  to you looked it up? You Googled it? But there  

was no information available online so you  have to call them So very common phrasal verb  

gaslighting derives its origins from Hamilton's  Victorian era play set in London, about a middle  

class marriage based on lies and deceit. That  makes sense, right? Because gaslighting is all  

about lying to someone misleading someone  remember misleading Miss Information to try  

to make someone think they're losing their grasp  on reality they're going crazy. lead character  

Jacques Manningham seeks to convince his wife  Bella that she is going insane. So insane is  

another way of saying you're losing your grasp on  reality, including by saying she is imagining the  

dimming of the Gaslight in their home. Oh,  this is interesting. This is interesting,  

because it shows you where the word comes from.  Because isn't it weird gaslighting? What is that?  

What kind of word is that? Well, it's from this  play where this exact situation happened. Hmm.  

This is very interesting to me, at least  because I had no idea where this term came from.  

So the Gaslight is just the light. But of course  back in 1930s, they use gas to light their lamps  

in their home. The play was twice adapted for the  screen in the UK in 1940. Then in the US in 1944,  

the American version, which stars Ingrid Bergman  won two Academy Awards, and is preserved in  

the US National Film Registry as a culturally,  historically, or aesthetically significant work.  

So that just tells you about the importance of  the film, which I didn't know anything about  

this film. So that's quite interesting. Now,  maybe I'll watch this film. But as Merriam  

Webster notes, while the term referred primarily  to psychological manipulation in the 20th century,  

its modern use is driven by the vast increase in  channels and technologies used to mislead people,  

especially in personal and political contexts.  So this is interesting. They're saying,  

primarily, it was about psychological what I  didn't have a laptop, or what the light was  

always this bright, they're trying to trick  you psychologically. But they're saying now,  

the word is evolving into using more general Miss  Information, remember, Miss Information, false  

information. And here they're showing us again,  the word mislead, mislead, because there are  

channels and technologies used to mislead people.  So there might be a channel telling you that  

you should do this for some specific reason, but  they're misleading you is false information. And  

it could be for a personal gain or a political  gain as well. And notice, again, is driven by its  

modern use, so it being the term gaslighting, so  the modern use of the term gaslighting is driven  

by so it's caused by the vast increase vast means  a lot of vast increase. So it's a significant  

increase. That could be another way of thinking  of it. That's another very useful adjective,  

adjective to have significant in increase, vast  increase. So these are just terms to say increase  

a lot, their adjective significant increase,  fast increase, so that's an adjective there.  

And significant increase, that's a very advanced  adjective. And same with vast increase. Of course,  

it sounds a lot more advanced than saying it  increased a lot. It increased a lot. There was a  

significant increase, significant increase, there  was a vast increase. So that's a great advanced  

adjective that you can use. And that's the end of  the article. So now you know all about gaslighting  

the word of the year. So now I'm going to read  the art article from start to finish. So you can  

practice along with my pronunciation. gaslighting  Merriam Webster Pink's its word of the year,  

when British playwright Patrick Hamilton  wrote gaslight in 1938. Little did he  

know how often the word would be used  in the 21st century. Merriam Webster,  

America's oldest dictionary publisher has just  chosen gaslighting as its word of the year.  

searches on his website for the word have spiked  by 1,740% in 2022. According to the company,  

gaslighting is the act or practice of grossly  misleading someone, especially for one's own  

advantage. In this age of misinformation  of fake news, conspiracy theories, Twitter,  

trolls and deep fakes. gaslighting has emerged  as a word for our time, Merriam Webster said in  

a statement on Monday, curiously, Search interest  in the word was not driven by any single event,  

the company's editor at large told The  Associated Press. It was a word looked  

up frequently every single day of the year.  Peter Sacco lo ski told the US wire service.  

gaslighting derives its origins from Hamilton's  Victorian era play set in London about a middle  

class marriage based on lies and deceit. lead  character, Jack Manningham seeks to convince  

his wife Bella that she is going insane, including  by saying she is imagining the dimming of the gas  

light in their home. The play was twice adapted  for this screen in the UK in 1940. Then in the US  

in 1944, the American version, which stars Ingrid  Bergman won two Academy Awards and is preserved  

in the US National Film Registry as a culturally  historically or aesthetically significant work.  

But as Merriam Webster notes, while the term  referred primarily to psychological manipulation  

in the 20th century, its modern use is driven by  the vast increase in channels and technologies  

used to mislead people, especially in personal  and political context. Amazing job with this  

article. Now you can look in the description below  this video and you'll see the link where you can  

download the PDF that has all the grammar, the  vocabulary and the sentence structure that we  

reviewed today. And if you found this video  helpful, please hit the like button, share  

it with your friends and of course subscribe.  And before you go, make sure you head on over  

to my website, JForrestEnglish.com and download  your free speaking Guide. In this guide I share  

six tips on how to speak English fluently and  confidently and until next time, Happy studying!