Today I’ll do another installment (part) of my occasional (every once in a while) series, “Headline English.” Here’s the newspaper headline from Sunday’s New York Times, followed by the background of the story and the meaning of the individual words in the headline.

Headline: ID Thieves Loot Tax Checks, Filing Early and Often (from New York Times)

Background: Americans file (send in) their tax returns every spring to the federal (national) government. Everyone who works has to pay a certain amount of money in income taxes to the government, but if you don’t make a lot of money, the government gives you that money back in tax refund the following year. To get your tax refund check, you have to file your tax return sometime between January 1st and April 15th. The government then normally sends you a check, but if you are very poor and don’t have a bank account, they will send you a debit card with the money on the card. A debit card is like a credit card, except that it has a certain amount of money on it already (like a gift card).

In order to file a tax return, you have to put down (write down) your name, your social security number (a national identification number), the amount of money you earned (were paid at your job), and the amount of taxes you paid. These returns are now filed mostly electronically, either by using your own computer or going to a company that will file them for you. However, it is possible (and, according to this article, very easy) to use someone else’s identity (name, address, social security number, etc.) to file a return, and if you file it before the real person files his or her return, the government may not realize what is happening and send you someone else’s refund!

This problem has become more common as more and more people have their identities stolen on the Internet or other places. In 2010, it is estimated that there were more than two million false returns, costing the U.S. government more than five billion dollars.

Behind the Headline: ID stands for (means) identification. Thieves is the plural of thief, a person who steals something. To loot usually means to steal from a store or house during a war or riot, but here it just means to steal a lot of money easily. Tax checks are the refund checks the government sends you.

“To file early and often” is sort of a play on (a funny variation or different form of) an old expression, “to vote early and often.” While voting early (in the day, before things get busy) is generally a good idea, you are only supposed to vote once in an election. So “voting often” would be illegal, an example of voter fraud, where people try to illegally and unfairly change the results of an election by voting multiple times.  Such fraud, found in every country in probably every era (period of time), was particularly common during the 19th and 20th centuries in the U.S. in cities such as Chicago, which had (has?) a reputation for political corruption (illegal use of money or power to influence government workers). Obviously, you should not ever vote, or file, often.

If you live outside the U.S., have you heard of these sorts of theft in your country? Does the government send refund checks like ours does which could cause this sort of problem?

~Jeff

Photo credit: U.S. Tax Form 1040, Wikipedia PD

 

What do Jeff and Lucy do when they’re not recording podcasts or writing scripts? They’re preparing Learning Guides to help you learn English even better and faster.

Each Learning Guide gives you more vocabulary, language explanations, sample sentences, comprehension questions, cultural notes, and more. Get the Learning Guide and support ESL Podcast today by becoming a Basic or Premium Member!

………

ON MONDAY
ESL Podcast 794 – Getting Over a Fight

In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “to admit” and “slight.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about the videogames “Mortal Kombat.”
““Mortal Kombat” is a series of “videogames” (games played electronically on a computer or an electronic game device), the first of which was…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide
…

ON WEDNESDAY
English Cafe 348
Topics: American Presidents – Ulysses S. Grant; James Beard and the James Beard Foundation Awards; limit versus border versus confine; sound; life-affirming

In the Learning Guide:  Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear).
In “What Insiders Know,” you will read about the video game “Popular Cook-Offs.”
“A “cook-off” is a cooking “competition” (contest) in which a lot of people make the same type of food. The food is then tasted and “evaluated” (judged) by a group of…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide
…

ON FRIDAY
ESL Podcast 795 – Ordering Coffee and Tea

In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “drip” and “room.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Independent Coffeehouses.”
“In recent years, “coffeehouses” or “coffee shops” have become popular meeting places in the United States, especially in the “Pacific Northwest” (the northwestern part of…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide

The television detective has been a part of TV history nearly from its earliest days. Cops (police officers) and private eyes (private detectives) used to be the most common type of TV detectives, but anyone can be a detective on television: attorneys (lawyers), doctors, and even mystery novelists (book writers).  With so many TV detectives, can you pick a favorite?

My favorite American TV detective is perhaps an unusual choice.  This detective was most popular in the 1970′s, and I watched most of the shows in reruns (a later showing of the same episode) many years later. He is a cop, but not an obvious choice for a hero (someone who is brave, whose actions help people, and is admired by others).  His name is Columbo.

Lieutenant (one of the ranks (levels) in the police force below captain) Columbo is a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department.  He is not young, not good-looking, and he’s always rumpled (looking messy and wrinkled, like he just got out of bed).  But don’t let appearances fool you (trick you).  Columbo has the mind of a steel trap (can think quickly, clearly, and intelligently).  It is precisely (exactly) because his appearance (the way he looks) and his manner (way he behaves) are so unassuming (modest; humble) that the murderer often underestimates him (believes he is less able, skilled, intelligent, etc., than he is).  With persistence (not giving up; continuing to try even when the situation is difficult), Columbo always gets his man — or woman (finds the criminal).

Peter Falk was the actor who played (acted in the role as) Lieutenant Columbo and he died in 2011. He acted in many films and was twice nominated (named as a possible winner) for an Academy Award, but he was best known for his role as Columbo.  Columbo was on the air from 1971 to 1978, and then returned occasionally (from time to time) between 1989 and 2003 in TV movies.

Do you watch TV detective shows?  Who is your favorite TV detective of all time?  What makes him or her such a good detective?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Peter Falk Columbo from Wikipedia

Sometimes it is difficult for me to know what people outside of the U.S. know about American popular culture. I know, for example, that movies like The Avengers or Titantic are global (throughout the world) successes, and almost everyone has heard of them. But what about people like Dick Clark? If you live outside of the U.S., I don’t know if you have ever heard of Dick Clark. But if you grew up here, you would know exactly who he was.

Dick Clark was an American celebrity for more than 50 years, and it was nearly impossible to watch American television from the 1950s until the 2000s without seeing or hearing about him. (He died a few weeks ago.) He was born in the state of New York, son of a radio executive (someone who works for a radio company). He studied business at Syracuse University, also in New York, and there started to host television and radio programs. In 1952, he moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (next to the state of New York) to host an afternoon radio music show. While living there, he took over a television program called “American Bandstand” (a bandstand is a covered (with a roof) stage usually in a park or outside place). On this show, he began playing songs by new musical stars like Buddy Holly, and the show became a huge success.

A few years later, in 1957, “American Bandstand” began to be broadcast (shown on television) all over the U.S. Many singers appeared on the show, including Stevie Wonder, The Jackson 5, Simon and Garfunkel, and Madonna. The format (structure) of the show was simple: A group of young people would come together to dance to popular songs introduced by Clark. Singers and bands would perform on the show as well, and Clark would interview the young people to get their opinions about a new song.  The teens and twentysomethings (people in their twenties) would rate the music from 0 to 100 (100 being the best, of course), and sometimes comment on how easy or hard it was to dance to the music (“It’s got a good beat (rhythm) and you can dance to it!”).

“American Bandstand” continued to introduce kids and teens to music for more than 30 years. I grew up watching Clark and “American Bandstand,” as did most people of my generation. Clark was sometimes called “America’s Oldest Teenager,” because he did the show until he was long past (a long time after) being young. In the 1970s, singer Barry Manilow did a song about “American Bandstand” called “Bandstand Boogie.” You can see a performance of it here (about 1:45 into the video). The title of this post comes from Manilow’s song: to go hopping or hoppin‘ is to go dancing, from the term “hop,” which is a type of dance.

Clark did other things on TV, too. Every News Year’s Eve, he would host a television show from New York City with music and entertainment. He produced dozens of television shows, including a type of quiz show (where you have to answer questions) called “The 10,000 Pyramid.” (It was later changed to “The 100,000 Pyramid” due to inflation!) He also became a very rich man, making millions of dollars from his television and radio productions. But to most of us, Clark will always be the man who introduced us to popular music and dancing, every Saturday morning, on “American Bandstand.”

~Jeff

Photo credit: Dick Clark, 1957, Wikipedia PD

 

What did you say? Can you repeat that?

If you’re tired of not understanding what you hear in English, get the Learning Guide and see a complete transcript of every word spoken in the episode.  You’ll also get more vocabulary, language explanations, sample sentences, comprehension questions, cultural notes, and more.

Get the Learning Guide and support ESL Podcast today by becoming a Basic or Premium Member!

………

ON MONDAY
ESL Podcast 792 – Business Zoning

In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “zone” and “to live up to.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Eminent Domain.”
““Eminent domain” describes the government’s ability to “seize” (take without permission) “property” (land or buildings) that were owned by individuals without…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide
…

ON WEDNESDAY
English Cafe 347
Topics: American Authors – Erle Stanley Gardner and the Perry Mason TV Series; Boys & Girls Clubs of America; who versus which versus that; It ain’t over till the fat lady sings; to go/be all in

In the Learning Guide:  Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear).
In “What Insiders Know,” you will read about “The Two Faces of American Lawyers.”
“If you’re a lawyer in the United States, you have a “dual” (two-sided) “reputation” (others’ opinion of you). You may be respected for your knowledge…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide
…

ON FRIDAY
ESL Podcast 793 – Signing Professional Athletes

In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “pick” and “to land.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Sports Drafts.”
“A “draft” is a way to decide which athletes should play on which sports teams. A draft tries to make the process fair. Without a draft, the “wealthiest” (richest) team…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide

I don’t often surf (move from one site to another) the Internet. But I did recently. And it started at the Smithsonian Magazine web site (highly recommended!) when I saw an article titled “Frank Lloyd Wright’s Most Beautiful Work.” The article begins like this:

“If the skyscraper (very tall building) is America’s most iconic* building, a small personal residence (home) in southwest Pennsylvania (a state near New York) might be its most ingenious (the result of clever thinking and new ideas).” That small residence is called Fallingwater, and it was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, one of America’s greatest architects (building designer).

Fallingwater was designed and built for Edgar Kaufmann, a wealthy American businessman, in the 1930s. Kaufmann wanted a mountain retreat (a quiet place; vacation home) near the waterfalls of Bear Run, Pennsylvania.

When Wright looked at the site (location) for the house, he told Kaufman, “I want you to live with the waterfall, not just look at it.” In a 1954 interview, Wright said, “There in a beautiful forest was a solid, high rock ledge (narrow surface sticking out from the mountain) rising beside a waterfall and the natural thing seemed to be to [extend] the house from that rock…over the falling water…. He [Kaufmann] loved the site where the house was built and liked to listen to the waterfall. So that was a prime (main) motive (reason) in the design. I think that you can hear the waterfall when you look at the design.”

Many people believe that Fallingwater is the perfect marriage (combination; mixture) of house and site. In the Smithsonian article, Eric Jaffe writes that the sound of the waterfall fills the house but is never too loud. A boulder (large rock) juts (extends) into the living room and becomes part of the fireplace. Windows open outward from the corners of the walls so they don’t hide the view of the mountain and waterfall. Most of the materials – the wood and stone, for example – come from the mountains and forests surrounding (around) the house.

One writer says that “you’ve never seen a building that fits with nature so tightly (closely; well)…. You’ve seen [Las] Vegas and Times Square [in New York], but you’ve never seen a building that’s in constant motion (constantly moving).”

A beautiful animated video by Spanish artist Cristóbal Vila illustrates (shows) what I’ve been writing about. In it, Fallingwater grows out of the ground in the forest surrounding the waterfall and becomes a very natural part of the landscape (an area of land). Be sure you take time to watch it.

If you’d like to learn more about Fallingwater, visit Cristobal’s web site or the Fallingwater web site, where you can find a set of plans (construction drawings) for the house.

*An icon is a person or thing that represents something else and reminds us of it. For example, The Statue of Liberty is an American icon: when people see it, it reminds them of the U.S. The writer is saying that skyscrapers, which were first built in the U.S. in the 1800s, have that same quality. That may be less true today because now there are skyscrapers in many countries.

~ Warren Ediger – creator of Successful English where you’ll find ideas to help you Fine-tune your reading for better English.

Fallingwater photo courtesy of Wikipedia commons.

 

To be in the black means to make a profit, when a company receives more money than it spends. (The opposite is to be in the red, when you are losing money.) Movie studios (companies that make movies) sometimes make millions of dollars in profit on their films, and sometimes lose millions.

Recently, the movie The Avengers was released (started to be shown in theaters) around the world, making (as of last weekend) more than a billion dollars (that’s $1,000,000,000). The cost of the movie was “only” $220 million, so the movie studio is so far (up to this date) about $800 million in the black. That’s a pretty good profit for only 19 days.

What’s interesting about movies like The Avengers is that most of the money is made outside of the United States. Men in Black, the 1997 blockbuster (movie that makes a lot of money), made more than $500 million, with about 60% of that coming from outside the U.S. In fact, the international success of movies is so important to studios that one writer recently wrote an article called “How to Make a Hollywood Hit” (successful movie), in which she pointed out (noted) the elements (characteristics) of an internationally successful movie.  Here are some of those elements:

• Set the movie (have the movie take place) in an emerging market – or “nowhere.” Many internationally successful movies take place in a fantasy world, such as Harry Potter, Avatar, and Lord of the Rings.
• Use an established (already known) brand (idea, product, or service). The Avengers, for example, is based upon well-known comic books and characters many people are already familiar with.
• Get bilingual (speaking two languages) stars. Adding Antonio Banderas’s Puss in Boots character to the second Shrek movie helped triple (multiplied by three) ticket sales in Spain and doubled them in Mexico.
• Make the movie in 3-D and IMAX. In 2011, 40% of the movie ticket sales in China, Brazil, and Russia were from 3-D movies. The Avengers was, of course, released in 3-D and IMAX in addition to the “normal” way.
• Sell toys based on or related to the movie. The movie Cars was not as successful as the movie studio wanted it to be, but toys related to the movie made $10 billion dollars. Yes, I said billion. Of course, The Avengers will probably make even more from its toys.

I saw The Avengers last week, and although I liked it, I didn’t really think it was a great movie. (Star Trek was much better, IMHO (in my humble opinion).) But when a movie makes a billion dollars in less than a month, you know it must be doing something right.

~Jeff

Photo credit: The Avengers poster, Wikipedia CC

We talk a lot about the Learning Guide that accompanies each podcast because we designed it to help you learn English better and faster, and isn’t that why you listen? Get more vocabulary, language explanations, sample sentences, comprehension questions, cultural notes, and more.

Get the Learning Guide and support ESL Podcast today by becoming a Basic or Premium Member!

………

ON MONDAY
ESL Podcast 790 – Giving Birth to Twins

In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “twins” and “litter.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about “Trends in Giving Birth.”
“Many babies are born in the United States every day. Most are born in hospitals, where they are “monitored” (watched over) and cared for by team of doctors and nurses…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide
…

ON WEDNESDAY
English Cafe 346
Topics: Ask an American – Innovation; pain versus sorrow versus woe; manhood; to be over someone versus to be all over someone

In the Learning Guide:  Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear).
In “What Insiders Know,” you will read about “Dot Com Movies.”
“The movie “industry” (business) has “taken notice of” (given attention to) the quick “rise” (rise in popularity) of Internet-based businesses in the past 20 to 30 years…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide
…

ON FRIDAY
ESL Podcast 791 – Taking Photographs

In the Learning Guide: Get a full transcript (written version of every word you hear), vocabulary list and sample sentences, and comprehension questions.
In “What Else Does it Mean,” learn the other meanings of “still” and “candid.”
In the “Culture Note,” learn about the “Invention of the Modern Instant Camera.”
“Today, most Americans use “digital cameras,” cameras that allow the user to save pictures to his or her computer instead of printing them out. This was not always the case…” - READ MORE in the Learning Guide

If you work in the U.S. in a full-time job, you probably get paid vacation time. In the U.S., a full-time job is typically 40 hours of work a week, although that varies (is different) depending on the employer. Getting paid vacation time means that you continue to receive your paycheck (salary) even when you go on vacation. How much vacation time an employee gets is different depending on their job and their seniority (how long they have worked for a company or organization), but most employees start out with two weeks each year. Veteran (long time) employees could receive several weeks of vacation time each year after many years with the same company or organization. (This is, of course, in addition to major holidays when all employees get paid vacation time.)

Surprisingly, a recent survey (questionnaire; research asking people the same set of questions) reported in the Los Angeles Times showed that nearly half of Americans didn’t use half of their vacation time in 2011. The survey asked 1,000 adults of different ages and experience their use of vacation time and many of them passed on (did not use; did not take advantage of) taking a vacation when they could.  Their main reasons for not using vacation time were that they were too busy and that they didn’t want to play catch-up (try to once again be at the proper level, or the same level as other people, after falling behind) when they returned to work.

The report points out a strange contradiction (for two things to be the opposite of each other) however: In the same survey, Americans said they would give up (not have) their next promotion (advancement to a higher-level job) or 5% of their salary to have five or more days of vacation each  year.

Are you working in a job that gives you paid vacation time? If so, how much do you get each year? Do you take all of the vacation time you get each year?

~ Lucy

Photo Credit: Desk333 from Wikipedia

The title of today’s post is an old saying (expression) in English. A shower is when it rains. You can have light showers (a little bit of rain) or heavy showers (a lot of rain). The showers of early spring help the flowers grow, and so we have the expression, “April showers bring May flowers.” To take a shower, you probably know, is to pour water over your body to clean it. You could take a shower in heavy showers by going outside with some soap while it is raining, but I don’t recommend it.

I started talking about U.S. state nicknames a few weeks ago. Since spring has arrived in the northern hemisphere (the part of the world north of the equator), I’ll mention a few nicknames related to trees and flowers. The most well-known nickname in this category is probably the Buckeye State, given to the state of Ohio, which is located in the eastern, central part of the United States, just west of Pennsylvania. A buckeye is a large tree that grows in this region of the country. It is said that the buckeye was the first kind of tree felled (cut down) by one of the earliest white settlers (people who came from another country or region to live or “settle” in an unpopulated area) of Ohio. The name was later applied to anyone from the state. For example, we could say that William Henry Harrison, our ninth president, was a Buckeye. (He was also rather unlucky; he died after being president for only 32 days!) The Ohio State University uses Buckeye as the name of their sports teams.

Kansas, located in the central part of the U.S., is often called the Sunflower State, because this colorful plant grows there. Kansas is also known for producing a lot of wheat, a plant used in making flour for bread and baking, and is therefore sometimes known as “America’s breadbasket.” A basket is a container used to carry something, and so a breadbasket is a container for carrying bread. Kansas is also famous for being the home of Dorothy in the movie, The Wizzard of Oz. We talked about the significance of an expression from that movie, “We’re not in Kansas anymore,” on Cafe 239.

If you have ever seen the popular 1980s Julia Roberts movie, Steel Magnolias (and I haven’t), then you know that southern state of Mississippi is associated with this beautiful tree, the magnolia. The movie, a classic chick flick (move popular with women), begins with an argument about magnolias. The Magnolia State of Mississippi is also where a more recent movie, The Help, takes place (which is also about a group of women).

If you don’t watch a lot of movies, then perhaps you listen to music, in which case you may have heard of bluegrass music. Bluegrass is a type of grass you can find in cool, moist (wet) climates (areas), including the eastern state of Kentucky (just south of Ohio), which is known as the Bluegrass State. Bluegrass music originally comes from the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, and started as a type of traditional folk music mixing Irish, Scottish, English, and African American musical styles. It is now considered a kind of country music. We talked all about bluegrass music in Cafe 137; you can hear a great example of it here.

~Jeff

Photo credit: Sunflower, Wikipedia CC