Even if you never watch a film awards ceremony like the Oscars or Golden Globes, you're likely to hear about it.
You might be a social media scroller, a news junkie, or podcast lover.
And if you are, then you're going to hear people talk about who's expected to win Best Actress, who's going to wear what on the red carpet and why a particular film wasn't nominated for Best Picture.
It's kind of hard to escape it.
And the language we use in these conversations is full of idioms, phrasal verbs and unexpected word choices.
Now, I don't know about you, but I love feeling like I've got a handle on conversations in my second language.
What that means is I have a good understanding.
There's no confusion or uncertainty.
So I can be part of the conversation.
I want you to feel the same way in English on a hot topic of conversation.
So today is all about film award ceremonies.
Whether we're talking about the Oscars, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, etc.
We'll talk about the language we use for predicting winners, describing films, reacting to winners in unexpected moments, and so much more.
So let's start right away at the beginning.
In the weeks or even months before big award ceremonies, everyone starts making predictions.
Who's going to win Best Picture?
Which actor has the best chance?
And will an unexpectedly popular film get nominated?
In conversations on this at work, at parties and on social media.
There are a few key phrases you'll hear over and over again.
The first one is frontrunner.
A frontrunner is the person or the film most likely to win.
So if someone says she's the front-runner for best actress, they mean that she has the best chance of winning right now.
This phrase actually comes from horse racing.
It literally means the horse at the front of the pack.
But now we use it in all kinds of competitions elections, sports and film awards, so you might also hear this one used in sentences like she's the front runner in the presidential race, or that team is the front runner to win the national championship.
So i'm curious if you're a film buff, if you're someone who loves watching films, do you have a prediction for a front runner this year?
Which film do you think might be the front runner for best film?
Feel free to share a quick note with me on that in the comments.
Now, of course, sometimes when everyone starts talking about the front runner, it starts to gain momentum.
This means to develop rapidly and become more and more popular or more likely to succeed.
So you might say that a film is gaining momentum after it's BAFTA wins.
It could be a serious contender for the Oscars.
And then, There's the dark horse.
A dark horse is usually a little known contender that makes an exceptionally good showing.
It's a surprise competitor.
This one also comes from horse racing.
And we use it in politics and sports as well.
Let me give you an example of how to use this one.
Back in 2017, Moonlight was considered a dark horse.
That surprised a lot of people by winning Best Picture at the Oscars over the frontrunner, La La Land.
Very few people expected it.
That's what makes it a dark horse.
Now, if you're someone who loves following all the conversation and even gossip about the awards ceremonies, you're also going to hear the word buzz.
You'll hear buzz around different films.
This means speculative or excited talk and attention.
So in a conversation you might say, there's a lot of buzz around that documentary after its premiere at Sundance.
It means people are talking about it and there's a lot of excitement building.
Of course, when there's a lot of buzz around various films, people will also debate which performances are truly critically acclaimed versus which ones are just getting attention because they're a box office hit.
Let's talk about these two expressions because the difference here is really important.
When something is critically acclaimed, this means receiving approval and praise from critics.
And critics are professionals who have a job to review and rate films for newspapers, magazines and websites like Rotten Tomatoes.
So when a film is critically acclaimed, it means the professional reviewers loved it.
But that's different from being a box office hit.
A box office hit is a film that's super popular and financially successful.
In this phrase, the words box office refer to ticket sales and how much money a film makes in theaters.
So a box office hit means a lot of people bought tickets to see the film.
And here's why this matters.
A movie can be critically acclaimed, but not a box office hit, and vice versa.
The movie Barbie, for example, was both critically acclaimed and a massive box office hit.
But some films get great reviews from critics and nobody goes to see them.
And, of course, some films make a ton of money even if the critics don't love them.
So when people are debating who should win awards, they're often talking about this tension.
Should the award go to films that critics love or films that audiences loved?
But of course, before anyone can win, they need to be nominated.
And when nominations come out, the conversations focus on who was recognized and who wasn't.
One of the phrases you'll hear most often is to be up for an award.
This means that someone has been selected as a candidate for receiving a prize.
They're on a short list of possible winners.
So in a conversation you could say oh, she's up for best actress at both the Oscars and the BAFTAs.
But we don't just use this for people.
We could use it for the film itself.
For example, the film is up for Best Picture or the score is up for Best Original Music.
Now, sometimes when someone gets nominated, people will say they're overdue.
They're overdue for an Oscar or they're overdue for an award.
And this describes someone who has been nominated multiple times or someone who has been creating excellent work for years and deserves the recognition.
For example, he's been nominated five times.
He's really overdue for an Oscar.
Now, on the opposite end, for filmmakers or actors who are not as well known, a major award nomination can be their big break.
A big break is an opportunity or moment that makes someone successful or famous.
It's the moment that brings them into the spotlight and opens the doors to bigger opportunities.
For example, getting nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars was her big break, and now everyone wants to work with her.
Okay, before we keep going, I want to mention something that's so important when it comes to learning vocabulary.
Yes, learning these phrases is useful, but if you don't practice actually using them in real conversations, they tend to stay stuck in your head.
You'll know the word when you hear it or read it, but you're likely to freeze or be unable to find it the moment you want to say it.
That's exactly why i created the confident women community.
It's a place where women from around the world practice speaking english regularly through monthly topics, workshops and conversation sessions.
You get clear study guides every month so you always know what to practice next, And then you use that vocabulary or grammar in real conversations with others.
If this sounds like something you've been looking for, if you want a space to practice speaking English without pressure and build real confidence.
You can learn more at speakconfidentenglishcom slash community.
Okay, getting back to our topic.
Once the nominees are announced, that's when the real predictions begin about who's going to win.
And you'll start to hear a lot of talk about who's in the mix and whether or not it's a tight race.
If someone is in the mix, it means they're being considered as a possible winner.
They're on that short list. and they're part of the conversation about who will win.
For example, she's definitely in the mix for best supporting actress after her SAG award win.
And then a tight race means the outcome is uncertain because the competitors are very close in performance or support.
For example, it's a tight race for best director this year.
Any of the five nominees could win very quickly.
I want to show you how these phrases work together in a conversation.
So imagine for a moment that you're at a coffee break with a co-worker and in the conversation she asks whether you've been following the awards season and who you think will win best picture at the oscars.
You might say well, one battle after another is definitely the front runner right now.
But I think Hamnet is gaining momentum too, especially after its strong performance in other awards ceremonies.
It's such a tight race.
In that one answer.
Those phrases go together naturally, and that's how people actually talk about all of this during awards season.
Now, when people are debating who should win, they're also talking about the films and performances themselves, including what kind of reception a film got or what the experience was like to watch that film.
Some films get rave reviews from critics.
This means extremely positive reviews when critics are praising something enthusiastically.
For example, that film got rave reviews at the Sundance Film Festival.
But other films might be under the radar.
This means they're not getting attention or not getting enough attention.
The film is unnoticed.
So you might say that indie film was totally under the radar during awards season and it deserved more recognition than it got.
Now, when people start to talk about the actual viewing experience, you might hear a film described as a tearjerker.
A tearjerker is a story song play, film or broadcast that moves you or is intended to move the audience to tears.
It makes you cry.
And sometimes people are impressed by an actor's ability to pull off something.
To pull off means to succeed in doing something difficult or unexpected.
It's to successfully execute a challenging task.
For example, I can't believe she pulled off that accent so convincingly.
Now, this particular phrasal verb is rather versatile.
We use it in many contexts.
For example, you can pull off a surprise party, pull off a difficult recipe or pull off a challenging scene in a film.
This one is not just about acting.
Alright with that.
Let's move on to talking about what happens during the ceremony, starting with the red carpet events.
A red carpet event is a high-profile gathering where a red carpet is laid out for celebrities, dignitaries or VIPs, and it's used for them to walk on as they arrive.
It's a symbol of glamour and importance.
This particular tradition has been used since ancient Greece to signify, honor and welcome important guests.
And Hollywood adopted it in the 1920s and 1930s.
So when someone says the Golden Globes is always such a glamorous red carpet event, they're talking about that whole arrival experience, with photographers taking pictures and reporters asking questions.
And of course, everyone's focused on who is wearing what.
Now, during the ceremony itself, you'll see winners who burst into tears or are completely speechless when they win.
To burst into tears means to suddenly start crying.
That word, burst, suggests suddenness and intensity.
It's like a pin in a balloon and that balloon pops.
In this case, the crying starts suddenly and is extremely emotional or even uncontrollable.
For example, she burst into tears the moment they announced her name as the winner.
And then to be speechless means unable to speak, not capable of expressing something in words.
It's that feeling that the words you need just don't exist.
They can't describe the moment that you're in.
And this is often used positively.
For example, in an award context.
It usually means that someone is so overwhelmed with emotion or surprise that they can't speak.
For example, he was completely speechless when he won.
He just stood there holding the trophy.
Now, of course, if you watch one of these ceremonies, you'll also see moments where everyone in the audience gives a standing ovation.
This means to stand up and applaud, to show enthusiastic approval or appreciation.
And usually that moment of everyone standing and clapping, it goes on for a long period of time.
For example, the entire audience gave her a standing ovation after her emotional acceptance speech.
Now, if you watch these award ceremonies live or even just review replays at many different moments during the ceremony, we could say that emotions run high.
This phrase means that feelings become really strong and intense.
For example, emotions ran high when she thanked her late mother during her acceptance speech.
Now, with this particular one, we could replace the word emotions with the words feelings or tensions.
For example, think about that moment just before the winner is announced.
The camera starts looking at all the nominees.
In that moment, tensions run high.
And once the winner is announced, you know that the winners give acceptance speeches.
It's the speech that they give for winning the award or prize.
And sometimes, or maybe even most of the time, if the speaker goes on for too long, the speaker gets played off the stage.
This means to start playing music to signal that that person has reached their time limit.
Time to finish the speech.
So in talking about this you might hear someone say she was so nervous, she talked too fast and for too long and they almost played her off the stage before she could finish thanking her family.
Now for some ceremonies, they don't just announce winners and have acceptance speeches.
From time to time, there are also performances or surprise moments that can steal the show.
These are moments that tend to be the most popular part of the event.
They attract the most attention.
For example, that surprise musical performance totally stole the show at the Golden Globes.
And because you have all these things happening announcing the winners, acceptance speeches, performances quite often the ceremony runs long.
This means that it lasts longer than it was scheduled for or longer than expected.
And here's one more phrase that you might want to use if you're watching the ceremonies.
Rooting for.
To be rooting for someone means to support them or hope that they are the winner.
For example, i'm rooting for her to win best actress.
She was incredible in that role.
Now, once again, i want to give you a quick example of how you might use some of these phrases together.
Maybe you're watching the ceremony with friends or family, eating popcorn and texting your friends while you're watching every moment of the live event, And then, when the actress that you're rooting for wins, you might say, oh my God, I can't believe that she won.
She totally deserved that standing ovation.
I hope she doesn't get played off the stage during her acceptance speech.
Okay, now that we've talked about the before and during the ceremony, let's talk about when it's all over.
The next morning when we get all the news articles memes, social media clips and post-show conversations.
People start asking, did the right film win?
Did one movie sweep the awards? or were the wins more evenly divided?
To sweep the awards means to dominate an awards ceremony by winning the majority or all the majority prizes in a single event.
For example, back in 1998, Titanic swept the Oscars by winning 11 awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Of course, sometimes there's an upset.
An upset is an unexpected or surprising victory, particularly when someone or something less favored wins over a heavily favored competitor.
This particular phrase is actually a sports term that's commonly used for awards, elections and all kinds of competitions.
For example, it was a huge upset when she won over the frontrunner.
And of course, in all of this, people also talk about whether certain films or actors were snubbed.
Now in general conversation, to snub someone means to insult them by not giving them any attention or treating them as if they're not important.
But in film award conversations, snubbed usually means someone wasn't nominated when people expected them to be, or they were nominated, but they didn't win when everyone thought they should have won.
For example, she was totally snubbed at the Golden Globes.
None of the other nominees even came close to her performance.
Of course, obviously not everyone can win, but people still argue about who deserved to win versus who actually won.
And when someone who was expected to win didn't win at all, people will often say they were robbed.
This means they were maybe unfairly denied a win that everyone thought they deserved.
Okay, so now we've reviewed the vocabulary that you'll hear before, during and after awards ceremony.
So now it's time for the most important step, using some of this vocabulary.
And notice I used that word some.
I don't want you to try using everything you've learned here today.
That's not an effective practice.
Instead, a better way to start is to select a few words that you really liked, or maybe words that you recognize.
You've heard them many times before and you want to start using them.
When you are selective, you're able to concentrate on just a small number of words without overwhelm and get them into your everyday vocabulary the vocabulary that you use easily in conversations.
And once you've got those down, you can move to a new group.
So here's what I want you to do.
Choose one or two phrases from this lesson and try using them in your own sentence.
You can share them in the comments as well.
For example, tell me which film you think is front runner for best picture this year, or share whether you think someone was snubbed in the nominations.
Maybe you have a dark horse prediction.
The goal here is to use the vocabulary, make it active, not just something you learned and then kind of remember somewhere in the back of your head later.
Now, as always, if you found this lesson helpful to you, i would love to know.
So definitely subscribe or follow wherever you're listening or watching from today.
Thank you so much for joining me and i look forward to seeing you next time.
