English Vocabulary: Crime & Criminals

Hi. I'm Rebecca from engVid, and this vocabulary lesson is about the topic of crime.

Okay?

Let's start by looking at a few headlines.

All right, the first one:

"Banker charged with embezzlement."

Next one:

"Celebrity arrested for shoplifting."

Last one:

"Man jailed for manslaughter."

Okay? Now, there are three vocabulary words there that have to do with crimes:

"embezzlement", "shoplifting", "manslaughter".

If you don't know what they mean, by the end of this lesson, you will. Okay?

So let's get started.

So, let's look at five words that have to do with crime. What I've done this time is

I've written the meaning on the board, and what I'd like you to do is to think, because

in... It's possible that you know the word; some of them are fairly common, and some are

not so common. Okay? So try to think what it is, and work with me.

So the first word refers to the act of setting fire to a building, or a shop, or something

on purpose; intentionally. Do you know what that word is in English?

It starts with an "a", and it is

"arson". Okay? That's the act of setting fire to a building on purpose.

Maybe the person is trying to get some insurance money, or something like that. It's called

"arson", and the person who does that is called an "arsonist".

Next: What is the word for the crime of forcing sex on someone, or forcing someone to have sex?

That one starts with an "r", and it's called "rape".

Okay? The person who does that is called a "rapist".

Next: What's the word for the act of killing someone on purpose, with a plan?

It starts with "m", most people are familiar, unfortunately, with this word,

which is "murder". The person is called a "murderer",

so you add another "er" at the end.

This one is the act of threatening to reveal secrets, and demanding money in order to keep

quiet about those secrets. Sometimes... Or very often this is in connection with someone

who is famous, a politician, or something like that. Okay? Do you know what that is?

It starts with a "b" and it's called

"blackmail". Okay? To blackmail someone, to threaten to reveal secrets.

Next, killing someone accidentally or through negligence.

What's that? Here, we said killing

someone on purpose, which is murder, but this crime is called

"manslaughter". Okay? Manslaughter.

Killing someone accidentally or through negligence. "Negligence" means not paying enough attention

to something you were supposed to be paying attention to. For example, if something happens

to a child or something like that. Okay? So, these are the first five. We have five more

which we're going to look at next.

Okay, the next five words all have something to do with stealing, but different kinds of

stealing, so we have different words for the different crimes. All right? Let's see if

you know what they are. So, the first word refers to stealing in general. "Stealing",

by itself, first of all, in case you're not sure, means taking something without permission,

without paying for it. All right? Or from a place that's not your own place, etc.

Something that's not yours.

So, what is the general word for stealing in English? It starts with a "t". The word is

"theft". Okay? The word is "theft", the person who does it is called a "thief".

Next, stealing from a bank or shop with force or violence. With a gun, perhaps, things like that.

What's that? It's kind of stealing, again, but it has a different word. It's called...

It starts with an "r".

"Robbery". Okay? And the person is a

"robber". Might be a bank robber. It doesn't have to be only a bank robber.

It could also be a robber of this in a store. All right?

Next one, breaking into a home to steal. What is that crime called?

This one starts with a "b". Okay? Do you know what it is? It's called

"burglary". Okay? Now, I know you may

not be able to see these words very well, and also what I'm saying about the people,

like this one who is called a "burglar", but there will be a resource on our website about

this vocabulary. So you'll have the crimes, as well as the criminals, so you can always

check there if you want to know exactly what the words are, how to spell them, and so on.

Next one, stealing money in your care. What I mean by that is this is a word to refer

to the crime of... It's sometimes called a white-collar crime, someone who is in a...

A position of responsibility, and is responsible for a lot of money, steals. Over time, usually.

Not maybe at one time. What is this called? Any idea? It's kind of a long word that starts

with an "e", and it's called

"embezzlement". The person is called an "embezzler",

and the act "embezzlement". Okay?

The last one, stealing goods from a shop. Could be something small, could be something

expensive, inexpensive, anything. Stealing something from a shop. We have a special word

for that, yes, in English. That's called

"shoplifting". The person is called a "shoplifter". Okay?

So we see that there is a lot of very specific... There are a lot of very specific words to

refer to different kinds of crime. Let's review them for a minute. So what's the word for

someone who forces sex on another person?

That person is a rapist, the crime is rape.

Okay? Let's say, what's the word for someone who goes into a store with a gun and demands

money, or steals money?

That crime is robbery. Okay? What's the general word for stealing?

Theft. Okay. There's two kinds of words... Or two words that are on the board for

killing someone; one is on purpose and one is by accident.

So, the one on purpose is called murder;

the one by accident, manslaughter.

Do you remember what arson is?

What does an arsonist do?

Sets fire to a building, a store, or something on purpose. All right?

What is a burglar?

A burglar is someone who breaks into a house in order to steal.

So, again, quite specific, these words.

If you want to do a quiz on this, please go to our website: www.engvid.com.

And as I mentioned, we'll also have a resource with all of this

vocabulary on our website. And, of course, these are just 10 words for 10 crimes. Unfortunately,

there are many, many more crimes, and if you'd like to know some of this vocabulary,

send me your comments and if we get enough comments, I'll be happy to record some more lessons

for you and give you some more vocabulary. Okay?

All the best with your English. Bye for now.