Show 1214 Thursday 1 April
Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.
Today we’re studying a clip from Dave Letterman’s show. Robin Williams was a guest on that show and he was talking about Australia and he said:
The Australians are basically English rednecks.
Apparently, some people in Australia were offended by this, and the Australian prime minister even mentioned it, which I think is ridiculous because it was a comedian on a comedy show … and clearly, he was joking.
But what I thought was offensive was what the Australian prime minister said. He’s not a comedian and he said:
First of all, I think Robin Williams should go and spend a bit of time in Alabama before he frames comments about anyone being particularly redneck.
So, what is a redneck? And why is it an offensive thing to say?
Well, I think it might have slightly different meanings in different countries … but it’s never a nice thing to say.
It says here: A man who lives in a country area of the US, has little education and has strong conservative political opinions.
I wouldn’t normally use the word redneck because I think it’s just a cheap insult, like the word greenie or tree-hugger. But if someone called someone in New Zealand a redneck, I would imagine a guy who is Pākehā and quite stupid and close-minded and very racist and doesn’t like to try new things.
STICK NEWS
Kia ora, in Stick News today an American university is cutting costs by using a different font.
The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has changed the default font in its email system from Arial to Century Gothic.
Apparently the new font uses about 30 percent less ink, so the school will save money when students print out emails.
The university said it was part of their five year plan to go green.
And that was Stick News for Thursday the 1st of April.
Kia ora.
So long, loser!
Why don't they just stop printing out emails?!
Why don't we paint the school green!
Um... I'm not sure that's quite the point...
Word of the Day
Today’s word is damn.
Damn can be used as an exclamation to express your anger or frustration.
For example if your browser crashes when you’ve just finished writing a long email - that wasn’t automatically saved for some reason - then you can say: Damn!
Damn can also be used to mean very.
For example: It’s damn hot today. Means: It’s very hot today.
The other day I bought some ginger beer which is called: Damn Tasty Ginger Beer.
Damn is a swear word, but it’s not as offensive as some other swear words, like the f-word, which is why they can get away with calling it Damn Tasty Ginger Beer.
But I would avoid using the word damn in a job interview.
conversations with sarah
#774 When’s the world cup?
Step 1: Read Ethan’s lines.
Step 2: Repeat Ethan’s lines and talk to Sarah.
Ethan Anything interesting in the news?
Sarah Um, well, this isn’t that interesting, but everyone seems to have their knickers in a twist over a song they’re using to promote the rugby world cup.
Ethan When’s the world cup?
Sarah It’s being held next year in New Zealand.
Ethan And what song did they choose?
Sarah It’s a song called Right Here, Right Now by a band called Jesus Jones. But the song they’re using is actually a cover by a Kiwi band called The Feelers.
Ethan And people hate it?
Sarah Yeah, I think people hate the fact it’s not a song by a New Zealand band.
Ethan Do you like it?
Sarah Yeah, I do. I was a Jesus Jones fan back in the day … and I like the song. I’m not a rugby fan though, so I couldn’t care less what song they use for the ad.
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music
show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site
show start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Future Cha Cha
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site
cws start
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site
qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: The Jazz Woman
from: Brooklyn, NY, United States
artist site
qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site
artist: DovEporTar
album: Test night n. 1
track: La sera
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
album: Test night n. 1
track: La sera
artist at Jamendo
album at Jamendo
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