Advanced Vocabulary and Pronunciation Practice from the News

In this lesson, you're going to learn how to  

communicate your ideas in English  very fluently and very confidently.

And we're going to do this in  a very fun and engaging way.

We're going to review a news  article together on a current event,  

and you're going to learn advanced vocabulary,  correct pronunciation, and advanced grammar.

And you'll do it in a very natural way.

Welcome back to JForrest English, I'm Jennifer.

Now let's get started.

First, I'll read the headline Burger King Must  

face Whopper of a lawsuit alleging  burgers are too small, says Judge.

We're talking about the fast food  restaurant Burger King that serves  

this hamburger, which is called a Whopper.

Do you have Burger King in your country?

Do you know the name Whopper  for this style of burger?

If so, let me know in the comments,  

because I'm not sure how well known  Burger King is outside of North America.

So here, Burger King mas  face Whopper of a lawsuit.

Now, I said that the name of this  hamburger is called a Whopper.

So if you go to Burger King, you can say  all have one Whopper or two Whoppers.

You're ordering this hamburger.

But that's not how it's being used here,  because Whopper has another meaning.

A Whopper is a noun, and this is something  that is much bigger than the usual size.

So in this case, it's the lawsuit that  is much bigger than the usual size.

So it's another way of saying that Burger  King must face a very large lawsuit.

Now in an everyday example, you could  say that's a Whopper of a parking ticket.

So you got a parking ticket.

The regular parking ticket is about $50 usually,  

but your parking ticket is much bigger than the  usual size, in this case, size meaning the price.

So your parking ticket is $300.00.

So you can say that's all  whopper of a parking ticket.

Notice I added the article.

Ah, because Whopper is a noun, and it's  a singular noun, so you need an article.

They excluded it from the  headline because headlines  

often exclude unnecessary words like articles.

But it is required grammatically.

That's all whopper of a parking ticket.

You can also say that parking ticket is a Whopper.

So you're describing the parking ticket.

It is a Whopper.

It's really big, bigger than the usual size.

Burger King must face Whopper all Whopper  of a lawsuit alleging burgers are too small.

So this is what the lawsuit does.

The lawsuit alleges that Burger  King burgers are too small.

Now allege This is a verb.

The verb to allege this is  when you say that someone,  

in this case Burger King,  has son done something wrong.

In this case, sold burgers that are too small.

But it hasn't been proven.

So that's the important part.

Let's take a look at this example.

She stole the money, but someone might correct  you and say ah, she allegedly stole the money.

So notice here it's an adverb  because it modifies the verb  

stole so it can be used in different forms.

If someone corrects you and says  no, she allegedly stole the money.

All that means is someone  said she stole the money,  

but it hasn't been proven so at  this point she's still innocent.

She allegedly stole the money.

Let's continue on.

And before we do, just know that you don't  have to write any of these notes down because  

I summarize everything in a free lesson PDF so  you can look for the link in the description.

Now let's continue.

So what do you think, this Whopper?

Does it look small?

Smaller than you might see it in an advertisement?

Perhaps a judge has ruled that Burger  King must face a class action lawsuit.

So a lawsuit, a class action lawsuit, is just  when many small lawsuits are combined into one.

So rather than Joe, Mary, Susan, Tom, all  four of them individually suing Burger King,  

now they are suing Burger King as a group.

And there's only one lawsuit, but  that lawsuit includes many people,  

and lawyers do this because generally they can  get more money if it's a class action lawsuit.

So that's what it means, class action, a  class action lawsuit accusing the chain.

So remember accused.

This is a word that's also used  to say that you say someone has  

done something wrong, but it hasn't been proven.

So at this point we could say she was accused.

She was accused of stealing the money.

Now notice this is in the passive form to be  accused of doing something, stealing the money.

Because we're talking about the  subject receiving the action.

We're not talking about who is doing the action.

But you could absolutely do that.

You could say Bob accused  Sally of stealing the money.

You could absolutely use it in the active form.

Bob accused Sally of stealing the money.

So then you could say, ah she Sally  was accused of stealing the money.

Then someone might say Sally stole the  money and then you can say no, no, no,  

she allegedly stole the money because  at this point is just an accusation.

Accusation is the noun form of the verb accuse.

So I wrote an example here using accusation.

Remember this is the noun form.

You can't trust Bob's accusation.

I have to admit that looking at this  burger a lot as I'm writing all this,  

to me, it doesn't look very appealing.

That's just my opinion.

Perhaps you look at this and you think,  oh, that looks delicious, but to me,  

this burger, this Whopper,  does not look very appealing.

So I wrote my opinion here  and I use this also because  

I wanted to teach you the adjective appealing.

When something looks or is appealing,  

it's an adjective and it simply  means attractive or interesting.

Now in this case, attractive in  the sense that I want to eat it,  

but it could be attractive in the sense that  it's beautiful to look at or interesting.

So attractive can mean many different things.

For example, I hope you think that my lessons are  very appealing, very attractive, very interesting.

So if you do put that in the comments,  Jennifer, your lessons are very appealing.

Jennifer, your lessons are very appealing.

Put that in the comments.

So I know you enjoy them.

Now let's continue.

We are talking about class action  lawsuit accusing the chain chain  

is a company or a restaurant, a  store, but there is more than one.

So there's a McDonald's in  every city around the world.

They all serve the same food.

So McDonald's is a chain.

You can open a restaurant  anywhere and it looks the same,  

it tastes the same, they serve the same thing.

That's a chain.

So accusing the chain,  

in this case the chain is Burger King of  falsely inflating the size of Whoppers.

Remember this is the name  of their burger, a Whopper.

So falsely inflating when you inflate something  it means you make it bigger than it is in reality  

and falsely comes from the word false, which  means you do it when it is incorrect to do so.

This is a serious accusation accusation,  and a company or the person could be in  

significant trouble, including going to  prison, if they are found guilty of this.

For example, the company is  accused of inflating their profits,  

making their profit larger than it actually is.

Now this is a a very serious offense,  

but someone might say there's no evidence to  support that allegation or that accusation.

You could use either one.

But here the company is accused of  doing something inflating their profits.

So that's what Burger King is accused of,  falsely inflating the size of Whoppers in  

advertisements joining the ranks of other fast  food giants like McDonald's and Taco Bell.

So if Burger King joined the  ranks of McDonald's and Taco Bell,  

that suggests that McDonald's and  Taco Bell have also been accused of  

inflating the size of their products  or accused of false advertisement.

And this expression to join the ranks of  and then you list people or companies,  

it simply means to become one of a group.

So now we can say there is a group  of three companies, Burger King,  

McDonald's and Taco Bell who have faced lawsuits.

So Burger King has joined the ranks.

The suit This is just short for a lawsuit.

The suit claims, alleges, alleges, claims.

Same thing.

So I'll write that for you.

Alleges, claims.

The suit claims that Burger King made Whoppers  

appear twice as large as they  actually are in advertisements.

So you could see an ad and the burger would look  

twice as big as this because this  is clearly someone's actual picture.

Because again, in my opinion,  it doesn't look very appealing.

So Burger King would never put this on.

An advertisement is certainly wouldn't  convince me to order this burger, while  

the actual burgers served to customers  are 35% smaller than those marketed.

So again, if the burgers are marketed,  it means you see them on advertisements,  

whether that is visually.

It could be in a magazine,  a YouTube video, a movie,  

and the actual burgers, the one you receive  when you order it in a store, is smaller.

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Now let's continue with our lesson.

The plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs are the people  who accuse someone of something.

So the plaintiffs are the people who  ordered the burger and said this is small.

This is way smaller than advertised.

Those are the plaintiffs.

I wrote the definition a plaintiff  there, the plaintiffs claim.

Again, you could say allege  the plaintiffs claim they were  

disappointed after purchasing  Burger King products based on  

their appearance in photos, only to find  they were smaller when actually served.

The plaintiffs say they would not  have purchased the food items had  

they known they did not look  like the advertised image.

Let's take a look at this grammar structure.

I wrote it in a slightly simpler way.

If I had known it was so small, it  being the Whopper or the food item.

If I had known it was so small,  I wouldn't have purchased it.

This is the conditional and it's  used for a hypothetical in the past.

So this first part, if I had known it was so  small, this means I didn't know this at the time.

I know this now because now I can see it  in my hands, but at the time I didn't know.

I didn't know this at the time  I wouldn't have purchased it.

But remember, this is the hypothetical.

So I did purchase it, but I  wouldn't have purchased it.

You can reverse this order.

I wouldn't have purchased it  if I had known it was so small.

You can use either order  and there's no difference.

So I wrote the alternative  order as well for you to review.

They say, remember the plaintiffs,  they say they were deceived.

Deceived.

That's another way of saying  they say they were lied to.

Deceived means you received  information that wasn't true  

or wasn't accurate and that was done on purpose.

They were lied to.

They were deceived.

Deceived as a little more formal way of  simply saying lied to, they were lied to.

According to court documents,  Burger King denied the claims.

They're saying no, that's not true.

They denied the claims.

The alley here because it's  the noun form the claims.

You could say the allegations, allegations.

Burger King denied the allegations, the claims  and asked for a judge to dismiss the case.

So if the judge dismisses the case,  it means it's thrown in the garbage.

The judge says we are not taking  this any further, this is over.

So the judge is saying this isn't a valid  complaint, we're not going to court.

That's only if the judge dismisses the  case, and a judge will do that because  

they feel there isn't enough evidence  to support the plaintiffs allegations.

And As for a judge to dismiss the case  saying reasonable customers have long  

been aware that food is styled in ads to  make it appear as appetizing as possible.

So remember I said that before.

You can use appealing to in  many different situations.

You can use appealing for food.

You can use appealing for my YouTube videos.

Again, remember Jennifer,  this video is very appealing.

Put that in the comments.

So appealing for food, A video,  a piece of art on your wall,  

a building a person can be very appealing.

So in many different contexts.

But appetizing is only used with food.

So you could absolutely say, oh, that burger  is so appetizing, which means appealing.

But again, it's only used for food, only for food.

OK, so of course they make their ads.

This is the short form for advertisement  their ads as appetizing as possible.

And that's just of course they would they.

Like I said before, they would never put this  on an advertisement because it isn't appealing.

It isn't appetizing.

Again, that is just in my opinion to me.

Maybe you have a different opinion.

So again, as appetizing as  possible and they are not  

required to serve burgers that  look exactly like the picture.

This is what Burger King is saying.

Now let's see what a judge says.

The lawsuit is the latest in  a string of recent litigation  

against chain restaurants  over their food litigation.

This is another way of saying  lawsuits, a string of recent lawsuits.

I want to point out that latest in this  context means newest or most recent.

I'm pointing that out because  if someone says you're late,  

you're the latest person in this  room, it means you arrived last.

Now in this case, the lawsuit is the most  recent, so it's the newest, the newest.

In a string of a string of,  this simply means a series of.

So you can replace the word string for series, but  it has to be where one happens after the other.

So first McDonald's was sued, Taco Bell was sued.

What's another fast food restaurant?

I can't think of 1.

Wendy's was sued, Pizza Hut  was sued, Burger King was sued.

So that's a string of it's a series  and one happens after the other.

And the latest, the most recent being Burger King.

A string of recent litigation.

Again, just lawsuits against  chain restaurants over their food.

Last month, a New York man sued Taco Bell.

So this man is now the plaintiff.

The plaintiff is the one who sues someone else.

A New York man sued Taco  Bell for false advertising,  

claiming again, we can replace that with what?

This is my third or fourth time singing it.

So you should know, with alleging a little  

more formal sounding alleging  alleging it's Mexican pizza.

So this is the product that  you can purchase at Taco Bell.

Mexican Pizza had only about half of the  beef and bean filling than he expected.

So again, perhaps Taco Bell falsely  advertised you get this much filling.

But then in reality, it was this much.

In March, a Chicago man sued Buffalo Wild Wings.

So notice they're explaining this  string of This is the series.

First this happened.

Then This happened and now  maybe then this happened.

So they're listing the the series  of 1 happens after the other.

That's the string of In March, a  Chicago man sued Buffalo Wild Wings.

This must be a chain restaurant.

I'm not familiar with it.

Buffalo Wild Wings saying the company's  boneless wings aren't wings at all,  

but actually cheaper chicken breast tenders.

So don't worry about what this means.

It's just that Buffalo Wild Wings  falsely advertised their product.

They said you are going to get this, but then  in reality the customer got something different,  

different from what they were expecting  based on the advertisement that they saw.

Buffalo Wild Wings has denied the allegations.

Remember, if they deny it,  they say that's not true.

That's not true.

We didn't do that, denied the  allegations and again you could  

say accusations and is asking  a judge to dismiss the case.

So this is our second time seeing it.

Perhaps I'll write this down for you.

If the judge dismisses the case,  

the easiest way you can imagine this is the  judge it she or he throws it in the garbage.

They say this case is not not valid, So the  judge like closes the case permanently throws  

it in the garbage, meaning it's not going  to proceed, it's not going any further.

The case is not valid to dismiss the case.

So I'll put that throwing the judge to throw it in  

the garbage saying that boneless wings  wouldn't mislead reasonable customers.

OK, so the judge hasn't  actually dismissed the case.

The restaurant, Buffalo Wild Wings, is  asking the judge to dismiss the case.

So I'm not sure what the state of this case is.

McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's.

These are three chain restaurants.

We're all sued last year over  the size of their cheeseburgers.

So again, if someone sues someone, it means that  someone officially says you did something wrong.

But remember, that's just an allegation.

It hasn't been proven, but  you have to go to court.

You have to submit your evidence why that  person did whatever is wrong, the crime,  

and then the judge or a jury will decide if if  it's valid, if you in fact did something wrong.

So I'm not sure what the outcome  of any of these cases are.

I'm actually curious now.

So if you know what the outcome  of any of these cases are,  

because some of them are already  in the past, did the plaintiff win?

Meaning that they, the judge  said yes, you were deceived?

Yes, Burger King falsely advertise their  product, and now Burger King owes you something.

Maybe Burger King has to give you money  or give you something else as a penalty.

McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's were all sued  last year over the size of their cheeseburgers.

So again, in the advertisement,  the cheeseburger looks like this.

You go to Burger King or McDonald's or Wendy's,  

you buy a cheeseburger and it's  like this false advertising.

But remember, that's just an allegation.

It has not been proven as a fact.

So that's the end of the article.

What I'll do now is I'll read  the article from start to finish,  

and this time you can focus on my pronunciation.

Burger King must face Whopper of a Lawsuit  alleging burgers are too Small, says Judge.

A judge has ruled that Burger King must  face a class action lawsuit accusing the  

chain of falsely inflating the size of  Whoppers in advertisements joining the  

ranks of other fast food giants  like McDonald's and Taco Bell.

The suit claims that Burger King made Whoppers  appear twice as large as they actually are in  

advertisements, while the actual burgers served  to customers are 35% smaller than those marketed.

The plaintiffs claim they were disappointed  after purchasing Burger King products based  

on their appearance in photos, only to find  they were smaller when actually served.

The plaintiffs say they would not  have purchased the food items had  

they known they did not look  like the advertised images.

They say they were deceived.

According to court documents, Burger  King denied the claims and asked for  

a judge to dismiss the case, saying  reasonable customers have long been  

aware that food is styled in ads to make  it appear as appetizing as possible,  

and they are not required to serve burgers  that look exactly like the picture.

The lawsuit is the latest in  a string of recent litigation  

against chain restaurants over their food.

Last month, a New York man sued  Taco Bell for false advertising,  

claiming its Mexican pizza had only about half  of the beef and bean filling that he expected.

In March, a Chicago man sued Buffalo Wild  Wings, saying the company's boneless wings  

aren't wings at all, but actually  cheaper chicken breast tenders.

Buffalo Wild Wings has denied the allegations  and is asking a judge to dismiss the case,  

saying that boneless wings wouldn't  mislead reasonable customers.

McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's were all sued  last year over the size of their cheeseburgers.

So did you enjoy this lesson?

Do you want me to make more lessons  just like this where we review the  

news and you learn in this  very fun and engaging way?

Well, if you do, then put Give me a Whopper.

Give me a Whopper.

Put that in the comments.

Why not, Even if it does look very  small in reality, give me a Whopper.

Put that in the comments so I know you want  me to keep making videos just like this.

And of course, like this video.

Share it with your friends and subscribe so  you're notified every time I post a new lesson.

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And why don't you get started with this lesson  

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