VIP Class Notes (Raph)[R]

Vocabulary

Salaryman (n): 1- in Japan, a man who works in an office for a salary, usually very long hours.
E.g.: He was a salaryman in the oil industry before serving as cabinet chief under two prime ministers.

Log (v): 1- to officially record something.
E.g.: He logged more than 60 hours of overtime last month.
E.g.: The Better Business Bureau has logged more than 90 complaints.

Under fire: 1- being attacked with guns or with severe criticism:
E.g.: The troops were under fire for weeks.
E.g.: The president has come under fire for vetoing the bill to cut taxes.

Veto (v): 1- an official power or right to refuse to accept or allow something.
E.g.: The president has the power of veto over any bill that comes across his desk.
E.g.: In theory the British government could use its veto to block this proposal.

Grooming (v): 1- the criminal activity of becoming friends with a child, especially over the internet, in order to try to persuade the child to have a sexual relationship.
E.g.: The man was accused of grooming.

Anger at TV show with big age difference couples (Source: www.breakingnewsenglish.com/1905/190531-age-differences.html)

A TV channel in the UK is under fire from members of the public for one of its programmes that follows the lives of couples with a big age difference. Viewers have accused the Channel 5 series Age Gap Love of “normalising grooming”. The complaints came after a show that documented the relationship of a couple who got together when the man was 44 and his partner was 16. The man was originally a friend of the 16-year-old’s mother. He became friendly with the daughter when she was a child and started dating her when she turned 16. After this episode was aired, the channel received a flood of complaints from viewers who slammed the show for “making this concept seem normal”.

The couple in the show are married and have two children. He is now 47 and she is 19. The man said: “I was concerned what people would think. It’s a big gap. It’s a generation gap. So it’s like, what are people going to think?” His wife also spoke about the relationship. She said: “The age doesn’t really bother me. It never has done. I don’t see him as an old man, or my dad, or anything like that. He’s just sensitive – like a big teddy bear.” She added: “I’ve always wanted to have a family, so I just thought he would be the perfect man.” Life has not been easy for the couple. When they first started dating, they received a lot of abuse from neighbours and the local community and had to move to another city.

Grammar

There are so many works. – There’s so much work.

Pronunciation

Invoke: /ɪnˈvoʊk/

Sovereignty: /ˈsɑːv.r^ən.i/

Analysis: /əˈnæl.ə.sɪs/

(Death By Overwork in Japan: Karoshi & Japanese Salarymen | NowThis: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp_KiDqfjGo)