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Hello, this is 6 Minute English
from BBC Learning English. I'm Pippa.
And I'm Beth.
In English,
what we say and what we mean are
sometimes two very different things.
We often use exaggeration
for emphasis
or for humour – something known
as hyperbole.
For example, people say,
I am so hungry I could eat a horse,
but of course no one really could.
Here's presenter Michael Rosen
and linguist Derek Bousfield
discussing one example of hyperbole
on BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth:
People do say: Absolute nightmare!
Yeah, or as my daughters would say,
I've had a mare today.
And when they say mare, which is
obviously shortened from nightmare,
what it basically means is
they've had
a mild and potentially
slightly humorous occurrence at work.
You might call an unpleasant
or difficult experience a nightmare.
Derek's daughter used the word mare,
short for nightmare,
to describe her terrible day at work.
But she was exaggerating.
Her day wasn't really terrible –
more like strange or annoying.
Can you remember a time when what you
said wasn't really what you meant, Beth?
Well, sometimes we say, Hi, y'alright?
which means, Hi, are you alright?
like, Are you OK? But actually, we
don't really want to hear the answer.
It just means hello, doesn't it?
Mmm, yeah. I have a friend
who actually just says, Alright?
And they just mean hello.
They don't mean, Are you OK?
They don't want to hear about my day.
No. If you're having a bad day,
they don't want to know.
They're just saying hello.
In this episode,
we'll be finding out more about how
the meaning of words changes in English.
As usual, we'll be learning
some useful new words and phrases.
And remember, you'll find
all the vocabulary from this episode
on our website,
bbclearningenglish.com.
But first,
I have a question for you, Beth.
The word hyperbole comes from two
ancient Greek words: huper and ballo.
But what is their literal meaning?
Is it: a) to overthrow,
b) to over speak, or c) to overthink?
I have no idea, Pippa.
I'm going to say to over speak.
OK. We'll find out the answer
at the end of the programme.
It's not just hyperbole
that changes the meaning of words.
Its opposite, something called
understatement, has the same effect too.
Understatement
involves de-emphasising something.
For example, imagine you were served
an awful meal in a restaurant,
but instead
of saying how bad the food was,
you just said it was less
than perfect.
Here's linguist Derek Bousfield
discussing understatement
on BBC Radio 4's Word of Mouth.
We love understatement
as a way of, kind of,
signalling that something
much more serious has gone on.
And it's a kind of
performative, sardonic,
not-taking-oneself-too-seriously
identity when you do that,
because, you know,
taking yourself too seriously is
a no-no in British culture.
Yes.
And so, linguistically,
not taking yourself too seriously
is really the done thing.
Understatement is valued
in British culture,
unlike taking yourself too seriously.
If you take yourself too seriously,
you think you're more important
than you really are.
In Britain,
this is a no-no – a way of behaving
that is not socially acceptable.
In other words,
it's not the done thing, meaning
it's not what you're expected to do
in a particular social situation.
Another area where the meaning
of words can be easily misunderstood
is apologising.
Here, Michael Rosen responds
to an imaginary situation
where his toe gets accidentally
stepped on by Derek Bousfield,
for BBC Radio 4 programme
Word of Mouth:
Imagine I stepped on your toe and I
said, Oh, Michael, I'm really sorry.
And you said, It's all good.
Oh, right.
That probably means it isn't.
Yeah!
Yes, I'm actually a bit miffed,
a little bit annoyed,
but then I don't want
to have a barney with you.
You're a stranger, so I don't want
to get into a whole thing, so I say,
Yeah... it's all good.
It's all good.
Exactly. It's a bit like...
I mean, that's a British English one –
an equivalent American English
one would be: No worries.
If someone tells you, It's all good,
they could actually be feeling miffed –
an adjective meaning slightly annoyed
or hurt by someone's behaviour.
But no matter how annoyed you are,
you probably don't want to get into a
barney – a loud argument or quarrel.
So, you say something like,
It's all good, or,
No worries, and move on.
As an English learner, unclear
word meanings are a challenge.
A lot depends on the situation
and on the relationship
between speaker and listener.
So, don't be shy!
Get talking to others in English
and if you make a mistake say,
No worries!
and carry on.
OK. Pippa, I think it's time to reveal
the answer to your question.
Yes, you thought the ancient Greek words
huper and ballo meant over speak,
but the answer was actually
a) to overthrow –
huper means beyond,
and ballo means I throw.
Oh well! OK.
Let's recap the vocabulary
we've learnt, starting with mare,
short for nightmare, meaning an
unpleasant or difficult experience.
If you take yourself too seriously,
you consider yourself and your actions
more important than they really are.
In Britain,
this is a no-no – a way of behaving
that is not socially acceptable.
The done thing, on the other hand,
is what you are expected to do
in a particular social situation.
If you're miffed, you're slightly
annoyed by someone's behaviour.
And finally, a barney is
a loud argument or quarrel.
Once again,
our six minutes are up
but if you're keen to practise
these new words and phrases,
then check out our website,
bbclearningenglish.com,
where you'll find a worksheet
and quiz for this episode.
See you again soon.
But for now, goodbye!
Bye!
Vocabulary
Word 1 of 14exaggeration
word
0:20
"describing something as bigger or worse than it really is."
More Listening Practice
About this lesson
Uncover the hidden meanings behind common English phrases and idioms in this 6 Minute English episode.