Cultural English 191 - Cities: Dallas; Fundamentalist universities; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 191.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 191. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in the beautiful City of Los Angeles, in the State of California, here in the U.S.A.

On this Café, we’re going to continue our series on American cities, focusing on the city of Dallas, Texas. We’re also going to talk about conservative, Christian, fundamentalist universities, what they are and what they believe, and why they are important in Americans society. As always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

This Café begins with a continuation of our series on American cities. Today we’re going to go to the state of Texas, which is in the south central part of the United States on the border of Mexico. In Texas, we’re going to talk about the city of Dallas. There are more than 1.2 million people who live in Dallas, that makes it the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest city in the United States.

When Americans hear someone mention Dallas, they probably think of the Dallas Cowboys, or least that’s one of the things they might think of. The Dallas Cowboys is the name of the professional football team in Dallas; it has traditionally been a very good football team. The Dallas Cowboys have been in the national championship for football, what we call the Super Bowl, more than eight times; they won five of those Super Bowls. The Dallas Cowboys are also very popular in the United States because of their cheerleaders, the people (in this case, women) who dress up, dance, and sing short songs to try to get the people in the audience excited while they watch the game. They also wear very short skirts, very revealing, we might say, costumes. The Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders sort of started a trend – started a movement for professional sports teams to have women – very sexy women as their cheerleaders. The other professional teams now have their own cheerleading squad, we call them; a group of cheerleaders is called a squad (squad).

In any case, Dallas is famous for its football; it’s also famous for a popular television show from the 1980s called Dallas – not difficult to think of the name! It was very popular; it actually began in 1978 and continued to 1991. It was about a family in Texas that had a lot of money from oil and cattle ranching, or taking care of cows on a large farm. Texas, in general, is famous for its oil drilling – its oil companies, as well as for cattle ranching. Dallas was one of the most successful TV dramas ever, although you don’t hear about it very much anymore; it was a very 80s show, but there were many people who watched it every week. I was not one of those people; I never actually saw any of the Dallas series, but it was very famous in the United States when I was in college and in my early adulthood. The main character was called J.R., and at the end of one of the seasons he gets shot, and it was a mystery who shot him. So everyone that summer was talking about who shot J.R. I don’t know, and I don’t care!

Historically, Dallas was closely tied with or connected to oil, as I mentioned earlier, as well as cotton. Cotton is a plant that you grow and make clothing out of. Today, the city economy in Dallas is still very much related to oil and energy, but there are other businesses in Dallas as well, including banking, telecommunications, and computer technology. There are many large businesses that have their headquarters, or are based in Dallas – their main company buildings are in Dallas. They include American Airlines; RadioShack, which is an electronics store; Frito Lay, which makes potato chips; and many others. With so many large companies in Dallas, there are, of course, many wealthy people – many rich people in Dallas. There are said to be more than 15 billionaires who live in Dallas – I am not one of them!

A lot of people travel to Dallas for business, using a very large airport called the Dallas/Fort Worth Airport. Fort Worth is another city next to Dallas. In addition, there is a Dallas Convention Center, which is one of the largest convention centers in the U.S. A convention center is a large building where big meetings or other events are held, including trade shows. A trade show is a large event where companies in a particular industry – in a particular kind of business come together usually once a year to show people their products and services.

Although a lot of people travel to Dallas for business, it’s also very famous for some of its food. Dallas has some great barbeque food; “barbeque” is a way of preparing meat. You cook it outside over a fire and usually you cover it with a special sauce, which is many times a spicy sauce. Barbeque is very messy to eat, meaning you can get the sauce on your clothes, on your hands, but it is also very good. Dallas also is famous for a lot of Mexican and what are called Tex-Mex restaurants. Tex-Mex is short for Texan-Mexican and it is a kind of mixture of Mexican food with food that Americans might like a little better. So, it’s a mixture, I guess nowadays we’d call it a “fusion,” though that word is used more often in talking about Asian styles of cooking mixed with Western or American style of cooking. There’s also a very famous chain of restaurants – group of restaurants, called Chili’s, which is a Tex-Mex restaurant that was created in Dallas. If you are ever in the United States and you see a Chili’s, and sometimes they have them at the airport, I know they do in Minneapolis/St. Paul airport, then you can try some Tex-Mex food. If you’ve ever tried a frozen strawberry margarita, which is a cold drink made with alcohol, specifically tequila, and strawberries, you might be interested in knowing that it was created in Dallas, Texas.

The one sad thing that people associate Dallas with is that it was the city where President John F. Kennedy was “assassinated,” or killed back in 1963, about two months after I was born. He and his wife were in a presidential “motorcade,” which is a group of cars that drive down the streets slowly so people can see them; it’s almost like a little parade. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline, were waving to people, they were saying hello to people from their car in an area of Dallas called Dealey Plaza, or square, where he was shot by a man named Lee Harvey Oswald. Kennedy, as you may know, was a very popular U.S. president. He was the first Catholic president of the United States, and so far the only. Many people go to Dallas to visit a museum that is dedicated to, or is about the assassination and President Kennedy. There has always been a huge controversy over whether Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, meaning if he was the only person involved in the killing of John F. Kennedy. There was a very long book written a few years ago which reviewed all of the evidence and concluded that yes, in fact, he was alone. But there are always people who disagree with this.

Dallas is part of what we would call the Bible Belt of the United States. The Bible Belt refers to a large part of the southern United States where there are many evangelical Christians. “Evangelicalism,” is a type of protestant Christianity (non-Catholic, non-orthodox) where people believe that they need to be “born again,” or to start their lives anew, in a fresh way, as adults. They do this by doing something that is described as accepting Jesus Christ, who is the founder of the Christian religion, in their lives. That’s an expression that you will hear: “I’ve accepted Jesus Christ as my personal God and Savior.” A “savior” is someone who saves you from some problem. In the Christian religion, the belief is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and he is someone that you must accept – someone who you must believe in. Evangelical Christians tend to be very vocal about their beliefs. If someone is “vocal,” that means they talk about it often, they talk about it with other people.

In Dallas, which we were just talking about ourselves a few minutes ago, there is a theological seminary called The Dallas Theological Seminary. It is one of the most important seminaries for evangelical Christians. A “seminary” is a school where people learn to be ministers, pastors, religious leaders, priests, and so forth. Dallas is also home to a couple of important religious universities, including Dallas Baptist University and Southern Methodist University, which is where one day there will be the George W. Bush Presidential Library if you want to visit someday.

Part of evangelical Christianity is something called “fundamentalist,” or “fundamentalism.” Fundamentalists are Christians who believe in a very traditional interpretation of the Christian Bible, the main book of teachings for Christianity. Fundamentalist Christians are usually very conservative in their ideas – not liberal. In the United States, it’s sometimes difficult to distinguish conservatives and liberals because sometimes there are people who call themselves liberal who have positions that agree with people who call themselves conservative. Fundamentalist Christians tend to believe that homosexuality, men loving other men or women loving other women in a sexual way, is immoral – is wrong. They tend to believe that abortion, ending a pregnancy, is wrong. Fundamentalists also believe, at least some of them do, that it is bad to drink alcohol, to smoke, sometimes even to dance. In some fundamentalist Christian families, it is traditional for the husband to work and the wife to stay home, often teaching the children at home so they don’t have to go to public schools.

Fundamentalist evangelical Christians are sometimes referred to as the Christian right, although the Christian right, meaning the conservative group of Christians, can include non-evangelicals as well. These terms are confusing sometimes because not all evangelicals consider themselves fundamentalists, although all fundamentalists consider themselves evangelical; it’s a subgroup of evangelicals.

More generally, the evangelical movement began really in Great Britain back in the 18th century, in the 1730s, but it grew in the United States especially during a period known as the Third Great Awakening. To awake means to stop sleeping. An awakening means that there is this change of feeling – this change of ideas in a large group of people. This Third Great Awakening was a period where there was a lot of interest in religion, especially between about 1850 and the early 1900s. There were many different “denominations,” or religious groups that were created during this time, including many evangelical groups.

How many evangelical Christians are there in the United States? About 83% of all Americans believe or say that they are Christian, and 37% of Christians say that they are evangelical or “born-again,” so about a third of all Christians, and again, about 83% of Americans say that they are Christian. Many evangelicals live in the Bible Belt that I was talking about, which are the southern states in the southeast, south central United States, but they are found in all different states – in all different major cities, anyway.

There are several universities that are run by, or operated by fundamentalist churches – fundamentalist groups. One of the most famous is Bob Jones University in the State of North Carolina, which is in the southeast part of the U.S. Bob Jones University has more than 4,000 students. It isn’t just a religious university; they have regular educational degrees. Religion, however, is a big part of the reason people send their children to Bob Jones University. There are also other universities such as Liberty University, Regent University, Patrick Henry University; all of these are in the State of Virginia, in the east central part of the U.S. They’re all fundamentalist evangelical universities.

Most of these fundamentalist universities have a very strict code of conduct. If something is “strict” (strict), we mean that it has rules that must be followed. For example, strict parents may tell their teenagers they have to come home by 8:00 in the evening. A code of conduct is a set of rules that a group of people must follow. Many companies have codes of conduct for their employees, things that they can do or are not allowed to do; usually they are rules that you must follow.

These fundamentalist Christian universities have very strict codes of conduct – very demanding, or for some people, difficult codes of conduct. For example, many universities say that the students cannot smoke, they cannot drink, they cannot do drugs, they cannot have sexual relations unless they are married. Male students are not allowed in the rooms of female students, and female students are not allowed in the male rooms, the places where they sleep.

Many campuses also have very strict dress codes, rules about what students can wear and not wear. Students are usually not allowed to wear shorts. Men are expected to wear long pants. Women are expected to wear long skirts and dresses. A dress code may also tell you whether you can have a beard or not – whether you can have hair on your face, at least for the men. There might also be rules about the kind of jewelry that women can wear and not wear. These are all parts of a strict code of conduct that you would expect to find at some of these fundamentalist Christian universities.

Although only a minority of American students, a very small minority, go to these kinds of universities, they are important in the culture and the politics of the United States, so it is important to at least know about their existence. Some of these universities have been controversial, meaning they have adopted policies that many people don’t like, but they are still popular among those who call themselves fundamentalist Christians.

Now let’s answer a few of your questions.

Our first question is from Parivash (Parivash) – I’m probably not pronouncing that correctly – from the country of Iran. The question has do with the statement “to wear (someone) out,” or the expression “to wear (someone) out.” If someone says, “I’m wearing you about,” what does that mean?

“To wear out” is a phrasal verb meaning to make someone tired, either their body becomes physically tired or their mind becomes tired. You might say, for example, “Taking my four children to the park today wore me out.” “Wore” is past tense of the “wear.” It wore me out – it made me very tired. Or, “My brother asking me so many questions wears me out,” I get tired mentally by having to answer all of his stupid questions. So, “to wear out,” when we’re talking about a person, means to make them tired.

“To wear out” can also be used with things, and when it is used in that way it means to use up, to finish, or to make something no longer useful; something that happens over a period of time. For example, you might say, “I think the tires on my car are worn out.” To wear them out means they become used so much that you need to get new ones, usually it happens over a long period of time. Sometimes you’ll hear the expression “My jeans are worn out.” This means that, usually, your jeans – your pants have a hole in them or that they are not able to be used anymore because you’ve used them so much.

The verb “to wear” means to have clothing on, but “to wear out” means to use the thing, in this case the clothing, so much that you can no longer use it anymore; you need to get a new pair of jeans for example. For me, it’s shoes. I have a pair of black shoes that my wife keeps telling me I need to get repaired because they have worn out. I should probably buy a new pair, but I’m cheap! I don’t like to spend money so, well, we’ll see what happens.

William from Brazil wants to know the meaning of the word “shrink” (shrink).

As a verb, “to shrink” means to make something smaller. For example: “I put my new sweater into the washing machine and the drying machine and it shrunk.” “Shrunk” is the past tense of “shrink.” It got smaller. Usually that’s a bad thing. So “to shrink” means to make something smaller.

“Shrink,” as a noun, is a informal name for a psychiatrist or psychologist, someone who is involved in the mental health of people – a doctor. Sometimes people even call counselors, people who don’t have a medical degree or a PhD, but who work with people with mental problems, sometimes they are also called shrinks.

Here in Los Angeles, in California in general, there’s a reputation for people going to psychologists and psychiatrists. The same is true for New York, New York City especially: everybody goes to a shrink. That used to be the reputation, but now many different people go to psychiatrists and psychologists.

The word “shrink” is still used, but it is an informal expression. It used to be considered something of an insulting term, a negative way of describing someone in the mental health field. But now it’s used more as a joke, although again, it’s informal so you wouldn’t want to use it in a formal situation, or certainly not in a formal letter.

Finally, Ai (spelled Ai), from an unknown country, wants to know where you put the word “already” in a sentence such as “I have done my home work,” or “I have finished my homework.”

“Already” means before now, before a particular point in time. You can technically put the word “already” in several different places, but some places are more common. For example, the most common way of putting “already” in that sentence would be between the words “have” and the past participle, such as “done” or “finished.” So: “I have already finished my homework.” That would probably be the most common way of using “already.” But it can also go at the end of the sentence: “I have done my homework already.” Sometimes we do that to emphasize: “already.”

It’s less common, but still possible to put it in the front part of the sentence: “I already have done my homework.” You wouldn’t, however, say, “Already I have done my homework,” that would not sound correct to most native speakers. But it’s possible to say “I already have done my homework.” You cannot say, however, “I have done already my homework,” that would not sound right.

So again, the most common placement of “already” would be after the word “have.” “I have already done my homework.” It’s possible to put it at the end of the sentence: “I have done my homework already.” And less common, but possible to it before the verb phrase: “I already have done my homework.”

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us next time on the English Café.

Glossary

convention center – a large building where business events and other types of events are held

* Will we be able to use the largest room in the convention center for the meeting of the Board of Directors?

trade show – a large event where companies in a particular industry spend a few days presenting the things that they sell and trying to find new customers

* At the trade show, we saw the new car models that will be released in the next two years.

barbeque – a way of cooking meat by grilling it outdoors over a fire, with the meat covered in some special thick sauces

* There is nothing better than a barbeque steak cooked over a grill.

Bible Belt – those parts of the Southern and Midwestern United States where fundamentalist Christianity is practiced

* If she wants to be the next President of the United States, she will need to travel around the Bible Belt and convince people that she has their beliefs and values.

evangelicalism – a type of protestant Christianity where people believe that they need to be “born again,” or start their lives again as adults, by accepting Jesus Christ in their lives

* Their church’s teachings are based on evangelicalism.

vocal – talking about someone or something often and with many people; not keeping information or opinions to oneself

* Unless we’re vocal about the terrible food in the cafeteria, nothing will ever change.

fundamentalist – Christians who believe in the traditional interpretation of the Bible

* His new book is about the fundamentalist interpretation of the problems in our society.

conservative – believing in traditional attitudes and values; not liberal

* Melinda’s parents are very conservative and would never understand her wish to never get married and to adopt a lot of children.

Christian right – the group of people who believe in a type of Christianity with a traditional interpretation of the Bible and that tries to influence the government to make laws according to those beliefs

* In the last election, the Christian right lost several important seats in the Senate.

strict – having rules that must be followed and with people who do not follow the rules being punished

* My parents are so strict, if I don’t get home from my friends’ house on the weekend by 9:00 p.m., I’m not allowed to go out with them for a week.

code of conduct – an official set of rules that a group of people must follow

* Our company’s code of conduct says that employees are not allowed to work for another company, even part-time, unless we get permission first.

dress code – rules about what people can and cannot wear

* The school has a dress code and doesn’t allow students to wear short skirts or shorts.

to wear (someone) out – to make a person tired, in either body or mind

* Taking care of three young children every day really wears me out.

shrink – an informal term for a doctor or medical professional who treats problems or illnesses of the mind; a doctor or counselor who treats mental problems through medicine or through talking

* Kurt had a lot of problems after his divorce and finally went to see a shrink for help.

already – before a particular point in time; before now

* If you haven’t already made dinner, let’s go out to a restaurant instead.

What Insiders Know

Dallas

Dallas was an American television “drama” (show dealing with serious stories). The show’s main story involved the wealthy Ewing family, who had made their “fortune” (large amount of money) by owning “oil wells” (holes in the ground from which oil is taken) in Texas. The “episodes” (individual shows) usually told about the “rivalry,” or competition, between the family members and their wives or “mistresses,” (unmarried sexual partners).

Dallas was first shown on television between 1978 and 1991, and it was very popular during the early years. It was “broadcasted,” or shown, all over the world and is still popular in “reruns” (broadcasts of old episodes).

American television shows generally run in “seasons,” or groups of episodes, from fall to spring of each year; then, the show takes a break during the summer. On Dallas, the end of each season included a “cliffhanger,” or a suspenseful ending, that would not be “resolved” (finished; completed) until the next season. One such famous cliffhanger was the 1980 episode, “Who Shot J.R.?” In the spring of 1980, the main character, J.R. Ewing, was shot by an unknown person. All over the United States, Dallas viewers waited and wondered all summer who the unknown shooter was. When the shooter was finally shown in the fall opening of the next season, even news programs reported it because the show was so popular.

As the show went on, the stories became more and more “dramatic,” or full of amazing events, like shootings, house fires, and deaths of different characters. In the late 1980s, “ratings” (the number of people who watched the show) started to go down, and finally the show ended in 1991. Because of the great success of this show, several other TV programs came out that had the same kinds of plots based on very wealthy people and their problems. Some of the more successful ones were Knots Landing and Dynasty.