Do American Media Pundits Rub you the Wrong Way?

Dialogue

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Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

Lesson conversation
Jonathan: In this lesson, you’ll learn how to use prefixes to change the meaning of an adjective. We’ll listen to a conversation between Dave and Isabel at Dave’s apartment.
Dede: They have been going out for a while now, so Dave and Isabel are talking more casually.
Jonathan: In this dialogue, they have been watching the news together on TV.
Dede: Alright, ready to go?
Jonathan: Let's listen to the conversation!
Dede:
Dave: These cable-news talking heads rub me the wrong way sometimes! All they do is yell at each other; there is no actual debate. They are so unproductive and uninformative.
Isabel: Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems like their only purpose is to see who can yell inside-the-Beltway jargon louder.
Dave: I really wish there were a channel that actually fostered legitimate debate and discussion. I find this kind of media very unappealing.
Isabel: I agree. The hosts and the commentators all seem so immature and irresponsible.
Dave: Exactly, and they have the nerve to call their channel "Impartial and Even."
Isabel: What a joke!
Dave: More like "Partial and Uneven."
Isabel: What about the channel that brands itself as "NNC = Politics?"
Dave: Haha, more like "NNC = Terrible."
Isabel: Well, at least C-SPAN is pretty fair.
Dave: Yeah, if you can stay awake! It's so uninteresting sometimes.
English Host: Let’s hear the conversation one time slowly.
Dave: These cable-news talking heads rub me the wrong way sometimes! All they do is yell at each other; there is no actual debate. They are so unproductive and uninformative.
Isabel: Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems like their only purpose is to see who can yell inside-the-Beltway jargon louder.
Dave: I really wish there were a channel that actually fostered legitimate debate and discussion. I find this kind of media very unappealing.
Isabel: I agree. The hosts and the commentators all seem so immature and irresponsible.
Dave: Exactly, and they have the nerve to call their channel "Impartial and Even."
Isabel: What a joke!
Dave: More like "Partial and Uneven."
Isabel: What about the channel that brands itself as "NNC = Politics?"
Dave: Haha, more like "NNC = Terrible."
Isabel: Well, at least C-SPAN is pretty fair.
Dave: Yeah, if you can stay awake! It's so uninteresting sometimes.
English Host: Now let’s hear it with the English translation.
Dave: These cable-news talking heads rub me the wrong way sometimes! All they do is yell at each other; there is no actual debate. They are so unproductive and uninformative.
Dede: These cable-news talking heads rub me the wrong way sometimes! All they do is yell at each other; there is no actual debate. They are so unproductive and uninformative.
Isabel: Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems like their only purpose is to see who can yell inside-the-Beltway jargon louder.
Dede: Yeah, I know what you mean. It seems like their only purpose is to see who can yell inside-the-Beltway jargon louder.
Dave: I really wish there were a channel that actually fostered legitimate debate and discussion. I find this kind of media very unappealing.
Dede: I really wish there were a channel that actually fostered legitimate debate and discussion. I find this kind of media very unappealing.
Isabel: I agree. The hosts and the commentators all seem so immature and irresponsible.
Dede: I agree. The hosts and the commentators all seem so immature and irresponsible.
Dave: Exactly, and they have the nerve to call their channel "Impartial and Even."
Dede: Exactly, and they have the nerve to call their channel "Impartial and Even."
Isabel: What a joke!
Dede: What a joke!
Dave: More like "Partial and Uneven."
Dede: More like "Partial and Uneven."
Isabel: What about the channel that brands itself as "NNC = Politics?"
Dede: What about the channel that brands itself as "NNC = Politics?"
Dave: Haha, more like "NNC = Terrible."
Dede: Haha, more like "NNC = Terrible."
Isabel: Well, at least C-SPAN is pretty fair.
Dede: Well, at least C-SPAN is pretty fair.
Dave: Yeah, if you can stay awake! It's so uninteresting sometimes.
Dede: Yeah, if you can stay awake! It's so uninteresting sometimes.
Dede
Dede
POST CONVERSATION BANTER
Dede: I don’t know if getting your news from these TV stations is the best idea.
Jonathan: Yeah, even though the United States is the original home of cable news networks and a large percentage of Americans get their daily news from news shows every day, they get a lot of criticism
Dede: What for?
Jonathan: Well, their reliability and methods are often questioned. Some people accuse the majority of news sources (and cable in particular) of being biased. Rather than balanced debate on important topics, cable news channels feature shows which are mostly just people yelling at each other.
Dede: Like the one that Dave and Isabel were watching?
Jonathan: Exactly! The one exception to this is C-SPAN.
Dede: What’s that?
Jonathan: It’s a public service provided by the cable companies that supplies 24-hour coverage of the American legislative system. While it’s unbiased and often has healthy debate, it is usually just live footage from the House of Representatives and Senate and it is known for being very…
Dede: BO-RING…
Jonathan: My words exactly.
Dede: I think we’re getting boring too, let’s move onto the vocab
Jonathan: Sure!
Vocabulary and Phrases
Dede: Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson.
: The first word we shall see is:
Jonathan: to rub [natural native speed]
Dede: to touch, to pet, to stroke
Jonathan: to rub [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: to rub [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: unproductive [natural native speed]
Dede: useless, futile, inefficient
Jonathan: unproductive [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: unproductive [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: the Beltway [natural native speed]
Dede: the ring of highways that surround Washington, D.C. and provide access to the city.
Jonathan: the Beltway [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: the Beltway [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: to foster [natural native speed]
Dede: to encourage, to cultivate
Jonathan: to foster [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: to foster [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: unappealing [natural native speed]
Dede: undesirable, disgusting, unwanted
Jonathan: unappealing [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: unappealing [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: impartial [natural native speed]
Dede: balanced, not taking sides
Jonathan: impartial [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: impartial [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: nerve [natural native speed]
Dede: courage
Jonathan: nerve [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: nerve [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: legitimate [natural native speed]
Dede: real, genuine, actual, proper
Jonathan: legitimate [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: legitimate [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: debate [natural native speed]
Dede: discussion of an issue from opposing sides, civil argument
Jonathan: debate [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: debate [natural native speed]
: Next:
Jonathan: talking head [natural native speed]
Dede: someone who has little to say but talks a lot (often used for those on television slang)
Jonathan: talking head [slowly - broken down by syllable]
Jonathan: talking head [natural native speed]
KEY VOCABULARY AND PHRASES
Dede: Let's have a closer look at the usuage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson.
Jonathan: The first word/phrase we’ll look at is....
Dede: Phew! That’s it for this lesson. Let’s take a look at some words and phrases from the dialogue.
Jonathan: Sure thing, what’s first?
Dede: "to rub", which means "to touch, to pet, to stroke".
Jonathan: Dave says, “These talking heads really rub me the wrong way sometimes”.. When we add “the wrong way” to “rub” we create a common phrase that means “to annoy”. It comes from petting a cat. If you rub a cat one way, they will like it, but if you rub them the wrong way, they will get annoyed.
Dede: So when I crack my knuckles…(crackle)
Jonathan: Oh, that really rubs me the wrong way.
Dede: And when you sip your coffee that rubs me the wrong way.
Jonathan: (slurp) Right on, so what’s next?
Dede: "Inside-the-Beltway"
Jonathan: Isabel says this when they are talking about cable news channels. “Inside-the-Beltway” is a phrase used to talk about Washington insiders. If we label something as “inside-the-Beltway” it means that it may be disconnected from reality and only relevant to people working in the field of politics. That means it has nothing to do with the lives of ordinary people.
Dede: Ordinary people… like me? Are you saying I’m not special?
Jonathan: I’m saying you’re not a politics nerd like me. Sometimes when I talk I use too much jargon from inside-the-beltway.
Dede: It’s like another language. English, and inside-the-beltway language…
Jonathan: Almost, but you’re doing a good job of learning it!
Dede: I guess…
Jonathan: Wanna move onto the lesson focus?
Dede: Why not...
Lesson focus
Dede: In this lesson we will be focusing on using prefixes with adjectives.
Jonathan: Yup. Did you know that you can often make an adjective the opposite just by adding a prefix.
Dede: Uhm, yeah… it’s not that hard!
Jonathan: Haha, ok then. Why don’t you tell our listeners…
Dede: Sure thing. I think that we can usually use “un”, spelled U-N, at the beginning of an adjective.
Jonathan: Absolutely, “un” is the most common prefix to make an adjective negative. And our listeners can probably think of several that begin with it.
Dede: Like… “unfortunate” or… “unapologetic”
Jonathan: Exactly, Unfortunately, not all adjectives take “un”. There are two other prefixes that can make an adjective negative. Know what they are?
Dede: I think so… “ir” spelled I-R and “im” spelled I-M?
Jonathan: Perfect! If you remember those, you can almost always find the opposite adjective using a prefix.
Dede: Great! Let’s look at some examples that we didn’t cover in the vocab section.
Jonathan: Good idea, the first one we have is…
Dede: "Irresponsible."
Jonathan: Yes, we take responsible, which means…
Dede: Trustworthy, dependable…
Jonathan: And add “ir” to make “irresponsible”
Dede: Which means not trustworthy, not dependable
Jonathan: What’s the next example?
Dede: How about “impossible”
Jonathan: Great, it comes from “possible”
Dede: achievable, can be done
Jonathan: And then you add “im” to make impossible
Dede: Not achievable, not doable
Jonathan: OK, let’s look at one last one from the dialogue…
Dede: "Uninteresting."
Jonathan: Sure, it comes from "interesting."
Dede: I think you know what that means…
Jonathan: And then we add “un” to make it…
Dede: Boring! Like we are becoming!
Jonathan: OK, OK. Well, I have good news and bad news for you.
Dede: Give me the good news first.
Jonathan: Adjectives that start with R usually take the prefix I-R, adjectives that start with the letter M or P usually take the prefix I-M, and adjectives that start with anything else usually take the prefix UN.
Dede: That is good news… What about the bad stuff?
Jonathan: Well, it’s not a 100% rule, there are a lot of adjectives that don’t follow this rule.
Dede: I see… so you have to be careful with them…
Jonathan: OK, want to try some examples though?
Dede: Sure!
Jonathan: OK, what’s the opposite of mobile?
Dede: It starts with M so… the prefix is probably I-M… “immobile”?
Jonathan: Exactly! What about “regular”?
Dede: Well it starts with R so… “irregular”?
Jonathan: Correct again! OK, last one, what is the opposite of “natural”?
Jonathan: In these three sentences, we cannot “know” who the subject is 100% but it is not so important.
Dede: Well, it doesn’t start with M, P, or R… so the prefix is probably U-N… unnatural?
Jonathan: 100% correct! You were three for three!
Dede: Thanks! But what’s an example that doesn’t fit this rule?
Jonathan: Well, what would you think the opposite of “popular” might be?
Dede: It starts with “P” so… I-M would make it… “impopular” that doesn’t sound right.
Jonathan: It’s not, it would actually be unpopular. You have to be really careful with these adjectives…
Dede: I see. I’ll always check when I’m writing!
Jonathan: That’s a good idea.
Dede: That just about does it for this lesson.

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Do American Media Pundits Rub you the Wrong Way?

Want to Understand & Master the English Dialogue 100%?

Learn New Words FAST with this Lesson’s Vocab Review List

Unlock In-Depth Explanations & Exclusive Takeaways with Printable Lesson Notes

Lesson conversation

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