Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 680, Recognizing an Unsung Hero.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 680.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
Download a learning guide for this episode that will help you improve your English even faster.
This episode is called Recognizing an Unsung Hero.
Let's get started.
You may have everyone else fooled, but I know the real reason for the success of this project.
What?
You.
You've been working behind the scenes to bolster the people who weren't up to the task.
Without you, this project would have been sunk months ago.
That's nonsense.
No, it's not.
I know you don't like the limelight, but you were the linchpin of this operation.
Without you, we'd all have egg on our faces today.
You're giving me way too much credit.
I don't want to hear another word about it.
I'm not surprised at your reaction.
Most unsung heroes like to keep a low profile.
What?
I'm nothing of the kind.
Yes, you are.
You're far too modest.
And soon I won't be the only one who thinks so.
What are you proposing to do?
Don't worry, I'm not planning a ticker tape parade, but it's time your contributions are recognized for what they are around here.
Our dialogue begins with Fumi saying to Isaac, You may have everyone else fooled.
But I know the real reason for the success of this project.
To fool F-O-O-L someone means to trick them, to deceive them, to make them believe something that isn't true, that is false.
Fumi says to Isaac that he has been fooling, he has been lying in some ways to everyone, but she knows the real reason why this project has been a success.
Whatever project they're working on,
Isaac says, what?
Fumi says, you, meaning you're the real reason for the success of this project.
She says, you've been working behind the scenes to bolster the people who weren't up to the task.
The expression to work behind the scenes, S-C-E-N-E-S, means to do something that is necessary for a project to succeed but is not noticed by most people.
The other people involved don't realize that you are doing this work.
You're doing it in secret in some ways.
A scene here refers, for example, to a play in a theater, where you have what are basically big paintings that give you the impression that you are in a different place.
Those are called the scenery.
And so to work behind the scenes is to be, if you will, part of the play, but no one actually sees you.
That was me, by the way, in my high school play.
I was in my high school play.
In American high schools, typically there's at least one play or musical every year.
I was in mine, but I was on the lighting crew.
So I turned the lights on and off.
So I was in the play, but I was working behind the scenes, you see.
Not many people know that.
Anyway, Fumi says that Isaac has been working behind the scenes to bolster the people who weren't up to the task.
To bolster B-O-L-S-T-E-R means to make someone feel stronger and more confident, or simply to improve something.
The expression to be up to the task means to be ready and prepared to do something, to have the abilities or the qualifications to perform a certain job or task.
So Fumi says that Isaac was basically helping other people in the project who were not doing their job or who were not capable, able to do their job.
She says, without you, this project would have been sunk months ago.
To be sunk, S-U-N-K, literally means to be underwater like a ship.
If you sink a ship, sunk is the past of sink, then the ship or boat is underwater.
To be sunk, then, is a general expression that means to fail, not to be successful.
Isaac says that's nonsense, saying that what Fumi is telling him is wrong.
Fumi says, no, it's not.
She says, I know you don't like the limelight, but you were the linchpin of this operation.
The limelight, L-I-M-E-L-I-G-H-T, one word, is used to indicate that you are getting a lot of attention. that everyone is looking at you and paying attention to you, including, for example, those in the media, the television and newspaper people and internet bloggers, whatever.
Everyone is paying attention to you.
You are in the limelight.
But Isaac doesn't like the limelight.
Fumi says he was the linchpin of this operation.
A linchpin, L-I-N-C-H-P-I-N, one word, is the most important person or thing in a group.
It's the person or thing that everyone else depends on for success.
Fumi says, without you, we'd all have egg on our faces.
The expression to have egg, E-G-G, on your face means that you would be embarrassed publicly.
You would be in a position where you would look stupid or foolish and everyone would know about it.
But Isaac says, you're giving me way too much credit.
To give someone too much credit means to say that they did more than they actually have done.
That is, you are saying that they are wonderful, you are saying how great they've been, but they don't really deserve that much praise, that much credit.
The use of the word way here means as in way.
Too much credit is just another way of saying too much credit.
Too, too much credit, we might say, but we don't say that in English.
It's like it's really too much credit.
Way.
Has been used this way for a long time, but it has become more popular in conversational English.
For example, you might say to your friend, Do I have too much makeup on my face?
And your friend says, Way too much.
Meaning, you really have too much.
Yes.
My friends tell me that all the time.
So Isaac says, I don't want to hear another word about it.
I don't want you to say anything else to me about what you think I have done.
Fumi says, I'm not surprised at your reaction, the way that you reacted to what I said.
Most unsung heroes like to keep a low profile.
An unsung hero is a person who makes an important contribution to a successful project but who is not recognized for what they do.
Someone who does something great, but nobody hears about it, nobody knows about it.
That would be an unsung hero.
To keep a low profile... means to do something in a way that other people will not notice.
It's another way of saying that other people are not paying attention to you.
The opposite would be to keep a high profile, which means everyone knows what you're doing.
Everyone knows where you are, for example.
Isaac says what?
I'm nothing of the kind.
To be nothing of the kind means that you are not an example of what the other person was just talking about.
It's a phrase that we use to deny, to say no, to disagree with something.
Fumi says that Isaac is an unsung hero and he says, I'm nothing of the kind.
No, I'm not.
Fumi says, yes, you are.
You're far too modest.
To be far too modest means to be very humble, not wanting to talk about your own accomplishments.
Notice that far here has the same meaning, the same function as the word way.
We could have said, you're way too modest.
That's a little more informal.
Far too modest is a little more formal.
Fumi says, and soon I won't be the only one who thinks so, who thinks that you are an unsung hero.
Isaac says, what are you proposing to do?
To propose means to suggest or to present an idea for what you think should be done and how it should be done.
Fumi says, don't worry.
I'm not planning a ticker tape parade, but it's time your contributions are recognized for what they are around here.
A ticker tape is a long piece of paper, usually in a roll, that is used in a ticker tape machine, which is like a teletype or telegraph machine.
It was a way of conveying messages electronically over the radio, and it was a special machine that converted the radio signals into something that would then produce either typing or some sort of printing signal that you would be able to send information over a long distance.
They were very popular in the old days, many years ago, for those that were involved in the New York and other stock exchanges.
When you're done with the ticker tape, you can cut it up and use it as confetti, which are small little pieces of paper that you cut up and then you throw on someone as a way of congratulating them.
And in New York City when someone did something wonderful, the tradition was to give that person or those people a ticker tape parade, meaning they would take the tape and the pieces of paper, rip them up and then throw them from the tall buildings in New York City so they would come down on the heroes that were being honored.
Sort of like rain falling down, but it is paper.
In general, it's used to indicate that you are going to have a big celebration.
Fumi tells Isaac that she's not planning a ticker tape parade, but it's time your contributions are recognized for what they are around here.
To recognize means to realize that they are important.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
You may have everyone else fooled, but I know the real reason for the success of this project.
What?
You.
You've been working behind the scenes to bolster the people who weren't up to the task.
Without you, this project would have been sunk months ago.
That's nonsense.
No, it's not.
I know you don't like the limelight, but you were the linchpin of this operation.
Without you, we'd all have egg on our faces today.
I'm not surprised at your reaction.
Most unsung heroes like to keep a low profile.
What?
I'm nothing of the kind.
Yes, you are.
You're far too modest.
And soon, I won't be the only one who thinks so.
What are you proposing to do?
Don't worry.
I'm not planning a ticker tape parade, but it's time your contributions are recognized for what they are.
Around here is our own Dr Lucy Say.
Although, since I talk about her, she really isn't unsung.
I'm singing her praises, which is an expression that means to say good things about another person.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again on ESL Podcasts.
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.
