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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil.
And I'm Beth.
A list is a collection of items with
a single item written on each line,
and they're everywhere –
shopping lists, to-do lists,
even bucket lists – a list of all
the things a person would like to do
before they die.
In fact, there's an episode
of 6 Minute English all about them.
Imagine you're at the supermarket
and find someone's shopping list.
This happens a lot to Jo Nolan,
a linguistics researcher whose
new book explores our love of lists.
Here's Jo reading her shopping list
on BBC Radio 4 programme
Word of Mouth.
I only list the first four items,
but the list read – nanas,
aye-aye, puke, shrooms.
Nanas, aye-aye, puke, shrooms?
Err... can you work out what Jo
was buying at the supermarket, Phil?
OK. Well, I'm going to guess
that 'nanas' are bananas.
And 'shrooms' –
they've got to be mushrooms, right?
OK. But what about aye-aye and puke?
What could they mean?
Well, here's Jo's explanation
to Michael Rosen,
presenter of BBC Radio 4's
Word of Mouth.
And let's just come back to puke...
I mean, were you instructing yourself
to be sick in the supermarket?
I'm just a bit lost there.
No, it's slightly grotesque. Erm...
my husband doesn't like cucumber,
and the abbreviation
for cucumber would be cuc so
he has always referred to it as puke.
Aha! Cucumbers make Joanna's husband
puke – a slang word for vomit.
And puke rhymes with cuc,
so it's a way of reminding
her to buy cucumbers.
Wow! Sometimes lists are
like secret codes.
In this episode,
we'll find out why people love lists
and learn some useful new words
and phrases.
And remember – you'll find another
list, of all the vocabulary used,
on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com.
But first, a question for you, Beth.
According to the list on
the Internet Movie Database website,
which movie has made
the most money ever?
Is it: a) Titanic,
b) Avengers: Endgame,
or c) Avatar?
I think it might be Avatar,
although that might have been
the most expensive to make.
I'm not sure.
OK. Well, we'll find out
at the end of the programme.
Popular songs are full of lists,
and one of the most famous is
My Favourite Things,
sung by Julie Andrews
in the film The Sound of Music.
The song lists all her favourite
things, from raindrops on roses,
to whiskers on kittens.
Here, Jo Nolan
and Michael Rosen discuss the song
on BBC Radio 4
programme Word of Mouth.
I feel like you get a lot – you get a
big bang for your buck in that song.
Maybe it's the positivity –
it's a bit saccharine.
Maybe that's also part of the issue.
The list encourages you to think
really efficiently and economically,
so I think you don't waste a lot of time
and effort making a nice sentence
or using long words.
You just get to the nub of things
quite quickly.
The song's list
of favourite things is long,
and Jo says you get a big bang
for your buck – an idiom meaning
that you gain a lot in return for the
money or effort you spend on something.
But not everyone likes the song.
Some call it saccharine – an
adjective meaning excessively sweet,
sentimental or insincere.
Lists often abbreviate
the items they contain,
so you get
to the nub of things quickly.
The nub of something means the most
important or essential point about it.
Lists can be useful as well.
Here's Jo Nolan giving an example
of a useful list
to BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth.
A friend of mine who makes
pros and cons lists
finds that it really helps
her resolve a situation.
She halves her page – pros, cons.
And she said by the end of it,
she knows what she's doing.
Lists help us make decisions
by writing down
all the pros and cons
of a situation.
The pros and cons is another way of
saying the advantages and disadvantages
of something, especially when
you're trying to choose between them.
The more you think about it,
the more you see lists everywhere –
in menus and bank statements,
for example.
And therapists even recommend listing
all the good things in your life
to feel happier – not bad
for a few words on a scrap of paper.
OK. It's time to reveal the answer
to my question.
Beth, I asked you which movie
had made the most money ever,
and you said Avatar. And now,
according to
the Internet Movie Database,
that's exactly right.
Yay!
OK. Let's recap the vocabulary we've
learned, starting with bucket list –
all the things you would like to do
before you die.
Puke is slang for vomit or sick.
If something gives bang for your
buck, you gain a lot of extra value
in return for the money
or effort you put into it.
If you call something saccharine,
you criticise it
for being too sweet or sentimental.
The nub of a problem
or situation is the most important
or essential thing about it.
And finally, something's pros and cons
are its advantages and disadvantages.
Once again, our six minutes are up,
but remember – you'll find a quiz
and worksheet for this episode over
on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com.
Goodbye for now!
Bye!
Vocabulary
Word 1 of 15to-do list
collocation
0:19
"a written list of tasks you need to complete."
More Listening Practice
About this lesson
Find out why so many people love writing lists and how it can boost productivity and reduce stress in this 6 Minute English episode.