Hello and welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.
I'm Neil and joining me today is Catherine. Hello Catherine.
Hello Neil. Hello everybody. Yes, today we are joining Harry
and Meghan to say welcome to their new daughter, who they have named
Lilibet Diana in recognition of Harry's grandmother and his mother.
If you want to test yourself on any of the vocabulary you hear in this
programme, there's a quiz on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.
Now, let's find out some more about the story from this BBC News report:
So, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, better known as Harry and Meghan,
have welcomed their second child.
Now, they have a daughter, who will be called Lilibet Diana. Now,
Lilibet is the nickname given to the Queen when she was a child and Diana,
of course, is the name of Princess Diana, who was Harry's mother.
You have been scanning the world's media for this story, haven't you
Catherine? You've picked out three really useful expressions this time,
which can be used to talk about the story. What have you got?
Yes, we have: 'a nod to', 'what's in a name?' and 'bumped down the line'.
'A nod to', 'what's in a name?' and 'bumped down the line'.
OK. Well, let's start with your first headline please.
Yes, we're starting in the United States with CNN – the headline:
'A nod to' – a reference to.
Yes, we've got a three-word expression.
The first word is 'a'. Second word: 'nod' – N-O-D. And the third...
the third word is 'to' – T-O. So, we get 'a nod to'.
Yeah. So, Catherine, what is 'a nod' actually?
A 'nod' is a movement: a gesture that you do with your head.
So, in a lot of cultures, if we want to indicate yes,
we nod our head up and down.
We do. We do, yes.
There's other things we can do when we 'nod':
we can reference something...
if we want to, sort of, say 'over there', we could do that with our head:
move our head to the side, indicating the direction.
I'm doing it now. So am I.
So, a head movement is a 'nod'.
Yeah. And that's the sense we've got here, isn't it?
That we are indicating something.
Yes – the Queen! An indication is...
so, when you do something to indicate, to acknowledge,
to recognise something else, we can say 'it's a nod to.' So, the choice
of name Lilibet, which was Harry's grandmother's nickname when she was
a child, is a kind of recognition of this child's great grandmother.
So, the name is a recognition, it's an acknowledgement,
it's 'a nod to' the Queen.
Yeah, and if we want to turn that
into a verb phrase, we can use 'give'.
Yes, you can 'give a nod to' and it means to recognise something: to do
something which shows you're aware of something, as an acknowledgement.
It's often a very positive thing; when we 'give a nod to' something
we acknowledge or recognise or indicate it in a very positive way.
Yeah. You may have noticed,
Catherine, that occasionally I wear a maple-leaf T-shirt.
You do wear a T-shirt with a – it's a red leaf, isn't it?
That's right, yeah. And that's because I grew up
in Canada and my T-shirt is 'a nod to' my Canadian childhood.
I see. That's very interesting. Yes, 'a nod to' your childhood.
Now, there is another meaning and another expression, which is very
similar, with a different meaning: 'to give someone the nod'.
Yes. If you 'give someone the nod', you basically say: 'Yes.
Go ahead. It's your turn. It's your time.' So, it's a...
'to give someone the nod' is to say, 'Yeah, do it. You can do this now.'
Yeah, often used in reference to selecting a player in a sports team.
Yes, absolutely. Yes, if one player is unwell and cannot compete, then
the manager will 'give the nod to' the substitute player to say:
'Right. It's your turn now.'
OK. Let's get a summary:
If you would like to watch another story about Harry and Meghan,
we have one about the time they decided and announced that they
were going to stand down from their official royal duties.
What do our viewers have to do?
You just have to click the link and you can watch the story.
Brilliant. OK. Let's have a look at our next headline, please.
Yes, we're now in the UK with the Guardian:
'What's in a name?' – is what we call something important?
Yes. Today's expression is a question: what's in a name?
Four words. The first word: 'what's' – W-H-A-T– apostrophe –S.
Second word: 'in' – I-N. Third word: 'a'.
And the fourth word: 'name' – N-A-M-E – with a question mark.
Now, 'what's in a name?'.
You know your Shakespeare, don't you Neil?
Well, I think if...
I think everyone in the world knows this particular Shakespeare.
It's from Romeo and Juliet.
Yes, that's right. Now, Romeo and Juliet: the star-crossed lovers.
So, Juliet was in love with Romeo, who was from a different family,
and their two families were enemies.
So, Juliet is complaining that he has the wrong name and she's saying:
it's only a name – 'what's in a name?' Your name is Montague;
it doesn't matter. Why is your name important?
She compares Romeo's name, or Romeo, to a rose.
She said if you take a rose – the flower – and it isn't called a rose,
it still smells beautiful. Why is the name important?
Yeah. And that's what this is about.
It's an expression that we use to, sort of,
debate whether or not something – a name is important to something.
Yes. Now, in this newspaper article, they're analysing the name
– this name: there's four parts to this child's name.
We've talked about Lilibet and Diana and we've said...
the article is saying why these names are significant
and the headline is saying, yeah,
'are names significant?' In this case they probably are.
Now, Catherine, you're really into your mobile phones, aren't you?
It's got to be a good one for you.
Yes. I do like to buy one that I... a trusted brand, yes.
Yeah. Whereas for me, you know, I don't really care.
I could spend a lot of money on something expensive with a really
well known name, but I've got this one here and it does everything I
need to do: 'what's in a name?' Come on – 'what's in a name?'
Well, quite a lot I think, but you think differently. You don't
care about the name, so that's fair enough, if you've got what you want.
Yeah, but that's an example of how we can use this expression:
when you're discussing whether or not a brand,
or a particular name, or a label is in fact important or not.
OK. Let's get a summary:
We have a programme we know you're going to love, because it's got Rob
in it talking about biscuits, and how important the names of biscuits are.
What do our viewers have to do?
Just click the link!
OK. Let's have a look at our next headline.
And we're still in the UK, this time with Sky:
'Bumped down the line' – lowered in importance or position.
Yes, we have another four-word expression:
first word is 'bumped' – B-U-M-P-E-D.
The second word: 'down' – D-O-W-N.
The third word: 'the' – T-H-E. And the final word is 'line' – L-I-N-E.
Now, pronunciation-wise, the first word is 'bumped',
but because the next word starts with a 'd' – 'down' – we lose the
'teh' of the end of 'bumped', so we get this, Neil:
'Bump(ed) down'. Yes, 'bump(ed) down' the line:
we don't use the 'd' – 'bumped': we just say 'bump(ed) down the line'.
It's easier to pronounce, but it's still a past tense.
Absolutely, yes. So, the key word here is 'bump'.
'To bump' something is to, sort of, move it with force.
Yes. Generally, yes. If I... if you bump something,
you make it change its position by pushing it: by giving it a good,
kind of, knock or a push to get it out of the way, out of...
so that something else can take its place.
And that's what this expression is all about.
If you're standing in the queue, Neil, for the coffee machine
and I come along beside you and I give you a good push,
and I move you and you're standing backwards and I'm now in your place,
you have been 'bumped down the line'.
Yeah. So, that's a very literal definition or explanation there,
but we can use it in a more figurative sense.
And here we're talking about the royal line of succession.
Yes, the royal line of succession: who will become king or
queen after our present queen, Queen Elizabeth, dies.
Well, there's quite a long list of people: it starts with her son,
then it's her son's son, then it's all the children of the son's son,
then it's Harry and his children,
and after that there are other people who are now one place
further away from becoming king or queen because of this new arrival.
Because of Lilibet's birth, some other people are
further down the line: they've been 'bumped down the line'.
Yeah. And you might use this expression, for example,
in a professional context: maybe you're waiting or expecting a
promotion, and then somebody else comes in who is more qualified and
experienced than you. You might be 'bumped down the line' in that case.
Yes, absolutely. And if you're 'bumped down the line',
it's usually a negative or a disappointing experience:
you want to be further ahead in the line, you want to be up the line,
but something's happened to make you go down the line –
you're further away from the thing that you want.
Absolutely. OK. Let's get a summary of that:
Time now for a recap of our vocabulary please, Catherine.
Yes, we had: 'a nod to' – a reference to.
'What's in a name?' – is what we call something important?
And 'bumped down the line' – lowered in importance or position.
If you want to test yourself, there's a quiz
on our website bbclearningenglish.com
and we are all over social media.
Thanks for joining us, take care and see you next time.
Goodbye. Bye!