Cultural English 56 - Day of the Dead; Desperate Housewives; Q&A

Complete Transcript

You're listening to English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café number 56.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 56. 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 be talking about a popular celebration in many parts of the United States now, something called “Dia de los Muertos,” or “Day of the Dead.” We’re also going to talk about one of those more popular television shows in the last 10 years or so, called Desperate Housewives. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let's get started.

Our first topic on this Café is Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead. Dia de los Muertos is what it is called in Spanish because it is, in fact, a tradition that comes in part from Latin America, especially from the country of Mexico. Many Mexicans have immigrated to the United States, and there is a large Mexican American population here, as well as many Mexican immigrants. Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, has become, therefore, a popular celebration now in the United States, especially in many large cities such as Los Angeles that have large Mexican and Mexican American populations.

The Day of the Dead is actually an official holiday, official holy day, in the Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church’s calendar, on the second of November, special prayers are said for those who have died. This is in English usually called “All Souls Day.” “All Souls” (souls) refers to the immaterial part of one's human existence that separates from the body upon death, according to Christian theology, at least. And the soul continues to survive even though the body is dead. The soul then goes to one of three places, in Catholic theology – it either goes to hell, it goes to heaven, or it goes to somewhere getting you ready to get into heaven, called “Purgatory.”

Well, we don't need to go through all of that to understand that the second of November is associated with this idea of praying for your dead relatives and friends. That's what the Day of the Dead is really about. It takes place on November second. As some of you may know, on November first, there is another major religious holiday in the Catholic tradition, which is All Saints Day. A “saint” (saint) is a term that can be used to describe a very holy man or woman within the Catholic tradition. It refers to those who are in heaven.

So, while on November second we pray for those who have died who are not yet in heaven, on All Saints Day we honor those who are, in fact, in heaven – again, in the Catholic tradition. Halloween is a third day that is celebrated, if you will, in this time period. Halloween is on October 31st, the day before All Saints Day. We’ve talked about Halloween on other Cafés, so we won't go into that here, only to point out that these are two different celebrations – Halloween and Day of the Dead.

One of the traditions on Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, is that you go to the place where someone is buried – where their body has been put. We would call that their “grave” (grave). This is connected with a very popular custom in many different cultures, not just in certain Christian churches, where you bring gifts for the dead. You bring food or other things you think the dead may need on their road after they have died. Dia de los Muertos includes this custom of bringing toys and food, sometimes photographs of the person who has died.

You can go to the grave to do that where the person is buried, but it's probably even more popular now for people to set up a place in their house where they put someone's picture and they bring food and gifts. We would call this place a “shrine” (shrine). A “shrine” is a place where you go to honor someone. Usually, it's associated with a holy place, but when we talk about something being in your house, the shrine would usually be something that honors a person, in your house, who has died.

Another tradition associated with the Day of the Dead is what is called, in Spanish, a “calavera.” A “calavera” (calavera) is technically a skull. Your skull is the bones in your head. But after you die, of course, you lose your face and your brains and your eyes, and all that is left is the bone. Those bones are collectively called your “skull.” A calavera, however, is also a short poem. It's a poem about the person who died.

Although we are talking about people who died, Day of the Dead is not a sad occasion. It's not a sad event. It is in some ways a celebration of the people who have died that you know and are honoring. If you come, then, to a major American city such as Los Angeles during the early part of November, you may be able to drive to certain parts of the city that have a large Mexican and Mexican American population and see some examples of the celebrations that go with the Day of the Dead.

Our second topic is very different. We’re not going to talk about the dead, but we will talk about a television series that is, in some ways, now dead. It's no longer being made, but it was very popular and still is popular in many places. That series is called Desperate Housewives.

“To be desperate” (desperate) means that you no longer have hope that a situation will be improved. You're in a very bad situation and you don't know what to do. You're feeling like you can't help yourself. That would be a case where we would use this adjective “desperate.” Someone who is desperate for something really needs it badly, because they need to get out of the difficult situation that they're in. We have an expression, “Desperate times call for desperate measures.” This means that when you have very difficult situations – “desperate times” – you need to also have very dramatic or extreme solutions – “measures.”

The title of the show is Desperate Housewives. A “housewife” – the singular is (housewife) , the plural is “housewives” – is a woman who normally stays home during the day to take care of the children, usually, and to take care of the house. The man, in the traditional family, would go and work, and the woman stayed home and took care of the house.

This would be, then, a “housewife.” You don't hear this term all that often anymore, largely because there are so many women now who work. There are fewer housewives than there were probably 40, 50 years ago. But this show is about very rich families where the wife does not have to work.

The families in Desperate Housewives live in what we would call the “suburbs.” The “suburbs” (suburbs) are areas that are around a big city. Los Angeles is a city, but it has smaller cities around it that we could call “suburbs.” Desperate Housewives is about four women who live in a suburb. The show is basically what we would call a “soap opera.” A “soap (soap) opera (opera)” is not where people go around singing like they do in a regular opera. A “soap opera” refers instead to a very dramatic television show – a show usually that goes on for a very long time, that is about the problems of a family or the problems of people who live in the same area.

The main adjective that would describe a soap opera would be “melodramatic.” “To be melodramatic” (melodramatic) means that you are being serious, but exaggerating that seriousness – being serious in such a way that it's almost too much. It's too dramatic. Instead of saying, “I love you,” you might say, “I love you – I love you for the rest of my life.” That would be a little melodramatic – a little too dramatic. That's what a soap opera is. It’s melodramatic.

You may wonder why we call them soap operas. The reason is that these kinds of drama shows, when they first began appearing on radio back in the 1930s and 40s, typically were listened to by women, and one of the main advertisers on these shows were soap companies – companies that sold soap to women. That's how they got the name “soap operas.”

The show Desperate Housewives is mostly a soap opera, but it's also something of a mystery. There are people who die on the program, on the show, and you don't know who killed them. Many of the people who die on the show appear to have been murdered. All of the people, all of the women on the show, have done something wrong. So, everyone is guilty of something. That's typical of a soap opera. Desperate Housewives takes place in a beautiful place, in a beautiful suburb, but even though it's a beautiful place physically, there are all these ugly, terrible things that are happening in the lives of the people in the show.

I mentioned the show has been very popular. It's also popular now in other countries where they have translated the dialogue and, for the most part, dubbed them, I believe. “To dub” (dub) means to insert a language other than the original language that was used by the actors and actresses in the movie or television show. In addition to being a very popular show, some of the actresses from the show have been nominated, have been considered, for some of the highest honors in television acting in the United States.

We have something called the “Emmy” (Emmy). An “Emmy” is an award given to the best actors and actresses in television. For the movies, we have something called the “Oscars,” or the “Academy Awards.” You may have seen this show in your own language. I have to say I've never watched the show. I'm not very interested in soap operas, but as I say, it is a popular show, and many people have watched it and apparently liked it. I'm just not one of them.

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

Our first question comes from Goran (Goran), who is a doctor in the country of Iraq. Goran’s question has to do with the meaning of three related words: “work,” “job,” and “occupation.” All three of these words relate to a similar concept.

Let's start with the word “work” (work). “Work” can be both a noun and a verb. As a noun, we use work to describe the things that we have to do – often, things that we are being paid to do, but not always. You can have work at home. That would just be activities you do in your house, perhaps sweeping the floors or washing the dishes. In fact, we might call that “housework.” You could have work in school. We would call that “schoolwork.” You also have work at your place where you get paid to do things. That is also another way of using the noun “work.”

Some people use “work” to describe their place of employment or the activities that they do. You may hear someone say, “Where do you work?” They mean, “What company or what organization do you work for?” I work at the Center for Educational Development. I work in Los Angeles. I work as a podcaster. Those are all possible uses of the word “work.” You could also use work as a verb. “I have to work today,” or “Don't bother me, I'm working.” As a noun, as a place, I mentioned that you can talk about where you work. Some people talk about having to be at work. “At work” just means in the place where you work.

A “job” (job) is usually something that someone pays you to do. It's work that someone pays you to do. We use the word “job” typically when we’re referring to a one- or two-word description of what you do. “My job title at the university was a professor.” That's my job. That's what I did. “Job” is any position that you have in a company. However, we can also use the word “job” in a similar way that we use the word “work.” We can say, “I have a job to do.” “I have three different jobs to do.” That would refer to different projects that you have to do for your job. “Job” is, however, typically a position that you have.

“Occupation” is a general term related to this concept of “job.” “Occupation” is a more general term for anyone who does the kind of work that you do. So, being a professor is an occupation. There’s sort of a universal quality about it. You could also talk about a particular quality of someone who is a professor. That's a common use of the word “occupation.” Being a doctor is an occupation. Being a lawyer is an occupation.

If someone asks you what you do, they're asking for your occupation. “What is the kind of work that you do?” If they ask you what your “job” is, you may give them a more specific answer – you may describe the activities that you do in your job. Similarly, when someone says, “What kind of work do you do?” that might be a question asking about your occupation. It might be a question asking specifically about the activities that you do for that occupation.

Our next question comes from Sergie (Sergie), originally from Russia, now living in Boston, in the eastern United States. Sergie wants to know the difference between two similar words: “older” (older) and “elder” (elder).

Both “elder” and “older” can be used to describe people who are at a more advanced age than you are, or than a certain group is. For example, if I’m 25 – and I'm not, but if I were 25 – and I have a brother who's 30, that brother is older than me. He's my “older brother.” I could also call him my “elder brother.” “Elder” is only used to describe people. It's usually used in describing family relationships. “She's my elder sister,” “He's my elder brother,” and so forth. “Older” can be used to describe people, but it can also be used to describe things. “This picture is older than that picture.” “My television is older than my couch” – I have owned it for longer period of time.

Of the two words, “older” is much more common to describe someone of a greater age as a person than “elder” is. You will still hear “elder,” but it's much rarer, much less used. “Elder” also has an association with the idea of someone who is wiser, who has more experience. We have an old saying, “Listen to your elders,” meaning listen to the people who are older than you are and have more wisdom and more experience. I tell this to my nieces and nephews, but they never listen to me anyway.

That's all we have time for today. If you have a question, you can email us at eslpod@eslpod.com.

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

Glossary

saint – someone who is recognized by others, often a religious organization, as being holy

* When we visited the churches in London, we saw a lot of statues of famous saints.

grave – a hole in the ground where a dead person is buried

* We haven’t been to this cemetery for years, but I think that his grave is over there under the tree.

shrine – a place, often a building, that is considered holy

* When he’s feeling troubled, he goes to that shrine on the top of the mountain to think and to pray.

skull – the bones of a person’s (or animal’s) head

* I was always scared of the fake skull that my science teacher kept on his desk.

desperate – having a great need or desire for something; having no hope that a situation will improve

* We’re trying to quit smoking, but I’m feeling desperate right now for a cigarette.

housewife – a married woman whose main job is to care for her family and to take care of things related to the house

* She isn’t sure if she wants to quite her job after having children to become a housewife.

suburbs – an area, usually with a lot of housing, outside of the city

* After they moved to the suburbs, they bought a more reliable car so they can drive to work in the city.

soap opera – a television series that tells about the daily life of the same group of people over a long period of time, sometimes years

* He eats his lunch in the employee lounge everyday at noon so he can watch his favorite soap opera on TV.

melodramatic – event or behavior that is more exciting or dramatic than in real life; exaggerated actions intended to make people feel very emotional

* Don’t be so melodramatic! Breaking up with your boyfriend isn’t going to be the end of the world.

Emmy Award – awards given out each year to the best television show or actor or actress in the United States

* I was so mad when my favorite TV show didn’t win any Emmy Awards this year!

work – things that need to be done

* After a tough week in the office, the last thing I want to do is work around the house.

job – a position that someone is paid to take or to do

* The hiring committee loved you. If you want the job, it’s yours.

occupation – a type of job

* When we asked him his occupation, he said that he used to be musician but that he’s now training to be a podcaster.

older – having more years than something, or a higher age than someone else

* My birthday is this week, but I don’t feel another year older.

elder – an old and wise person in an organization or community

* Even though she had some good ideas, the elders in our community thought that she was moving too quickly.

What Insiders Know

Murphy’s Law

Murphy’s Law is a popular funny saying or “adage” that means that if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. People use the saying Murphy’s Law usually when something has happened that causes problems or failure. If you are giving an important speech and you arrive at the meeting without your notes, you may say, “It’s Murphy’s Law!” You mean that since there is a possibility for something bad to happen, it is certain to happen—and it has. People usually use this when they are disappointed or frustrated about the outcome of something.

There are many versions of this adage with the same idea, but a little different focus. Here are a few:
- You will always find something in the last place you look.
- No matter how long or how hard you shop for an item, after you've bought it, it will be on sale somewhere else cheaper.
- The other line always moves faster.
- Never argue with a fool. People might not know the difference.

Nobody really knows why these sayings are called Murphy’s Law. Murphy is a fairly common last name in the U.S., but no one is certain which Murphy this law was named after. We do know that it is called Murphy’s Law because the saying is in the form of an “axiom,” or a scientific statement about something that is accepted as truth. Other scientific statements are also called laws, such as Albert Einstein’s Law of Relativity: E = mc2.