Hey everyone, Dana here!
In one of my more recent videos “Germans Aren’t Afraid to Talk Politics!”
I said: In the U.S. I can recall around, like, Thanksgiving and Christmas seeing articles
about how to avoid talking about politics with your family.
How to stay away from hot-button political topics.
This is a button. And this is a button.
But a hot-button political topic is not talking about a warm version of either one of these things.
A hot-button topic or a hot-button issue is a topic or issue that tends to be controversial
or emotional.
Depending on who you’re talking to what the context is, all sorts of things could
be hot-button topics.
They could political things, and in the video that I mentioned, that’s the context that
I was using it in. Hot-button political topics.
But let’s say that, for example, you really, really, really want to get a dog but your
partner really, really, really doesn’t.
Well maybe that could turn into a kind of hot-button topic for you and your partner,
where even other people like your friends and your family know not to bring up the dog
thing or else it could lead to a fight.
Yeah, even that could turn into a kind of hot-button topic.
Oh and if you're wondering why I say "button" and not "buTTon," you can check out this video
about that over here.
Unlike the tea idiom in last week’s language video - hm, it's not my cup of tea - which
has been around for a while and originated in Great Britain, "hot button" is a fairly
new term, showing up in the USA in the 1970s.
So, you know, relatively speaking, it hasn’t been around for that long.
Buttons themselves, however, have been around for a while and they can be more than just
hot in English.
For example, you can say that something is as cute as a button.
Like that puppy that you want to get that your partner doesn’t.
Sorry not to bring up the hot-button topic.
But, you know, it made a good example.
Aww! But it’s cute as a button!
You can also push someone's buttons if you do or say just the right things to get them
all upset.
I don’t like hanging out with her, she knows just how to push my buttons.
But, sometimes this saying could also be used positively in a sexual way.
I like hanging out with her, she knows just how to push my buttons.
And if someone does push your buttons, in a bad way, you might want to tell them to
button it, which basically means shut-up. Stop talking.
Oh, button it.
But back to this kind of button for a second.
In English, so this is a button, yeah.
But this could be called a button or a pin.
What would you call this in German?
Like, would you call it a Knopf?
Um, or maybe you would use the English word, button?
If so, is it der, die or das Button? Let me down in the comments.
Der Button. - I don't know. Der Button? I kind of think it would be das Button.
So my question for you is: What are some hot-button topics for you?
No need to button it. Please let me know in the comments below!
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And I think that's it.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen! Bye!