Cultural English 421 - Ask an American

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 421.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 421. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On this Café, we’re going to have another one of our Ask an American segments, where we listen to other native speakers talking at a normal rate of speech – a normal speed. We’ll listen to them and then explain what they are talking about. Today, we’re going to listen to a young woman talk about a crime prevention group called the Guardian Angels, and as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let's get started.

Our topic on this Café’s Ask an American segment is the Guardian Angels. A “guardian” (guardian) is normally someone who watches over, who protects, who takes care of another person. Sometimes when, unhappily, the parents of a young child die, the government will appoint or select what is called a “guardian.” This is an adult who is legally responsible for taking care of the child, since his parents have died. An “angel” (angel) is, at least in the Christian tradition, a pure spirit created by God.

Human beings have body and spirit, or body and soul. An angel just has a spirit, not a body. The term, then, “guardian angel” refers to the idea that God has given each person his own guardian angel or her own guardian angel. That's the religious Christian meaning of the term. However, the term is used more generally in English to refer to anyone or any group that protects or watches over someone else. That's the sense, that's the meaning, of the term here, “Guardian Angels.”

“Guardian Angels” is an organization, a nonprofit organization that was created back in 1979 in New York City. When I say it's a “nonprofit organization,” I mean it's not a business trying to make money. It's basically a volunteer group of people. The purpose of the Guardian Angels is to help try to prevent crime in dangerous neighborhoods, in large cities in particular. “To prevent crime” means to try to stop people from breaking the law, from doing bad things to other people.

Basically, Guardian Angels are like volunteer police officers, but they're not police officers. They don't work for or get supervised by the police department. It's basically a group of people who live often in a poor neighborhood that has a lot of crime, a lot of violence, who come together and walk around on the streets to try to prevent more crime and more violence.

We’re going to listen today to a young woman, LaWanda White, who is a member of the Guardian Angels group in Washington, D.C. Remember, I said they were founded or began back in New York City in 1979. They have since gone to other cities and have formed groups of citizens, of people who live in those cities, to help protect the dangerous neighborhoods in those cities. LaWanda speaks very quickly, so it might be a little difficult to understand her at first. Try to understand what you can, and then after she finishes we’ll go back, of course, and explain it.

[recording]

“Well, while on patrol, we can never guarantee what’s going to happen or what’s going to play out. We’re not out here looking for a fight. We’re out here to prevent it.”

[end of recording]

LaWanda begins by saying, “Well, while on patrol, we can never guarantee what's going to happen or what's going to play out.” The expression “on patrol” (patrol) means to spend time walking or driving through an area to see what is happening and to keep it safe. We normally think of police officers going out on patrol in their cars, driving around the neighborhood to make sure things are safe, to make sure no one is doing anything bad. In some cities, police officers have what is called “foot patrol” where they walk around on foot, and that is, in fact, what LaWanda White is doing in Washington DC.

She's patrolling the neighborhood. She's on patrol in the neighborhood: walking around, looking and making sure no one is doing anything wrong. White says that “we can never guarantee what's going to happen.” “To guarantee” means to promise, to make sure, to say, “Yes, this will happen.” Usually, a guarantee is something we associate with a product or service. I sell you a car and I guarantee it will work just fine for one year. If it doesn't, you can bring the car back to me. That would be a guarantee. Used as a verb, then, it means to make a promise about or to say for sure what will happen.

White says that they can “never guarantee what's going to happen or what's going to play out.” The phrasal verb “to play out” is very informal, but it basically means to happen, to take place. “How did everything play out at the conference?” That means “How was the conference?” “How did things go?” is another way of saying that. White’s group is never sure how things will play out or what exactly will happen while they’re on patrol. It's “unpredictable,” we might say.

White explains that the Guardian Angels are “not out there looking for a fight.” These are volunteer adults who are walking around the city, trying to make sure no one commits any crimes, but they're not “looking for a fight.” A “fight” is when two people have a disagreement. It can also be something very physical where they start hitting each other or punching each other. Sometimes, young men who are drunk go out and look for a fight. They want to fight someone. That's not what the Guardian Angels are trying to do. They’re not trying to go out and fight someone or make someone fight them. They're not looking for a fight. White says that they’re out there to prevent it, to stop it, to make sure it doesn't happen. Here again, then, is LaWanda.

[recording]

“Well, while on patrol, we can never guarantee what’s going to happen or what’s going to play out. We’re not out here looking for a fight. We’re out here to prevent it.”

[end of recording]

Next, LaWanda is going to tell us a little bit about herself: who she is, what Guardian Angels do, and how long the group has been around. Once again, let's listen and then we'll go back and explain.

[recording]

“Hi, LaWanda White, D.C Guardian Angel, age 22. We’re out today conducting a foot patrol. Getting a hold of our community, making sure the streets are clean. We’re a 100 percent volunteer, nonprofit organization. We come out and volunteer our time from our busy lives to do this. This has been a group that’s been together since 1979 – 33 years.”

[end of recording]

This audio comes from an interview that a reporter – a journalist – did with Lawanda White for the Voice of America. She begins by giving her name, “Hi, LaWanda White, D.C. Guardian Angel.” “D.C.” stands for the District of Columbia. It's another term for our nation's capital, Washington. The full name is Washington, D.C. – Washington, District of Columbia. We find out that LaWanda is 22 years old. She says, “age 22.” “We’re out today conducting a foot patrol.” “To conduct” here means to carry out, to do. So, she and the other Guardian Angels are conducting a foot patrol. They’re walking around on foot in the community.

She then talks about “getting a hold of our community.” “To get a hold (hold) of” something means to take control of something. We can talk about “getting a hold of our emotions” – that means being in control of how we feel about something or, more importantly, how we express our feelings. We can talk about “getting a hold of our finances” – knowing how we spend our money. The Guardian Angels want to get a hold of their community, meaning, I think, they want to know what is happening in their community. They want to control what is happening in their neighborhood.

LaWanda talks about “making sure the streets are clean.” When she says she wants to make sure “the streets are clean,” she's not talking about garbage on the street or making sure that no one is being messy on the street. She is really talking about making sure there isn't crime and violence in the neighborhood. That would be “to keep the streets clean.”

She continues by saying that the Guardian Angels are a “100 percent volunteer, nonprofit organization.” A “volunteer” (volunteer) is someone who works for an organization but doesn't get paid, usually because they want to help the organization. When I was growing up back in Minnesota, my father was always volunteering for different groups – some community groups, some church groups. He was always giving his time, helping other people. My mother also would go and volunteer with different groups to help them. That's sort of part of the culture of my family, at least when I was growing up, was to volunteer your time, to do something to help someone else. These are good lessons we can learn from our parents.

Back to our story, White says the organization's members come out and volunteer their time from their busy lives. “To come out” means to go to a certain place, to arrive at a certain place – in this case, to leave your house and start walking around the streets as part of this foot patrol. Notice she uses the expression “volunteer our time.” Normally, when we say “volunteer,” we’re using it as a noun, but it can also be used as a verb, and that's what LaWanda is doing here. She's talking about “volunteering our time” – we're giving our time for free. She talks about how the volunteers have busy lives. “To be busy” means to be occupied with something, to have a lot of things to do.

Finally, White points out that the group has been in existence, has been together, “since 1979 – 33 years” – since this was recorded, I believe, in the year 2012. Let's listen again to LaWanda White.

[recording]

[end of recording]

In this final quote, LaWanda is going to give us a little more information about the specific things that the Guardian Angels do in trying to help their neighborhood. Let's listen.

[recording]

“Out there, we experience a lot of crime as in pickpocketing, fights, just drunk – intoxication. As I’ve trained as a Guardian Angel, we’re taught to de-escalate situations. Oh no, we don’t look for anybody. We’re just out here doing safety patrol. We conduct safety – as you know, there’s a lot of activity in this area, so that’s why we’re here. So, when we see anything, we’re allowed to make citizen arrests.”

[end of recording]

White starts out by saying, “Out there, we experience a lot of crime.” “Out there” would be, in this case, out in the streets, in the community. She then gives us a list of the kinds of crimes that they experience – that they see, that they witness, that they deal with. The first one is “pickpocketing.” A “pickpocket” (pickpocket) is someone who steals things from your pockets – the things that you have in a coat or in a pair of pants, perhaps, where you can store things such as your wallet. “Pickpockets” are, of course, common in all large cities and in every country in the world, I suspect.

“Pickpockets” steal things from you as they are in your clothing. I had a pickpocket try to steal my wallet once many years ago – 20, 25 years ago – in another country, and they were very good. “Pickpockets” can be very talented in the sense that they are good at what they do. This often happens in a crowded bus, for example. When everyone is very close to each other anyway, and it's hard to know whether someone is hitting you or touching you by accident because it's crowded, or because they're stealing something from you. So, be careful out there.

The Guardian Angels see a lot of crime, including pickpocketing. They also see fights and intoxication. LaWanda actually says, “just drunk.” She starts this talk about people who are drunk. “To be drunk” means to have drunk too much wine or beer or alcohol of some sort. The more technical name for this is “intoxication” (intoxication). If you are “intoxicated,” you are drunk. You have taken too much alcohol.

LaWanda says that in her training as a Guardian Angel, she has been taught to de- escalate situations. The verb “to escalate” (escalate) means to move it forward, or to make it more serious, or to bring it to a higher level somehow. For some reason, that's a term that is often used now in English, at least in the United States, when talking about a problem that you have with a particular company. Maybe you first talk to a customer service representative – someone who is there to help you with a problem that you may be having – and that doesn't resolve the problem, that doesn't solve the issue. So then you ask to have the problem “escalated,” to be brought up to a higher level – to a supervisor, for example.

“To de-escalate” means to go in the opposite direction: to make it less serious, less important. When we talk about “de-escalating” a dangerous situation, we mean trying to make it less dangerous. So, if you see two people fighting, you don't come up to them and try hitting them. In other words, you don't try to make things worse. You try to “de- escalate” the situation by breaking them apart, by maybe holding one of the people who's fighting and someone else holds the other person who's fighting. That would be “to de-escalate a situation.” That's what the Guardian Angels are trying to do.

She says, “We don't look for anybody.” They're not out there looking for specific people. They’re looking for specific problems, such as pickpocketing, intoxication, and so forth. White says, “We’re just out here doing safety patrol.” “Safety” (safety) is the opposite of danger. “Safety patrol” would be a patrol that is trying to keep an area safe, trying to prevent crime, which as we know is what the Guardian Angels do. She then says, “As you know, there's a lot of activity in this area.” She means criminal activity – violence and crime. “That's why we’re here. So, when we see anything, we’re allowed to make citizen arrests.”

“To arrest” (arrest) someone is usually for the police to come and take that person to jail, to take them away because they’ve done something wrong. There is in the United States an interesting custom, an interesting situation that can take place, called a “citizen’s arrest.” A “citizen's arrest” is when an ordinary person like you and I go out and see someone doing something wrong, and we hold that person because they are doing something wrong. Maybe we, I don't know, tie up their hands or hit them and then sit on top of them. That's what I would do. That would be a “citizen’s arrest.”

Now, of course, you call the police and then the police come and take the person. If the person was committing a crime – if they were doing something against the law – then you're okay. You can do that. However, I don't recommend doing this very often, if at all. It can be, of course, quite dangerous. It's much better just to call the police and have them take care of it. Let’s listen to LaWanda one more time.

[recording]

[end of recording]

In case you’re interested, later in this interview, in a part that we didn't listen to, LaWanda White talks about wanting to become a police officer. That's what she wants to do. That's not unusual for volunteers in organizations such as this, especially younger volunteers. They want to get out and perhaps see if this kind of work is good for them, is interesting to them, and they may start in a volunteer organization such as the Guardian Angels. I'm not saying that's the majority of people who participate, but that might be a certain percentage of them.

Now let's answer some of the questions that you have sent to us.

Our first question comes from Mazdak (Mazdak) in Iran. The question has to do with the difference between the word “blunder” and “stumble.” A “blunder” (blunder) is a mistake – a mistake that you make because you were not paying attention or you were being careless. You weren't being very careful. “Blunder” is used here as a noun.

“Stumble” (stumble) can be used also as a noun, although you'll probably see it more commonly as a verb. “To stumble” has a couple of different meanings. One is to walk unsteadily. That is, to walk as though you are about to fall down completely. In fact, “stumbling” usually implies that you are tripping over things. You are almost falling down. “To stumble” can also mean simply to make a mistake – not something physical with you walking, but to simply make a mistake. We often use the preposition “over” in these instances. “He stumbled over his answer” or “He stumbled over her name.” He didn't know how to pronounce it.

Another phrasal verb that you will hear with the verb “to stumble” is “to stumble on.” “To stumble on” or “to stumble onto something” means to find something by accident. You weren't looking for it, and suddenly there it was. There is, then, a common meaning between “blunder” and “stumble” when we talk about making a mistake. “Blunder” would more often be used when the mistake refers to something mental or something you’ve said, whereas “stumble” is more likely to be something physical.

Our next question comes from Louie (Louie) in Korea. Louie wants to know the meaning of the expression “Oh my God.” “Oh my God” is what we would call an “interjection.” An “interjection” is when you say something suddenly because you are excited or shocked or disappointed or feeling some other very strong emotion. “Oh my God” could be used for either positive or negative emotions. It's used by people of lots of different ages, although mostly in informal situations. When I was growing up, it was not as common as it is now.

Now, it's so common that you will see people use the letters OMG to indicate “Oh my God,” for example, in an email or a text message. “Oh my God,” then, is just an interjection expressing some strong emotion – either surprise or shock or excitement or something similar. There are some people who don't like this expression because it uses the name of God. Certainly, when I was growing up, this was not an expression that we would use, at least in front of an adult. Instead of saying the word “God,” people would often use the word “gosh.” “Oh my gosh” (gosh), instead of saying “Oh my God.”

Personally, I think it's best not to use this expression frequently, if at all, simply because there are still a lot of people who don't like the expression who are offended by the expression. It really depends on the person you talk to and the social group that that person happens to belong to. It may be related to the person's religious beliefs. I would say in general it's probably not the best interjection, but it is extremely common and you will hear it in daily conversation quite frequently. I'm just warning you that there are some people who don't like this expression, and you might want to think of something else to say instead, like “Wow,” if it's something that is shocking or surprising.

Finally, Jaderson (Jaderson) in Brazil wants to know how you tell someone to continue doing a good job – to continue doing something good that they have been doing. This actually is a good question for us at ESL Podcast, because we often get emails from some of you out there – and we thank you very much for your emails – congratulating us on the work that we do here. Often, these emails will end with things such as, “Keep up your job” or “Keep on” or “Go on.” We understand, of course, what these emails are saying, and we appreciate what you're saying. However, the correct way of expressing this idea isn't any of the ones I just used.

If you want to tell someone to continue doing what they're doing, it's much better to use another expression, which would be to “keep up the good work.” Not “keep up your job” or “keep up your work,” but “keep up your good work” or “keep up the good work.” You could also say simply, “Keep it up” if the person already knows what that “it” is. So, “You guys are doing a great job. Keep up the good work,” or simply, “Keep it up.” If you are interested in expressing more precisely this idea of continuing – that you want the person to continue their work – you could say something like, “I hope you keep doing what you're doing.” That is, I hope that you continue to do in the future what you are doing right now.

I should mention that there is a small difference between the expression “Keep up the good work” or “Keep it up” and “Keep doing what you're doing.” When you tell someone to “keep up the good work,” you are telling him or her to continue doing the good work that they are doing right now. You are definitely saying they have done good things. When you say, “Keep doing what you're doing,” you're not saying exactly that the person is doing something good.

Sometimes, for example, you may be doing some task at your work, and you ask somebody if you're doing it right, and the person doesn't know. The person may say to you, “Well, let me check” – let me investigate that – “Keep doing what you're doing and then I'll come back later and tell you if it's right.” In that situation, the person isn’t saying you're doing it correctly. The person is not saying you're doing a good job. They're going to find out whether what you are doing is correct or not.

So, “Keep up the good work” is much more specific in congratulating someone on the work that they've done, saying that it has been good and expressing the hope that they continue doing that work. The opposite of “Keep up the good work” is “Stop doing that.” That’s what my wife usually tells me.

From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again right here on ESL Podcast.

Glossary

on patrol – spending time walking or driving through an area to see what is happening and keep it safe

* When police officers are on patrol, they always work in groups of two or three for safety.

to play out – to happen in a certain way

* I had to leave the meeting early. How did the rest of the discussion play out?

to look for a fight – to be very aggressive and want to create trouble and get into a fight

* Two men came into the bar and started saying some rude and terrible things to the other customers. I guess they were looking for a fight.

to prevent – to not allow something to happen; to do something so that something else cannot happen

* What can we do to prevent forest fires?

foot patrol – walking through an area to observe what is happening

* The police department is experimenting with foot patrol as a way for officers to have more interactions with people who live in these neighborhoods.

to get a hold – to take control of something; to be in control of something

* Stop crying and try to get a hold of yourself before anybody else sees you.

volunteer – a person works without pay, because he or she thinks something is worthwhile and important

* Mandy is a volunteer at the hospital, helping the nurses and sitting with patients.

pickpocketing – the crime of taking something out of another person’s pocket very carefully so that he or she doesn’t see, hear, or feel anything

* There is a lot of pickpocketing downtown, so be sure to place cash and valuables in your inner pockets, where nobody can reach them.

fight – when two or more people are hitting each other and trying to hurt or kill each other

* Did you hear that Jamison got into a fight at school today?

intoxication – drunkenness; the condition of having had too much alcohol to drink, so that the alcohol changes one’s behavior

* The university is trying to discourage intoxication among students.

to de-escalate – to make something seem less important or urgent and to calm down a situation

* A man is threatening to commit suicide by jumping from the bridge, but a group of trained psychologists are speaking to him to try to de-escalate the situation.

safety patrol – walking or traveling through an area to try to keep it as safe as possible, looking for any problems or trouble

* Members of the safety patrol reported hearing strange noises behind the building, so they called the police and requested help.

citizen’s arrest – the action of an ordinary person temporarily taking away the freedom of another person who is believed to have committed a crime

* In this town, the police have to authorize someone to make a citizen’s arrest, or else it is illegal.

blunder – a careless mistake; moving blindly or carelessly

* The speaker made a few blunders in the presentation, but overall the audience enjoyed listening to her.

to stumble – to walk unsteadily; to trip; to make a mistake

* The hikers stumbled over the uneven rocks and finally reached the mountaintop.

oh my God – an interjection that is said when one is excited, shocked, awed (overwhelmed by something great or amazing), dismayed or disappointed, or feeling some other strong emotion

* Oh my God, did you hear how much money David is making?

keep doing what you’re doing – continue what you have already been doing (because you are doing well)

* There’s always a lot to learn in the first few weeks of a new job, but keep doing what you’re doing and soon you’ll be as productive as everyone else.

What Insiders Know

Superheroes Anonymous

A “superhero” is a human with “supernatural” (not explained by the laws of nature) powers, such as the ability to see through walls, the ability to fly, or the ability to “read minds” (know what other people are thinking). Normally superheroes are found only in “comic books” (books with many drawings and few words). However, there are now some “real-life superheroes,” or people who dress up in costumes to help others, even though they don’t actually have supernatural powers.

For example, “Crimson Fist” is a real-life superhero who patrols Atlanta, Georgia twice a month to help the “needy” (people who need help, usually because they are poor). Another real-life superhero, Terrifica, patrols bars in New York City to prevent drunken women from “being taken advantage of” by men who might convince a drunk woman to do something she would not normally do if she were not drunk. And “Captain Ozone” is a real-life superhero who tries to “raise awareness of” (make people more aware of) environmental issues.

There are many, many other real-life superheroes, and since 2007 many of them have “joined forces” (begun working together) in an organization called Superheroes Anonymous. The organization arranges events where real-life superheroes work together to perform “good deeds” (actions that help others) in a certain area, not only for the needy, but also to “inspire others” (make others want to do the same and feel that they can do it). The organization also has meetings to educate people about the work of real-life superheroes and help others become real-life superheroes “of their own” (in their own life).