| [00:00.44] |
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. My name is Callum Robertson. |
| [00:04.66] |
And I'm Yang Li. |
| [00:06.17] |
Come 'ere then! Oi! Come on then! Want a fight? Who are ya? |
| [00:10.99] |
Oh, Callum! Who are all those horrible men that I can hear on my headphones? |
| [00:15.40] |
Well, Li, they are yobs. |
| [00:17.56] |
Yobs? |
| [00:19.11] |
Yes, yobs. Yob is our phrase for today. It's an informal word that refers to a man who is loud and rude and possibly rather violent. |
| [00:30.26] |
Oh, that sounds like you! |
| [00:32.57] |
What are you talking about, sounds like me? What do you mean? Are you asking for a fight? |
| [00:36.90] |
No, no, no! But do you see what I mean? You sound like a yob. |
| [00:41.95] |
Hmm, yes, OK. Sorry about that. |
| [00:46.60] |
Hmm, anyway, I chose this word because as many people will know the UK recently experienced some violence on the streets of London and other cities. |
| [00:57.99] |
'Yob' is a word that the British press used to describe the rioters. |
| [01:04.43] |
Let's hear some real headlines from some British newspapers |
| [01:08.27] |
UK riots: 11 councils to evict 'riot yobs'. |
| [01:12.78] |
Ken Clarke blames 'feral' yobs. |
| [01:15.46] |
600 riot yobs left DNA on windows. |
| [01:19.20] |
Riot yobs filmed attacking cop cars. |
| [01:22.84] |
Riot yobs can't hide. |
| [01:25.17] |
UK riots: young yobs back on streets despite David Cameron's pledge. |
| [01:30.73] |
Ah, I'm not sure I remember seeing this word yob on the BBC news site. |
| [01:36.88] |
Well, no. It's a very negative and judgemental word. The BBC tends to avoid this kind of language in its news stories. |
| [01:45.41] |
But this is a piece of British slang that is very common in the UK. |
| [01:50.60] |
And we also sometimes use the word yobbo. |
| [01:53.24] |
Yobbo. Hmm, but where do all these words come from? |
| [01:58.29] |
Well, interestingly, what we have here is an example of backslang. |
| [02:02.52] |
If you read the word yob backwards, what do you get? |
| [02:07.73] |
Hmm, B.O.Y., boy. |
| [02:10.97] |
Exactly. And that's what the word used to mean, but now it refers to a rude and violent man, often a young man but not always. |
| [02:20.80] |
Listen Callum, I'm sorry about earlier. I don't really think you are a yob. You are a gentleman. |
| [02:26.78] |
Oh, thanks Li. |
| [02:28.26] |
But in any case you know if we were to get in a fight I would beat you. So don't you try that again! |
| [02:35.66] |
OK. |
