Lets Talk About US Elections English Idiom Lesson
hello hello welcome to this live lesson
here on the speak English with Vanessa
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but this is the first live lesson on oh
I need to turn off the sound on my
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on YouTube so I’m really glad that you
are here to join me for this important
topic I’m gonna make sure that everyone
can hear me if you can hear me well let
me know in the comments I see Navya
Douglas Majeed welcome welcome Asim
Nataniel welcome from Brazil Catarina in
Ukraine I’m glad you’re here today we
have an important topic
it is the elections the elections are
today the presidential elections and
local elections are today in the US so
we have a lot to talk about but first I
want to say hello to all of you and
introduce myself because this is a new
platform that means that usually I’m on
Facebook but now I’m on YouTube live so
if you are joining me for the first time
live here on YouTube thank you I’m so
glad you’re learning English with me and
you will be improving some expressions
today learning some useful things that
you can use to talk about today the
elections and also other topics in your
life so if this is the first time that
you are here please introduce yourself
we’ve got those from Brazil Carla from
Brazil Miguel from Argentina Mario from
Colombia Irie from Ukraine welcome
welcome city from Indonesia say one from
Korea hello hello I’m so glad that
you’re here
today we’re going to be talking about
the elections and I have some papers
that I want to show you and talk to you
about but first of all if you’re new
here welcome my name is Vanessa and I
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Manchester wonderful I’ll thank you for
coming thank you for coming today I am
at my dad’s house I’m not in my house
and that’s the wonderful thing about
English you’re probably in your house
I’m not even in my own house and we are
learning together so today I would like
to talk to you about several different
expressions and then we’re going to talk
about these papers these are papers that
were sent to me in the mail to talk
about who I should vote for so these
papers are trying to convince me to vote
for a candidate these are local election
papers
but first of all let’s talk about a
beautiful expression that you can use to
talk about the American presidential
election I want to tell you a little
story yesterday I was walking around my
neighborhood and two people maybe 45
years old a man and a woman they came up
to me I had headphones in I was
listening to music I was walking but
they stopped me and said excuse me ma’am
have you voted yet did you know that you
can vote early and guess what the next
sentence was that they said to me this
is a sentence that I want you to be able
to use they said even if you can’t
stomach the presidential candidates
please vote for local candidates let’s
talk about this sentence that they used
because this is really something that
you could use in any situation
they used the word stomach stomach this
is part of your body as your stomach
where you eat your stomach is an organ
in your body but they used this like a
verb they said if you can’t stomach the
presidential candidates so a lot of
people in the u.s. they hate both
candidates so because they hate both
candidates a lot of people say I can’t
stomach those people I want to know for
you what is something you hate what is
something you hate and this is the
perfect sentence to use so in the chat
box I want you to write I can’t stomach
seafood or I can’t stomach here’s some
leftover Halloween candy
I can’t stomach chocolate oh I’m very
sorry if that’s true for you I can’t
stomach when people lie it’s really
annoying to me so something that you
hate yes exactly it means something that
you can’t stand it means you can’t stand
something oh I hate it I can’t stand it
so we might say I can’t stomach I can’t
stomach the candidates and for me I
think this is very interesting because
they assumed assume means they guessed
they guessed they assumed that I
couldn’t stomach they assumed that I
hated both candidates exactly nob shot
has a great synonym he says you can’t
tolerate the candidates yes tolerate is
a great synonym for stomach as a verb oh
I teach this I can’t stomach ignorant oh
look it says I can’t stomach false
people Milan says I can’t stomach
arrogant people oh we’ve got lots of
great adjectives oh yes yes Giovanna
says I can’t stomach social differences
assume I agree I can’t stomach war mmm
Marcus is I can’t stomach having to work
having to work uh-huh Osama says I can’t
stomach chameleon people aha this is
interesting and this is another great
expression for politicians do you know
the animal a chameleon it’s like a
lizard kind of it has a long tail and
its eyes move and it can change colors
depending on its surroundings so this is
perfect for a politician I can’t stomach
politicians who are like chameleons and
probably
your country you know - this is 99% of
politicians are like a chameleon
changing colors changing their policies
depending on what they’re thinking that
day or what their money makers want them
to say that’s a hard thing oh we’ve got
lots of things about stomaching all
publicist I can’t I can’t stomach
conceited people yes yes there’s a lot
of great comments about bad people here
conceited arrogant ignorant certainly
another Pablo says I can’t stomach many
of our politicians Oh Kirstie says I
can’t stomach bugs very interesting I
can’t stomach bugs so for you insects
are not your friend Oh Marie says I
can’t stomach fake laughter that’s a
really interesting one to say because
you have to be perceptive to know if
somebody is laughing in a fake way but
it’s everywhere it’s everywhere I think
a lot of us seem to hate just
unrealistic people Oh
Masahiro says I can’t stomach loud
people hmm so when you’re on the train
if somebody is loud you could scream I
can’t stomach loud people I wonder what
they would do
oh I can’t stomach the weather here
hello from Morocco I can’t stomach drugs
oh I can’t stomach the person who breaks
in line that is really annoying you’re
trying to be patient and that person is
not being patient hi from Norway Norway
hello so let’s let’s go to let’s go to
the next step let’s talk about these two
papers that I received in the mail so in
the US I want to know in your country is
this common but in the US when there are
elections usually the people like me I’m
not a politician the people
the people means not politicians the
people will receive the voters will
receive like advertisements for the
politicians or in this situation against
the other politician so in the US right
now if you are living in the US you are
probably seeing a lot of advertisements
for Hillary Clinton or a lot of
advertisements for Donald Trump or a lot
of advertisements against Hillary a lot
of advertisements against Donald Trump
and this is exactly what that is so I
would like to I would like to look at
this and there is a special expression I
saw on this oh yes let’s talk about this
expression at the top of this this paper
so this is an advertisement against
against this guy Roy Cooper Roy Cooper
so this guy is a local politician and
can you read the expression that’s on
this on this pamphlet it says Roy Cooper
didn’t want to save for a rainy day
didn’t want to save for a rainy day this
is this is trying to show something
negative about Roy Cooper
can you guess what what is the negative
thing that the person who sent this the
person who sent this what are they
trying to say about this guy honestly I
don’t know anything about him but I
didn’t receive any Donald Trump papers I
didn’t receive any Hillary Clinton
papers so I wanted to show you this
instead what do you think they’re trying
to say about him oh knob Chuck says all
right bad days equal a rainy day
equals a bad day rainy day equals a bad
day Oh Douglas says I think Roy Cooper
will expend too much money will spend
too much money yes both of you we can
kind of combine these answers didn’t
want to save money for a rainy day and
exactly what you said
a rainy day means a bad economic time or
a bad a bad day typically it could just
mean a bad day but in this situation it
means for the future or for difficult
times coming up so the opposite
candidate is trying to say Roy Cooper
he’s not planning he’s not carrying for
your future he didn’t plan to save money
for the future he didn’t want to save
for a rainy day and this is specifically
talking about there was a big hurricane
in the US about one month ago and it
says I’ll read this to you here because
this is kind of small it says a month
before hurricane Matthew hurricane
Matthew is the name of the hurricane one
month ago it says a month before
hurricane Matthew Roy Cooper was against
the emergency savings fund built to keep
us safe and help us recover from
emergencies so before the emergency
before the hurricane it says that he was
against saving emergency money just in
case there was a disaster and there was
a disaster there was a hurricane and it
says he suggested draining the emergency
savings reserve does anyone know what
the word draining what does the word
drain me mean DRA I n I ng draining
yes Lewis Lois’s rainy-day is kind of an
idiomatic expression yes yes and Juliana
asks is it necessarily related to
finance rainy day we’re going to talk
about that in just a second
that’s a great question it says he
suggested draining the emergency savings
reserve so the emergency savings reserve
is the saving the money the bank account
that was saving money yes so saving
means money oh great Samir Samir says
wasting something yes
draining something is wasting something
so you might even say for yourself
I feel drained I feel drained it means
my energy is wasted my energy is gone I
used all my energy I’m so tired
but in this political situation he
suggested draining the emergency savings
reserve he suggested wasting getting rid
of the savings money for an emergency so
this is something that if you want to be
prepared for an emergency
you will continue to save money for that
emergency and here they are saying some
bad things about him that he suggested
getting rid of all the savings I’m
curious this is talking about a
hurricane a hurricane do you think it is
only a coincidence only a coincidence
that they used rainy day draining
draining is the stink literally the
drain is the hole in the bottom of the
sink do you think that they chose these
water words
rainy day draining do you think they
chose those words because ah they just
happen to think of them oh it’s a good
word or do you think they specifically
chose those words because they’re
talking about the hurricane the
hurricane with lots of water hurricanes
are just completely rain rain and wind
hmm I think they cleverly chose these
words because in your mind you’re
thinking about oh he didn’t want to save
for a rainy day like the question
earlier rainy day just means bad day it
doesn’t mean always money saving money
for a rainy day a rainy day is just a
bad day but in this situation it’s very
clever
yes nagas they are using it as a
metaphor that’s a beautiful word thank
you for bringing that yes it is very
relevant to this situation rainy day and
draining to talk about the hurricane I
think that’s pretty clever
in general this kind of thing is just a
little bit of information about him it
is exactly the kind of information that
his opponent wants you to know about him
so I want you to see the final statement
yes deaf out that is true these are
well-chosen words well-chosen words I
want you to see the final statement on
this paper here can you see this final
statement here it says vote against Roy
Cooper vote against Roy Cooper he just
isn’t prepared to lead vote against Roy
Cooper November 8th that’s today yes
Mulan you are correct they chose those
words because they remind people of a
hurricane and it’s very much related to
what he did
exactly you’ve got in Milan Oh Lucas you
are correct marketing is never an
accident they never write down words by
accident and amia has a great question
is it possible to vote against someone
and this is the next expression that I
want to talk about with you because here
they use that expression vote against
Roy Cooper
so who who do you think paid for this
advertisement who paid for this I’ll
show you I’m not sure if you can
actually read this or not but it says
paid for by Americans for Prosperity
everybody once prosperity prosperity is
more wealth and a better quality of life
paid for by Americans for Prosperity not
authorized by any candidate or
candidates committee not authorized by
any candidate or candidates committee
very interesting isn’t it so someone
someone who is not associated with Roy
Cooper someone who is not associated
with the opposite side they created this
hmm personally I don’t know this
organization so maybe they are really
for the other candidate the other side
but it’s kind of interesting isn’t it
this is supposed to be a neutral party a
neutral organization who is telling
people about the candidate I agree
Michael I don’t buy it I don’t buy it I
don’t agree with that I don’t believe it
I don’t think that someone is just
especially because I only received these
about him I didn’t receive them about
the other lady who’s running
so let’s talk about can you can you vote
against someone and this is where I want
to talk about the presidential election
vote against someone what do you think
that means voting against someone hmm
voting against someone so if they say
here vote against Roy Cooper vote
against Roy Cooper what does that mean
what do you think that means hmm
John Zach says Vanessa for president no
thanks
I’m gonna drink some water while you
think about what does it mean to vote
against someone it is certainly a weird
way to vote Nicholas I agree hmm that
you will vote against someone it means
you will vote for the opposite person so
let’s say for example that I am running
we use the expression running if you are
going to try to be the president let’s
say vanessa is running for president and
let’s say my husband Dan is running to
be President as well probably not very
good for our relationship if we are
running against each other it’s just an
example if I say vote against Dan well
your only other choice is me so it means
exactly
Pablo has it correct to vote for the
other candidate Juliana yes vote for his
opposition yes to vote against the other
person means maybe you don’t like the
other candidate maybe you just don’t
want one person to win so much that you
are willing to vote for someone else who
you don’t really like but you’re gonna
vote for them anyway
yes Nicholas has a great way of putting
it
sometimes we could be in a position
where we vote against someone for them
not to be elected to rule the country
yes so for example maybe somebody really
hates Donald Trump and they really hate
Hillary Clinton in fact I think this is
the majority of Americans majority of
Americans don’t like either candidate
but they need to vote against the worst
one who is the worst candidate and most
people who I’ve talked to they say oh I
hate this one but I I hate this one a
little bit more so I’m going to vote for
this one instead ah it’s such a hard
position to be in and personally I vote
every day I vote with my money I vote
with my time I vote with my
relationships my priorities I show every
day not just on November 8th and you two
at the moment you are spending time with
English so you are voting for English
with your time you are voting for this
specific thing because you are showing
it is a priority your time or maybe when
when you buy for example this is my
dad’s Kleenex box the brand is Kleenex
when he buys this Kleenex box he is
voting for this company to continue to
create this product because he bought it
so they will continue to make it so
every day we vote every day we vote with
our money with our time and we have many
more choices than just two candidates so
typically in the election time for
presidents Lewis has the quote the
expression that I want to use right now
Louise says the lesser of two evils
ah this is probably true for your
country too I want to know
Louise Louise do you do this in your
country in your country do people vote
for the lesser of two evils let me
explain this situation so evil evil
means really bad terrible awful we have
evil - evil people
bad people and we have to choose who
is the lesser just a little bit not good
just a little bit less bad so in the US
especially today a lot of people will
use this expression and really for the
last couple months people have been
using this expression oh I need to vote
for the lesser of two evils but I don’t
know who it is
so it’s a difficult situation I would
say Oh Nicolas has a good question can
you show us a voting ballot maybe if
there was a sample online ballot I could
show it to you but in the u.s. a ballot
this is the paper or the electronic
device where you vote this is on a
machine on a machine and you go into the
building and you go close to the Machine
and you electronically choose which
candidate you want but there’s probably
an online sample ballot in fact that
would be a really interesting thing to
see some of the sample candidates you
could see our friend here Roy Cooper not
really our friend oh we’ve got great
comments about politicians thank you
everyone for your participation I really
appreciate it
oh yes yes I think we’ve got a great
comment here about Francesca says I
think we can vote every day through our
choices but the president politician and
the man in power could limit our freedom
that is completely true yes that every
day we vote with our choices but we live
in a world where politics is still
important it’s still part of daily life
so even if I hate Trump and I hate
Hillary you have to choose because
someone will possibly like Francesca
said will possibly limit your freedom
and highly likely that’s their job so uh
Ann has a good question what time are
the election results what time are the
election results the elections finish at
7 p.m. at 7 p.m. in the u.s. so I think
7 p.m. eastern time actually I could be
wrong it might be California time I need
to check because in the u.s. we have
four time zones and typically the
elections try to allow some time when
people finish work around five o’clock
they want to allow some time for workers
to go and vote so if the elections close
at four o’clock a lot of people won’t
have the chance to vote so I would guess
seven o’clock Eastern Time but it might
be seven o’clock a California time or
it’s possible that they will start
showing the results from the east coast
and then the next time zone they’ll show
the results from the next time zone and
the next and the next so this is going
to be a long process tonight I’m very
curious and I don’t really know what
happen but in the end I’m glad that we
have a president instead of a dictator
or instead of a king still not a good
choice not good choices today but in any
case thank you for talking about the
elections with me I hope that you will
be able to use this expression I can’t
stomach and we almost always use it in
the negative way I hope that you can use
this expression I can’t stomach angry
people I can’t stomach politics I can’t
stomach I hope you can use this
expression can’t stomach I hope you can
also use rainy day rainy day um we often
use this together save for a rainy day
but you could say it for something else
so I hope that you are saving money for
a rainy day save for a rainy day maybe
you have to vote against someone and the
final expression we talked about was the
lesser of two evils in your country if
you have to vote for the lesser of two
evils well now you have an expression to
talk about it so thank you everyone
thank you for talking about this
controversial topic this is something
that usually on YouTube or social media
is highly controversial so I want to say
congratulations
we had a 3035 minute conversation
without terrible comments without lots
of controversy you are awesome this is
something that we all can talk about
because we all have it in common we all
we all have to deal with the lesser of
two evils so thank you for your
inclusion today thank you for really
participating and I hope you will come
back next Tuesday next Tuesday I will be
here again live on Facebook so please
join me again on Tuesday and if you
would like to join me on 3rd
today we will be on the speak English
with Vanessa Facebook page which is in
the description below in the description
there is a link to my facebook page so
Tuesday YouTube 9:00 a.m. Thursday
Facebook 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time and by
the time we have our next lesson we will
know the answer who is the next American
president and will it really make a
difference we will also probably know
that too so thank you everyone for being
encouraging and showing that we can talk
about politics exactly like Thiago said
without fighting over politics just just
learning together Oh Thank You Alyssa
Alyssa says I understand more in this
video than many years of school
wonderful wonderful Thank You Jellison
for joining me
Thank You Alyssa thank you everyone for
being here today and I’ll see you again
on Tuesday on Facebook Thursday on
YouTube and feel free to read my free
ebook right now in the comments below
this video five steps to becoming a
confident English speaker say good luck
good luck Roy Cooper see how it goes and
we’ll see you all later bye everyone I
need to figure out how to close this
because it’s one of my first times using
YouTube live thank you everyone
see you later bye