Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast. My name is Anna and you are listening to Week 26, Day 1 of Your English Five a Day. The series aims to beef up your active vocabulary by deep-diving into five pieces every day of the working week from Monday to Friday. Then on Saturday we have an extra episode and for those Plus Members we have a bonus episode on Sunday. To learn more about Plus Membership and the bonuses it gives you, please check the show notes. Okay, let's start today's lovely list. We begin with a noun and it is rift, rift. We spell this R I F T, rift. A rift is a break or a division between two things. We often use it to talk about a disagreement or bad feelings that exist between two people who were once friends or in a nice relationship, like a family member or a friend. And if you disagree on something or something goes wrong between you, then this rift will appear between you. You'll start to have bad feelings and you'll drift apart and you'll no longer connect with each other and have nice times together. Perhaps you stop phoning each other and stop meeting up. So, a rift appears between you. It might be a long-standing rift. Some family members go for years without talking to each other after a big argument. Which is very sad, but it happens to many people. Here's an example sentence,"The rift between the two friends grew larger as they continued to argue about politics." Now I had a rift with a good friend, which has never been resolved, unfortunately. We were working together quite a lot. We were working for the same company. So, we always hung out at work events and after work we'd get together. And then we always said how nice it would be for us to actually work together in the same team and on the same project. And we made it happen. We put in our requests and we got put together during a reshuffle. Now, she was actually promoted to being a team leader and I was put on her team, which I didn't have a problem with whatsoever. I'm very happy to be a leader, but I'm also very happy to be a follower. I don't mind that at all. However, being given responsibility and being put in a position of authority, she changed. It changed her and her attitude and how she treated me changed. And it really had a negative impact on our friendship. And unfortunately, within a couple of weeks, this rift started to form between us and after three months of working together, that rift was so large that it could never, ever be healed. And we have never been friends since. And that's such a shame, but these things happen. Now, next on our list is another noun and it is red herring. Red herring. We spell this R E D red. Herring, H E R R I N G. Red herring. A red herring is something that's deceptive, a false lead. So, if you're trying to track something down, and then you think you find it, but it's not the real thing, it was something that was there to distract you from the real thing, then it's a red herring. A red herring is a device that's sometimes used within murder mysteries. Or if it's like a who's done it kind of novel or interactive game and you're trying to work out who's the criminal, who committed the crime, then there usually is a red herring. There's usually lots of clues that make you think it's a certain person, all these clues lead to a certain person, when in fact it's often the person that you don't think could possibly be the criminal. Here's another example,"The detective realised the supposed murder weapon was a red herring, leading him down the wrong path in his investigation." Next on the list is a noun phrase and it is the essence of something. The essence of something. We spell essence E S S E N C E. Essence. The essence of something is the most important aspect or quality of that thing. So, I might say the essence of a painting, what's the most important thing that this painting is trying to get across? The essence of this painting is peace and harmony. Even though you see lots of other little details that tell little stories, the essence, the important fundamental part of this piece of art is peace and harmony. Or here's another example,"The essence of a good book is its ability to captivate and transport the reader to another world." You sometimes hear this phrase slightly inverted. You'll hear a set phrase. Time is of the essence. Time is of the essence, meaning time is really important. So, imagining that someone comes down with a rare illness and the doctors don't really understand what's going on and they're having to do a lot of research, they're trying to find some medicine that will work to treat this illness. But this person is getting sicker and sicker by the day. And it won't be long before they die. Duh, duh, duh. In that scenario you'd say time is of the essence. We must work fast to find the cure for this person. We must work fast to create a treatment that would work against this particular illness. Time is of the essence. Time is most important. Okay, moving on. The next piece on today's list is an adjective and it is ruthless. Ruthless. If you describe a person as ruthless, then they have no mercy. They have no compassion. So, they will act in a very harsh way in order to achieve their goals. They won't be sympathetic to other people. They won't show mercy. They won't be compassionate. Here's an example,"We have to be ruthless in negotiations to secure the best deal for the company, no more Mr. Nice Guy!" Would you say that you have ever been ruthless? Have you ever been in a situation where you've had to be ruthless? Did that come easy to you or did you find that tricky? I'm not very good at being ruthless because I'm quite an empathetic person. So, I'm very concerned with how I impact other people. You know, if I upset someone, then it plays on my mind for a long time. It'll keep me awake at night. I'll be so bothered about the fact that I upset somebody and I have to then do something to put it right. So, I'm very aware of my impact on others and it's really important to me that I have a positive impact on other people. So, I struggle to be ruthless. It doesn't come naturally to me. Okay, last on today's list is a verb phrase and it is to be drawn to something. We spell drawn. D R A W N. Drawn. Drawn. If you are drawn to something, then you are strongly attracted to it. But this could be anything. It could be a hobby. It could be a place. It could be a person. You have to learn more about it. You want to explore and examine and be close to that thing or that person because you are just pulled towards it. You are deeply interested for some reason. Some people are very charismatic, aren't they? They have a natural talent to be able to draw people in. They just have to be in a room and the way they sit, the way they breathe, the way they laugh and speak makes people just want to be near them. Everyone is drawn to a charismatic person. Here's an example sentence,"I have always been drawn to the ocean. Its vastness and tranquillity always captivates me." Okay, so that's our five. Let's do a quick recap. We started with the noun rift, which is a break or division between two things, usually between two people who've had a disagreement which prevents their friendship from continuing. A rift. Then we had the noun red herring, which is a false lead or a deceptive clue that distracts you from the real thing. Then we had the noun phrase, the essence of something, which is the fundamental or most important quality of a thing. Then we had the adjective ruthless. which describes someone who shows no mercy or compassion. And we finished with the verb phrase to be drawn to something, which is to have a very strong attraction or inclination towards something or someone, to be drawn to them. Let's now do this for pronunciation purposes. Please repeat after me. Rift. Rift. Red herring. Red herring. The essence of. The essence of. Ruthless. Ruthless. To be drawn to. To be drawn to. Fantastic. Now let me tell you about my friend Mary and I want to test your memory at the same time. Mary and I were the best of friends. We both shared a love for board games and we were particularly attracted to the game of Monopoly. What verb phrase could I use to describe this strong attraction that we both had towards this game? We were both drawn to this particular game. We both loved to play Monopoly. Now, unfortunately one particular night turned into what has now been a long division between the two of us. We haven't actually spoken since this particular night. What noun could I use to describe this division between us that was sparked because of an argument that we had? A rift. A rift has grown between us, unfortunately, due to this particular night. What happened on that night was Mary turned to me and asked me a very rare question. She asked me to do her a favour. As her friend, she asked if I would trade my most valuable property on the board, Mayfair, for one of her stations. Now, I knew this was a terrible trade, but she said that later down the line she was going to do a good deal with me to help me out and this would be a great trade. So, as my friend, I trusted her. I took her word and I said,"Of course, Mary, I will trade my most valuable property to help you out. And because you've said there's going to be a good deal for me later." Of course, this was a false lead. And she was being very unkind. What noun could I use to describe this false lead? A red herring. This was a red herring. She was just tricking me. I traded my most valuable property. She slapped some hotels on it and I became bankrupt. Now, for me, the most fundamental and important part of playing Monopoly, playing the game with my friends is fairness and quality time with my friends. That's the most fundamental aspect of the game. What noun phrase could I use to describe this fundamental aspect? It's the essence of game night. It's the essence of game night. Fairness and friendship. That is the essence of game night and the reason we play Monopoly. But on this particular occasion, Mary behaved in a very unusual way. She had no compassion and no mercy. What adjective could I use to describe her despicable actions? Ruthless. She was ruthless that night and I've never seen her play like that before. So, of course, we had it out. We had a big argument. It all blew up. We had a big argument. We stormed away from each other and we haven't spoken since. And so, there's now a rift between us and unless she calls me to apologise, it will remain that way, unfortunately. So, let's recap that story quickly. Mary and I were both drawn to the game of Monopoly. However, one fateful night caused a huge rift between us, even though we'd been friends for years. And on this fateful night, Mary set a red herring. She asked me to do something I'd never normally do and trade my most valuable property. But this was a red herring. It was a false lead and she was simply trying to get to be the most powerful property tycoon on the board so she could bankrupt everybody else, which was, it was so ruthless. It was so ruthless of her. She's never behaved that way before. And I tried to remind her that the essence of the game was fairness and friendship, and she had undermined that. So, this rift has now grown between us, and it may never be resolved. Okay, I hope you enjoyed today's off-the-cuff story. It was, of course, completely made up, fabricated on the spot. It keeps my grey matter working hard. Now let's go to a better prepared story to revisit these pieces once again in storytime. Jacob had always been fascinated with the world of theatrics. As an author, he had always been drawn to the magic of bringing characters to life on stage. But it wasn't until he stumbled upon a short play written by the renowned Ruth Rendell, that he knew he wanted to try his hand at writing a mystery play. Living in a small farming village in Shropshire, Jacob was surrounded by inspiration. The 1980s atmosphere added to the quaint charm of the village, but beneath the surface, tensions were brewing between the local farmers. Old family feuds and status dynamics were causing rifts between the once close-knit community. As Jacob sat in his study, brainstorming ideas for his play, he felt drawn to the drama that was unfolding in his own backyard. He knew that he wanted to capture the essence of the village in his play, and what better way to do that than through a murder mystery. The story began to take shape in Jacob's mind. A wealthy farmer, known for his ruthless business tactics, was found dead in his fields. The prime suspect? His long-time rival and neighbour, who had always been envious of his success. But as Jacob delved deeper into the characters and their relationships, he realised that there were many people who had a motive for wanting the wealthy farmer dead. Jacob's excitement grew as he wrote the play, weaving in clues and red herrings to keep the audience guessing until the very end. He even added a touch of romance between the detective and the victim's daughter, adding a twist to the classic murder mystery. When the play was finally performed at the local community theatre, Jacob's writing was praised by both the audience and the actors. His dream of getting into the world of theatrics had become a reality, and he couldn't have been more thrilled. From that day on, Jacob's plays became a regular feature at the community theatre. And each time, he would draw inspiration from the tensions and drama of his small farming village, just like Ruth Rendell had done years ago. And that brings us to the end of today's episode. If you did enjoy it, please take a second to give a like, a rating or a view. And always consider recommending The English Like a Native Podcast to your English-learning friends. Until tomorrow, take very good care of yourself, and goodbye.