Cultural English 476 - Ask an American – Drought and a new gold rush; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 476.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s episode 476. 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 Americans (other than me) talking, and explaining what they are saying. Today we’re going to talk about California and what some are calling the “new gold rush.” And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

Our topic on this Café is the new gold rush here in California. “Gold” is a precious metal and a very expensive metal. “Gold rush” refers to people suddenly coming to an area where gold has been discovered and trying to find the gold themselves. California had a gold rush back in the middle of the nineteenth century. (We talked about that on a previous Café – Café number 310). Today, however, I want to talk about a new gold rush, and why there is now a new gold rush here in California.

Our story begins not with gold, but with water – or, to be more precise, to be more exact, the lack of water. A “lack” (lack) is when you don’t have something. And California has been experiencing in the last few years what is called a “drought.” A “drought” (drought) is a period of time when you don’t have very much rainfall, when there isn’t very much water coming down from the clouds. And so you have a situation where rivers and other areas which are traditionally full of water have less water.

A drought can be very serious for a lot of reasons, but there is a good thing about the drought in California, at least for some people. The good thing is that you have rivers that have gold in them that are now easy to get to and are not as deep as they were before the drought. We’re going to listen to a woman by the name of Heather Willis, who runs or manages a store that sells supplies, or things that people need, to go out and find gold. Heather is in Northern California, where most of the gold is located. Let’s listen to Heather and then we’ll explain what she says.

[recording]

“Well, now that everything has dried up, the water levels are extremely low, so areas that were previously eight to 10 feet underwater are now, basically, like, two feet underwater, if even that. So people are able to get in there and access larger pieces of gold and more gold in the middles of the rivers that they could not get before.”

[end of recording]

Heather begins by saying, “Well, now that everything has dried up.” “To dry (dry) up” means to become dry. Something that was wet is now dry, without water. “Everything has dried up,” Heather says, and this means that the water levels are extremely low. The “water levels” are the heights of the water in a river – how high up a river or a lake is compared to the ground around it.

Normally, water levels are lower in the summer, for example, than in the winter. If the water levels of rivers and lakes get too high, then you have something called “flooding” (flooding). Flooding is when the water goes beyond the river or the lake and begins to damage the areas around the river. Well, here we’re talking about the opposite problem. We’re talking about very low water levels.

Heather says that “areas that were previously eight to 10 feet underwater are now basically, like, two feet underwater.” “Previously” means before this time. Heather is saying that before the drought, there were areas that were eight to 10 feet underwater. “Underwater” means that the land, the ground underneath the river, is eight to 10 feet below the surface, or the top, of the water. These areas – especially rivers, according to Heather – are now “basically,” meaning essentially, “like, two feet underwater.”

Notice the use of the word “like” there. It doesn’t mean “similar to.” It’s simply one of those words that Americans use sometimes to fill up time or space in their conversation. Heather is saying that areas that used to have ten feet of water now have around two feet of water. “If even that,” she says. “If even that” means some of them have less than two feet of water.

“So people are able to get in there,” she says, “and access larger pieces of gold.” “To get in there” means to be able to go to a place, to get to a place. To “access” (access) is a verb meaning to be able to reach – to be able to arrive at – a certain place, or to be able to get into a certain place.

So, the idea here is that because the rivers are low (the water levels are low), people are able to get into the river and get gold from the river. More specifically, Heather says they’re getting the gold from the “middles” of the rivers – that is, the middle sections or middle parts of the rivers in Northern California. These are areas that they could not get or get into before. Let’s listen to Heather once again.

[recording]

[end of recording]

Next, we’re going to listen to someone who actually has gone up to these rivers in Northern California and has tried to find gold. This gentleman is named Christo Rodriguez, and he describes how you get gold from the river. Let’s listen.

[recording]

“Well, I’m just doing some sluicing with the sluice box, and I find me some big rocks in there and dig in front of them. You know, the big rocks make a natural trap and forms an eddy in the front of the rock.”

[end of recording]

Christo describes what he is doing. He says, “Well, I’m just doing some sluicing with the sluice box.” This is a rather unusual word, “sluice” (sluice). The verb “to sluice” is not very common in conversational English. It means to take some water and rinse yourself off or clean yourself or something else off. The use of the verb here is similar to that. It does mean taking water to rinse something or wash something off, but it’s used in a very particular way in connection with a noun called a “sluice” or a “sluice box.”

A “sluice box” is a tool that people use to find gold. It’s a long metal or wooden tray, like a little box that you put into the river, and water goes through the box and then you pull it up and you look to see if there are any small pieces of gold that fell into the box. What you want to do when you sluice the sluice box is get rid of the small rocks in order to find the actual gold.

Christo explains that he’s doing some sluicing with his sluice box. Then Christo uses an interesting expression which is sometimes found in informal English. It’s grammatically incorrect, but you will hear some people use it sometimes in a joking way, and that expression is “I find me.” “I find me some big rocks” means “I find some big rocks.” The “me” doesn’t really add anything to the meaning. It’s an informal way – and perhaps here is somewhat comical, a humorous way – to express meaning.

Christo says he finds some big rocks in there and then he digs in front of them. “To dig” means to take an object and move the earth or move ground underneath it in order to, say, create a hole. Christo is using the ground underneath the water in front of a rock in order to find gold. He digs in front of these big rocks. Then he explains why he does that.

He says, “The big rocks make a natural trap and form an eddy in front of the rock.” So, you have to imagine that there’s a big rock in a river. A big rock will create what’s called an “eddy” (eddy). An eddy is like a small whirlpool, an area where the water goes round and round in circles. That circular motion in front of, say, a large rock would be called an “eddy.” Now, according to Christo, this eddy creates a natural “trap” (trap).

A “trap” is normally something you use to try to catch and hold something. If you have mice in your house, you could put a little trap out to catch the mice in order to kill them or to get rid of them somehow. You could also have a trap for a bear, a large animal. If the bear were threatening you or causing problems for the place where you live, you could put a bear trap out there. You don’t see bear traps very much anymore. Although, my neighbor sort of looks like a bear. Maybe I need to get a trap for him.

Anyway, we’re not talking about that kind of trap in this story. We’re talking about what Christo describes as a “natural trap.” Basically it’s an area that is going to catch and hold something. According to Christo, the eddies that form near the rock will help collect rocks and possibly gold that he can then use his sluice box to find. Let’s listen one more time to Christo.

[recording]

[end of recording]

For our last quote, we’re going to listen again to Heather Willis, the woman who owns the store that sells sluice boxes and other things to people who want to find gold. Heather is going to talk a little bit about what she expects to happen in the future with all these people coming and looking for gold and the effects of the drought that caused this new gold rush. Let’s listen.

[recording]

“Because what is going to end up happening is everybody’s been digging for three or four years, and natural erosion . . . so when it rains or any kind of landscaping is done, there’s fires, wildfires, that they’ll turn around use hosing and stuff, so fresh gold will get deposited in these rivers and streams. And so that is what we are all chasing after.”

[end of recording]

Heather in this quote is predicting, really, that the gold rush will continue because of what will happen after a few years, both in the rivers as well as the areas around. Let’s begin with the beginning of her quote, “Because what is going to end up happening,” she says, “is everybody’s been digging for three or four years.” It’s a little unclear what she’s saying here, but I think what she is trying to say is that eventually, as people go up to these rivers and keep digging for gold, eventually they’ll get all the gold out of the rivers.

However, according to Heather, in the future there might be more gold in the river. Why? Well, she says that there will be something called “natural erosion.” “Erosion” (erosion) is a process where the soil or the ground or the earth is washed away, and when you wash away the ground or the earth, there might be gold underneath it. So, even though people have taken all the gold out of the river that was there, new gold will be deposited or put into the river by this natural erosion – at least, I think that’s what Heather is saying.

She’s also talking about something else that will perhaps put more gold into the river, and that is when there are fires or people do what is called “landscaping,” they will use water that will then push new earth, new soil, into the river, and that may also contain gold that was not there before. She talks about “landscaping.” “Landscaping” (landscaping) is when you do something to the earth, to the ground, to make it look more interesting or to make it look prettier.

That process, if I understand Heather correctly, will cause people to use water, which will deposit more soil into the river that might have gold in it. She also talks about “fires” and “wildfires.” A “wildfire” (wildfire) is a fire that burns in a natural area, often out of control. This happens a lot here in California. We have wildfires quite frequently, in part because we don’t have enough water and have been experiencing a drought in the last few years. In order to put the fires out, the wildfires out, they have to use water, and this water will also push more new ground, new earth, into the rivers and possibly new gold.

That’s what Heather means when she says, “They’ll turn around use hosing and stuff.” I think she means “turn around AND use hosing” or “turn around TO use hosing.” “Hosing” (hosing) is the practice of using long tubes which we call “hoses” to spray water on a surface. In order to put out a fire, you would have to use, perhaps, these large hoses that would then push new ground, new soil, into the river, and this would leave you with what Heather calls “fresh gold.” The word “fresh” (fresh) here is not related to food. We often use this adjective “fresh” to refer to food that isn’t old, that is still good to eat. Here it simply means new – something that wasn’t there before.

This fresh gold will get deposited, or put, into the rivers and streams. A “stream” (stream) is like a small river. She ends her quote by saying, “So that is what we are all chasing after.” “To chase (chase) after” something or someone means to try to find and get that thing or to get that person. The police will chase after someone who steals your purse or who robs a bank – perhaps. Well, at least, we hope they will chase after them and, more importantly, catch them – find them and hold them. Let’s listen to Heather explain what she thinks will happen in the future here in California, one more time.

[recording]

[end of recording]

If you want to become rich, you can just fly here to California and get your sluice box. Go up to the northern part of the state and start looking for gold as part of the new California gold rush. I don’t think I’ll join you, however.

Now let’s answer a few of your questions.

Our first question on this Café is from Mauricio (Mauricio) from the country of Colombia in South America. Mauricio wants to know how we use the following three words: “vendor,” salesman, and “pitchman.” All three of these words relate to someone who is selling something, someone who is trying to get you to buy something. Let’s start with “vendor” (vendor).

“Vendor” is a little more formal than the other two terms, and it can refer to a person or to a company. A vendor is a company that sells something – often to another company, but it could also be just to the average person. You can have street vendors who sell things to people who are walking by on a street. Here in Los Angeles, there is a famous area known as Venice Beach, which has a lot of street vendors – people who are selling things to you from a table or a small section that they have next to the sidewalk.

A vendor, then, can be both someone who sells directly to you or a company that sells things to other companies. You might have a vendor for supplies that you need in your office. You have to buy your paper and your computer and your pens from someone, or some company. That company would be called a “vendor” because it sells things to your company.

A “salesman,” or “salesperson,” is a person whose job it is to sell things, either to a company or to a person. Where a vendor can refer to a company, a salesman is a single person – someone who is trying to get you to buy something. You can say “salesman.” It’s become more popular recently to say “salesperson,” but they both mean the same thing – someone who tries to get you to buy things.

The last term is the least common one, and that is a “pitch(pitch)man.” You don’t hear this very much anymore. “To pitch” as a verb means to try to get you to buy something or to accept some new idea. A “pitchman” would be basically a salesman – someone who tries to get you to buy something. For me, when I hear the verb “to pitch,” I sometimes think of someone who is trying to sell me something in a dishonest way or perhaps by exaggerating or telling me things that aren’t exactly true.

Now, that isn’t the strict dictionary definition. “To pitch” can simply mean to try to get someone to accept your ideas or accept your proposal or to buy a certain thing. However, when I hear the term “pitchman,” that’s really the meaning of “pitch” that I think of: someone trying to get me to buy something by perhaps being a little dishonest – less than completely truthful.

Our second question comes from Hadi (Hadi) in Iran. The question has to do with some verbs related to sports. Those verbs are “to clinch,” “to breeze into,” and “to blow away.”

Let’s start with the first verb, “to clinch” (clinch). “To clinch” is when a team or a person gets a certain position in a competition or in a tournament. It might be easier to understand this verb by using an example. So, for example, in American baseball there is a tournament, a competition, to determine which team is the best baseball team in the U.S. (or technically, in the U.S. and Canada, because there is one professional sports team in Canada that plays with the American teams).

The tournament has certain positions, and in order to get into one of those positions, you have to win the most number of games in your particular division – among the teams in your particular group. Now, American baseball has two basic divisions: the “American League,” it’s called (league), and the “National League.” And each of those leagues has teams, and all of the teams in the two leagues are trying to secure, or to get, a position in what is called the “playoffs.”

The playoffs are the tournament games at the end of the year or the season that determine who is the best team. In order to get one of those positions, you have to have won the most number of games, as I mentioned previously, and when you get to the point where it is obvious that you will have one of those positions, we say that you have “clinched” the position. Mathematically, if you will – statistically – your team has the best record and will therefore be playing in the playoffs.

Often, this happens before the last game of the season. If you have been winning so many games that it’s impossible for any other team to get into the playoffs by having a better record than you, we would say that at that point you have clinched a position in the tournament, in the playoffs.

“To breeze (breeze) into” something means to enter easily, without any competition or strong opposition. It is used in sports, but it can also be used outside of sports to talk about someone who is able to do something or win something very easily, either because there isn’t anyone else who’s very qualified or talented to win that same position, or because the person has so much talent or skill. It’s used in sports because the idea of “breezing into” something relates to a competition of some sort.

“To blow away” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to defeat or to beat someone by a wide margin, by many points – to beat someone “decisively,” we might also say. That is the use of this phrasal verb in the sporting context – in the context of sports. So, if the Los Angeles Dodgers, my favorite baseball team, defeats the San Francisco Giants, the team I dislike the most, by a score of nine to one, as they did in 2014 – well, we would say that the Dodgers blew away the Giants. “Blew” (blew) is the past tense of “blow.”

Well, you can blow someone a way in a sporting competition. We also use this phrasal verb in a situation where a person does something that is very impressive, or you encounter a situation that really changes your mind about something or impresses you, usually in a good way. For example, I went to a restaurant last night and the food was excellent. I was blown away by how good the food was; I was really impressed. That’s a different use of the phrasal verb “to blow away.”

Finally, our third question comes from /SAWL/ or /sah-UL/ (Saul). This is a pronunciation question, so it will be easy to answer. It has to do with the pronunciation of three words. I’ll spell the word and then pronounce it.

The first word is (bird), pronounced “bird.” A bird is a small animal that flies. The second word is (beard). That, at least in my accent, is pronounced “beard.” Finally, (bear) is pronounced “bear.” A “beard,” to go back, is hair on your face, along the sides of your face and on your chin. A “bear” is a large animal. Here in California, we have bears. In fact, there’s a bear on our state flag. It’s sort of a symbol of California.

In American English, then, these three words are pronounced differently: “bird,” “beard,” and “bear.” Perhaps the confusion is that “beard” is spelled similarly to the word “bear.” It just doesn’t have a “d” at the end, but when you get rid of that “d,” it does change the pronunciation. We say “beard” for the hair on your face, and “bear” for the animal.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Come back and listen to us again – why not? – here on the English Café.

Glossary

dried up – very dry, without any water

* Raisins are just grapes that are dried up.

water level – the height of water, or how high up a lake or river normally comes onto the shore (land next to water)

* If the water level falls much lower, the fish are going to have trouble swimming.

underwater – below the level of the water; covered by water

* How long can you hold your breath underwater?

gold – a shiny, yellow-colored metal often used for jewelry and worth a lot of money

* Do you prefer gold or silver jewelry?

sluice box – a tool used by people who are looking for gold; a long metal or wooden tray with side walls and ridges or bumps in the bottom, so that as water travels from one end to the other, small pieces of gold settle or fall to the bottom, separated from small rocks and water

* Pedro has been using the sluice box for hours, but he still hasn’t found any gold.

trap – a device used to catch and hold something, especially an animal

* Be careful of animal traps as you walk through this area of the forest.

eddy – a small whirlpool; an area in a river or stream where the water goes around and around in circles

* The kayakers hurried to help pull their friend out of the eddy.

natural erosion – the natural processes through which soil is washed away, usually by wind and water

* Natural erosion is normal, but it becomes a problem when humans accelerate the process by removing plants and digging up natural areas near waterways.

landscaping – yard care; the practice of changing the appearance of natural areas, especially in front of homes and businesses, to make them more beautiful

* More homeowners are using native plants in their landscaping to provide a habitat for local birds and small animals.

wildfire – a fire that burns out of control in a natural area

* Officials generally let wildfires burn freely unless they’re close to buildings

to hose – to spray water at a surface, especially to clean it, through a long, flexible tube

* Jim uses the hose to wet and rinse his car when he washes it.

to be deposited – to be set down or placed somewhere and left there

* These huge rocks were deposited by glaciers thousands of years ago.

to chase after – to try to find and get something, especially if it is difficult or almost impossible

* No matter what happens, he will never stop chasing after his dream of becoming an astronaut.

vendor – a person or company offering something for sale, usually to another company; a person on the street offering something for sale

* If the vendor’s prices keep rising, we’ll have to find a new supplier.

salesman / salesperson – a man/person whose job is to sell or promote products for sale, usually in a store or visiting different locations

* Brandon is such a good salesman that he could sell childcare to people who don’t have children!

pitcher / pitchman – a man/person who shows the best features or uses of a product to try to get others to buy, often on television or in a business meeting

* We have a great invention, but now we need to find a good pitchman who can generate sales.

to clinch – to settle, confirm, or decide, usually in competition

* Seeing the progress in their son’s grades clinched their decision to continue paying for a private tutor.

to breeze into – to enter easily, without any strong opposition or competition; to have no trouble accomplishing a task or winning in a competition

* Medical school is extremely competitive. Even if you have perfect grades and a lot of extra-curricular activities, you won’t be able to breeze into the program.

to blow away – to defeat decisively; to beat someone by many points or by a wide margin

* The debate team performed extremely well and blew away the competition.

What Insiders Know

Grills

In “hip hop culture” (see English Café 224), many people like to wear “bling,” which is any type of “flashy” (attracting a lot of attention), “elaborate” (with a lot of detail), and “ostentatious” (working too hard to get attention, and seeming bigger or more important than one actually is) jewelry or “accessories” (items that are held or carried, like cell phone covers).

In recent years, “grills,” or jewelry for the teeth, have become increasingly popular. Grills “come in” (are available with options as) silver and gold, and sometimes have “precious stones” (jewels worth a lot of money). Most grills are “fitted” (designed and sized to fit) the individuals’ teeth. Some grills are “attached” (connected) to the teeth “permanently” (forever), but most grills are “removable” (can be taken off).

Grills are most popular with hip-hop “artists” (musicians) and their “fans” (people who like something very much). But they are becoming more “mainstream” (commonplace, accepted by many people). For example, Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte received a lot of “media coverage” (interest among television, newspapers, and other sources of news) when he wore grills during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

There are some “concerns” (worries) about the health effects of wearing grills, but the “general consensus” (agreement by most people) seems to be that the grills are harmless as long as they are not worn too much. If grills are worn all the time, however, the metal can cause “irritation” (discomfort) to the “gums” (the skin and tissue next to one’s teeth) and “tooth decay” (small holes in the teeth) if bacteria are trapped between the grills and the teeth.