In the news last week was a story of a mother who sold her son’s car after he didn’t follow her rules. This is what happened:
A mother bought her 18-year-old son a car and told him that she had two simple rules: 1) no booze (alcohol) in the car and 2) keep the car locked. One day, the mother decides to check to see if her son had followed her rules. She finds that the car is unlocked and there is a bottle of alcohol under the front seat. He was busted (discovered)!
What did she do? She placed the following classified ad (personal advertisement) in the Des Moines Register, a major newspaper in the State of Iowa where they live:
“OLDS 1999 Intrigue. Totally uncool parents who obviously don’t love teenage son, selling his car. Only driven for three weeks before snoopy mom who needs to get a life found booze under front seat. $3,700/offer. Call meanest mom on the planet.”
uncool = not nice; not sympathetic obviously = clearly snoopy = looking around secretly to find information to get a life = to not worry about unimportant things
mean/meanest = unkind/the most unkind
Many people thought this ad was very funny because the mother used some of the common words and phrases angry teenagers might use to describe a parent who is doing something they don’t like. Someone who doesn’t share a teenager’s views is “uncool” and someone who pries (tries to find out other people’s private information) is a snoop or is snoopy. A teenager might tell you “to get a life” and to stop bother them. If parents force a teenager to do something they don’t like, they might call those parents “mean.”
The ad got a lot of attention in the media. Many people said that this mother was not only clever (smart and funny) to use her son’s words and point of view in the ad, but that she was right to enforce (to force someone to follow) her rules. This story was reported by the national news and appeared on national television.
Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in the United States, a national holiday. I talked about the great civil rights leader on English Cafe #5. We now sometimes refer to this holiday as “MLK Day.” As on all national holidays, all government offices, schools, and many private businesses are closed.
I was only five years old when Martin Luther King was assassinated (to kill a famous or important person), but soon after the death of King and the assassination that same year (1968) of Robert F. Kennedy, brother of President John F. Kennedy, there was a song released about the killings of these three American leaders (King, Bobby Kennedy, and John Kennedy) and President Abraham Lincoln. The song became very famous, and I remember my parents had a copy of the record (what we used to listen to before CDs!). The song begins with a reference (a mention of) to Abraham Lincoln, who was the president who ended slavery (the treatment of people as property) in the U.S. in the mid-1800s, and who was also assassinated. It connects these four leaders as people who helped others. The song, sung by pop singer Dion, became very popular in the U.S. in the late 1960s.
It is an emotional song, a reminder of the great men who were lost due to violence and hatred. The song became the fourth most popular song of its day, and sold more than a million copies. Several other singers later recorded the song, including Ray Charles. Many people who listen to the song today and who remember those sad days of American history still get tears in their eyes, even 40 years later. I do.
I found this recording on YouTube. The pictures in the video, of course, were added by someone else much later, but you can hear the song and read the lyrics below. This video begins with some traditional patriotic (to be proud of one’s country) symbols of the United States, and then shows photographs of the four assassinated men.
Abraham, Martin, and John Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed (gave freedom to) a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.*
You know, I just looked around (searched for him) and he’s gone.Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he’s gone.
Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked ’round (poetic form of “around”) and he’s gone.
Didn’t you love the things that they stood for (believed in, represented)?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free
Some day soon, and it’s a-gonna (it’s going to) be one day …
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walk up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.
*the good they die young - this is a common expression and belief, that good, moral, ethical people often die as young men and women
I recently read an article about something called “name-letter preference.” According to several research studies, people are more likely to favor (like better) and choose those things that begin with their initials (the first letter of their first or last name). This can mean that they buy brands (a company’s name for a product) that starts with the same letter: Manuel may be more likely to go to McDonald’s than to Kentucky Fried Chicken. Surprisingly, these studies show name-letter preference for other important things: There are more women named Mildred in the state of Milwaukee and there are more men named Dennis who are dentists (doctors who treat teeth).
Researchers have also found that grades are affected by this phenomenon (fact; situation), too. According to the article: “Using 15 years of grade point averages for business-school graduates, the researchers found that students whose name begin with C or D earned slightly lower GPAs than those whose names begin with A or B…”
In U.S. schools, grade point averages (GPAs) are computed from letter grades: A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0. The article points out, however, that the differences are not very big. For GPAs, the gap (difference) is very small–3.34 versus 3.36–but it still exists. Critics say that these differences are too small to matter and that if researchers look hard enough, they can always find evidence for phenomenon such as this.
If a name-letter preference really exists, I’m very glad my name is Lucy and not Fiona!
The U.S. will select a new president next year, and the candidates (people trying to win the position) have been campaigning (asking people for their votes) for almost a year now. The first election to select the candidates is in a few weeks.
One recent tradition in U.S. politics is celebrity endorsements, when famous people (actors, comedians, singers) show their support for a candidate by saying, “I’m going to vote for this person.” All politicians have celebrities who support them, some more than others. Barak Obama, a senator from Illinois and a candidate for the Democratic party’s nomination (selection) to run for president, has recently received the endorsement of one of America’s most well-known talk-show hosts, Oprah Winfrey. I talked about Oprah almost two years ago on one of our first English Cafes, English Cafe #5. Oprah (as she is popularly known) has one of American’s most successful television shows (named - are you ready? - “Oprah”!), and is one of the richest and most successful celebrities in the U.S., popular especially among women.
Will her endorsement help Obama’s candidacy? No one knows for sure. Some people will probably be influenced by her endorsement. The other candidates will have their celebrities, too. In U.S. politics, Hollywood and Washington, D.C., have been moving closer and closer together for many years.
The Voice of America has a recent article about these celebrity endorsements, entitled “U.S. Presidential Contenders Enlist Celebrity Support to Push Ahead.” A contender is someone who may win a race or contest, in this case the same as a candidate. To enlist means to ask for support, usually when you have a difficult task or conflict. To push ahead means to continue forward, to become the leader in a competition. So presidential candidates are asking celebrities for their help so that they can win the nomination.
ESL Podcast will not be endorsing anyone for president. (Of course, no one asked us to, either!)
Many students of English choose an “English” name for themselves when they begin to study English. These names are often used in professional settings as well. As far as I know, no one has actually studied how people go about choosing their names, and what reasons they may give. Have you chosen an English-sounding first name? If so, how did you chose it and why?
I was reminded of this issue when I read a recent article in the New York Times, “In U.S. Name Count, Garcias Catching up with the Jones.” It gave the most popular last names in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (the U.S. government office which counts people and studies the demographics or characteristics of people in the U.S.). The U.S. is often called a “country of immigrants,” and the last names we have are in some ways related to our immigration history. As immigration changes, the popularity of certain last names shift (change in position) over time.
Here are top ten most popular last names in the U.S. as of (at the time, at this point) 2000, in order:
Smith
Johnson
Williams
Brown
Jones
Miller
Davis
Garcia
Rodriguez
Wilson
Most of these names have been popular for a century or more in the U.S., and reflect our British heritage (history). But notice that Garcia is #8, and Rodriguez #9. These are popular last names in many Spanish-speaking countries. The U.S. has seen a dramatic (large) increase in Latino Americans, people from countries such as Mexico. The names increasing in popularity the most are Latino/Hispanic names, which reflects our changing population.
If you want to know if your last name is among the 5,000 most popular names in the U.S., go to the New York Times website and search for your last name. Unfortunately, neither McQuillan nor Tse are among the Top 5,000. Maybe next year!
The title of this article a little joke related to a popular expression in English, “keeping up with the Joneses.” To keep up with means to stay in the same position, not to fall behind or get behind in rank or importance as someone else. If you have one student who walks very slowly, the teacher may tell her to “keep up with” the rest of the class. Because Jones has always been such a popular name in the U.S., it is used here to mean your neighbor or someone you know who may have more money or possessions than you (a bigger house, a better car, etc.). Some people worry about trying to be as rich or as powerful as the people around them. The headline, then, says that the (name) Garcia is “catching up” (approaching in popularity) or keeping up with the (name) Jones in terms of popular last names.
An article in yesterday’s New York Times is entitled (has the title of), “A College Application Or a Slick Sales Pitch?” The article is about how difficult it is to get into the best U.S. universities, and how important your application is. Since it is so difficult, some parents are paying professionals to help their child write their college application. Of course, universities assume (believe) that the application is done by the 17- or 18-year-old student, not a professional counselor (advisor). They tell students how to package themselves (how to present themselves) to universities.
Elite (the best, top) universities are very competitive (difficult to get into), so some parents believe they need to do anything they can to help their child. The cost of this help? Around $4000, according to the Times article. One of the problems is that many parents believe they must get their child into one of the Top 20 universities, when in fact the U.S. has thousands of good quality colleges that offer a similar education. Personally, I think it is a little insane (crazy, absurd).
About the headline: Slick means very professional, but really too professional, something that tries to be more than it really is. It is usually a negative way of describing something or someone. If you say a person is “slick,” you are saying that he is somewhat dishonest, trying to be something he isn’t. A sales pitch is an attempt to get someone to buy your product. It is a set of reasons or arguments for something you are selling. A slick sales pitch is, then, a somewhat dishonest attempt to “sell” the student to the university in order that she be admitted as a student.
I read a fascinating (very interesting) story in the New York Times last week. A woman who lives in New York City was walking down the street one day when she saw a painting among some garbage bags on the sidewalk in front of a upscale (high class; wealthy) apartment building. It was a very large painting and she lived in a small apartment, but she really liked it and decided to take it home. She didn’t think the painting was worth any money and she kept it for three years before she found out that it was valuable, very valuable.
The painting had been stolen from a family in Houston, Texas, who had bought it for $55,000. For 20 years, no one knew where the painting was and it was considered a missing masterpiece (great piece of art). It is called “Tres Personajes” by famous Mexican artist Rufino Tamayo. The woman who found the painting only discovered it was famous when she did some research about the painter, whose name is on the painting.
The painting is now estimated or valued at $1 million. It was returned to the widow (woman whose husband died) from whom it was stolen and will be auctioned off next month at a public sale where the person who gives the highest price will get it. The woman who found it got a reward from the family and a small fee from the auction company that will be auctioning it off.
So the next time you see a painting in the garbage, think twice before you pass it by. Who knows? It may be another missing masterpiece.
It has been a dangerous few days here in Los Angeles and the larger Southern California area. The Santa Ana winds–a warm, dry wind that comes through Southern California in the the fall and early winter seasons–are causing wildfires (large, uncontrolled fires).
As the Los Angeles Times reports, over 700 homes have been destroyed (damaged completely). Firefighters who are working to put out the fires have told over 500,000 people to evacuate (leave) their homes. One person has died and about 50 people are injured or hurt, including about 20 firefighters.
We’re very fortunately here at ESL Podcast that everyone is safe. Thank you to all of our listeners who have emailed us to express their concern, or thought of us as they read the news.
I came across a new word this week in the newsmagazine Newsweek:
Googlegänger = another person with your name, whose search results are mixed with yours when you “google” yourself, or search for information about yourself on the Internet.
This new term comes from the German word “doppelgänger,” which is a double or another version of a person.
My googlegänger: A Chinese opera singer in San Francisco!
Americans are not the world’s biggest soccer fans, as everyone knows. Soccer is very popular as a sport in school, but the best athletes in the US usually become (American) football, basketball, or baseball players (with a few hockey players as well). So when England’s superstar soccer player David Beckham signed a contract for $250 million dollars with the Los Angeles Galaxy professional soccer team, most Americans asked, “David who?”
Beckham has been in the news here in Los Angeles, not just because of the large contract he received, but because his wife, Victoria, was part of the famous “girl band” the Spice Girls, popular in the 1990s. Soon after Beckham arrived, however, he injured (hurt) himself, and only yesterday returned to the team to play.
Some people (like me) had heard of David Beckham before he came to Los Angeles, mostly from a well-liked movie, Bend it Like Beckham, about a girl from an Indian immigrant family in London who loved to play girl’s soccer. If you haven’t seen this movie, I think you will really like it. This was also the first big movie for the British actress Keira Knightly, although she wasn’t the star of the movie.
they live:
The U.S. will select a new president next year, and the candidates (people trying to win the position) have been campaigning (asking people for their votes) for almost a year now. The first election to select the candidates is in a few weeks.
Many students of English choose an “English” name for themselves when they begin to study English. These names are often used in professional settings as well. As far as I know, no one has actually studied how people go about choosing their names, and what reasons they may give. Have you chosen an English-sounding first name? If so, how did you chose it and why?
An 
Americans are not the world’s biggest soccer fans, as everyone knows. Soccer is very popular as a sport in school, but the best athletes in the US usually become (American) football, basketball, or baseball players (with a few hockey players as well). So when England’s superstar soccer player 
