Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 689, Listening to a Political Speech.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 689.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is called listening to a political speech, when a politician, someone in the government, typically gives an address, a speech to a group of people.
Let's get started.
Can you understand a word he's saying?
I thought he'd be different, but he's just like any other politician.
He looks sincere, and he sounds sincere...
But when you actually listen to what he says it's nothing but double talk.
You've got that right.
I wouldn't trust him any farther than I could throw him.
Now what is he saying?
He says that he can cut taxes and increase government services.
Now how do you suppose he could pull that off?
These are just campaign promises.
Once he gets into office, he'll renege on every one of those promises.
Year after year, it's the same thing.
Broken promises and the same old, same old.
Why do we put up with it?
Why?
I have an answer for you.
Do you want to run for office?
Me?
Are you kidding?
Not on your life.
Right.
That's how I feel.
I'm willing to sit back and let somebody else do the job.
I guess we've dug our own graves.
Our dialogue has lots of good, commonly used vocabulary.
In talking about politics, the sort of thing you will read in the newspaper.
Kylie begins by asking, can you understand a word he's saying?
Ramos says, I doubt if anyone can.
Meaning, I don't think anyone understands what this person is saying.
He's talking out of both sides of his mouth.
This is a wonderful expression.
To talk out of both sides of your mouth means to say different things to different people, often the opposite things, or to try to have an opinion on both sides of an issue.
I'm for nuclear power, but I'm also against nuclear power.
If you talk to one group, you say one thing.
If you talk to another group, you say something else.
That's to talk out of both sides of your mouth.
There's another expression to talk out of your.
I can't say it on ESL podcast, but it's a word that refers to what you sit on your butt.
That expression means to invent something, to make something up, to pretend like you know what you're talking about, even if you don't.
Well, this is a case of talking out of both sides of your mouth.
Ramesh says first he says he's fighting for the little guy, and then he says he's a champion for businesses.
The he is the politician who is giving this talk, this speech.
First, the politician says he's fighting for the little guy, the little person, the little man.
Little here doesn't mean big. someone who is short.
Little means someone who is poor, who doesn't have a lot of power in society.
Politicians often talk about fighting for the little guy, meaning they're going to try to help people who are poor, who don't have a lot of power.
Ramos says that's what this guy says, but He also says he's a champion for businesses.
A champion can be someone who wins something.
Here however, it means someone who is fighting for a particular group, who is in front of a group or a cause trying to help people.
In American history, Susan B. Anthony was a champion for the women's right to vote.
She was one of the people who fought for that particular idea.
The politician says he's a champion for businesses, people who one presumes have money but he's also fighting for the little guy, people who don't have money.
Kylie says, I thought he'd be different, but he's just like any other politician.
A politician is a person, of course, who works usually for government, someone who is involved often in elected government a representative, a senator, a president, a governor.
These would all be politicians.
The term is often used negatively, and you can understand why.
People sometimes become very disappointed with their politicians.
Ramas says he looks sincere and he sounds sincere.
The politician looks sincere, S-I-N-C-E-R-E, meaning he looks truthful.
He looks honest.
He's not hiding anything.
We use this word, the adverb of this word, sincerely, when we are ending a message or a letter.
Sincerely yours, or sometimes simply sincerely, comma, and then you put your name down below.
That's how you might end a letter or end an email, especially a slightly more formal email.
Rama says this guy looks sincere and sounds sincere, but when you actually listen to what he says, it's nothing but double talk.
Double-hyphen-talk-talk is a way of speaking that can have more than one meaning, used to confuse people, to say things that are opposite in order to not express clearly what you really think.
You're trying to confuse people.
You're trying to get them to think something is true that you don't really believe often.
Kylie says you've got that right, meaning you are correct.
Here we have another common expression.
Means I. that you don't trust someone at all you think this person is lying to you or is very untrustworthy unreliable i wouldn't i would not trust this man any farther than i could throw him the idea is that you can't throw a person very far and therefore You could also say, You can say it without using the conditional would and could.
The idea then is that you don't trust this person very much.
Kiley says, now what is he saying?
Ramos says, he says that he can cut taxes and increase government services.
To cut, C-U-T, here means to decrease or to reduce.
There are several meanings of this verb, however.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
So he says he can lower your taxes, he can cut your taxes, the amount of money you pay to the government, and he can increase government services.
This is a common theme in American politics.
People say that they can cut your taxes and give you more.
Well, it sounds good, right?
But it's very difficult to do.
Ramos, in fact, asks, how do you suppose he could pull that off?
To pull something off is a phrasal verb, meaning to be able to do something difficult successfully.
It was difficult, but you are able to do it.
Kylie says he can't.
He cannot.
He cannot pull it off.
These are just campaign promises.
A campaign promise is something that a politician promises to do in order to get people to vote for him in an election.
But then when he or she is in office, that is, after he or she gets elected, nothing happens.
They don't do what they said they were going to do.
That's kind of the way politics works in most countries, I think.
Kiley says once he gets into office, he'll renege on every one of those promises.
To renege R-E-N-E-G-E means to promise to do something and then say, oh no, I'm not going to do that.
That's exactly what happens with campaign promises.
Ramas says, year after year, it's the same thing.
Broken promises and the same old, same old.
A broken promise is a promise that is not kept.
Something that you say you will do, but you do not.
The expression same old, same old refers to the way things are always done, the typical expected ordinary, normal way in which things operate, in which things happen.
Ramos says, why do we put up with it?
To put up with something means to tolerate, to continue to live with something that is unpleasant undesirable, but you still do it.
That's to put up with.
I'm not going to put up with.
Your shouting i'm not going to stand would be another way of saying it i'm not going to tolerate.
Or He puts up with a lot of difficulties being married to her.
He puts up with them.
He tolerates them.
He allows it to happen and continues to be part of that relationship in this case.
Ramos asks why he and others put up with the same old, same old they get from politicians.
Kylie says, why?
I have an answer for you.
Do you want to run for office?
To run for office means to try to get elected to some government position or other organizational position.
There's an election and the winner becomes the governor, the mayor, the president and so forth.
The process is running for office.
Ramos says, me?
Are you kidding?
Not on your life.
Not on your life is a phrase used to indicate that you are absolutely not interested.
It's a very strong way of saying no.
Kylie says, right.
That's how I feel.
To sit back is a phrasal verb meaning to observe something, not to become involved, not to participate.
Kylie says, I guess we've dug our own graves.
Dug, D-U-G, is the past tense of the verb to dig.
To dig means to create a hole in something, usually something large like the ground, the earth.
Your grave is where your body is put after you die.
So to dig your own grave means to do something that will have negative consequences for you in the future.
You're doing something that is hurting yourself.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Can you understand a word he's saying?
I doubt if anyone can.
He's talking out of both sides of his mouth.
First he says he's fighting for the little guy, and then he says he's a champion for businesses.
I thought he'd be different, but he's just like any other politician.
He looks sincere and he sounds sincere, but when you actually listen to what he says, it's nothing but double talk.
You've got that right.
I wouldn't trust him any farther than I could throw him.
Now what is he saying?
He says that he can cut taxes and increase government services.
Now, how do you suppose he could pull that off?
He can't.
These are just campaign promises.
Once he gets into office, he'll renege on every one of those promises.
Year after year, it's the same thing.
Broken promises and the same old, same old.
Why do we put up with it?
Why?
I have an answer for you.
Do you want to run for office?
Me?
Are you kidding?
Not in your life.
Right.
That's how I feel.
I'm willing to sit back and let somebody else do the job.
I guess we've dug our own graves.
Dr Lucy Say, our script writer, never lets us down by providing excellent scripts for our ESL podcasts.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
