Upper Intermediate Season 1 S1 #8 - The White House is Meeting with the Capitol to Talk about Wall Street
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Hi everyone, Jonathan here. And I'm Day Day. The White House is meeting with the Capitol to talk about Wall Street. In this lesson, we will learn to use metonyms. Metonyms are words that are used to represent something they are related to. We'll hear a conversation inside a hallway in the U.S. Capitol building. This conversation takes place between Dave and Sheila. They are discussing their work. Since Dave and Sheila are friends, they'll be speaking very casually. Let's listen to the conversation.

Oh hey Dave, I'm so sorry to hear that you got mugged. That's terrible. Yeah, I'll be okay though. The police officer was actually really cute. I think I'm going to ask her out. How's your work going? You dog! Work is alright. I'm super busy though. I'm on my way to meet with the Congressional Research Service right now. Really? You're going over to the Library of Congress? What for?

I'm writing this big memo for next week's hearing about Wall Street. The White House is coming over to meet with us, and K Street keeps trying to sneak their way into the discussions. Jeez, sounds crazy. It is. Ugh, I'm so stressed out. If I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier. If I were you, I wouldn't mind. It sounds like really interesting work. I know. But if I didn't have so much work, I wouldn't be so annoying. ♪

Oh, those lobbyists from K Street, always trying to get into meetings and doing anything to meet with Congress people. Speaking of K Street and lobbyists, can you explain what both of those are for our listeners? We'll get to that more in the vocab section, but lobbying is a huge industry in Washington, D.C.

Lobbyists are people paid by interest groups like industries, organizations, and unions to try and convince U.S. Congresspeople to pass laws that they support and block legislation they oppose.

Hmm. So what exactly do they do? They do this by meeting with U.S. Congress people and their staff. Lobbyists usually have worked as government staff members, so the Congress people and staff they want to meet with are often their previous co-workers and friends. They try to meet them to present their proposals and convince them to support their ideas. Ah.

That sounds difficult. It is. Large industries, like pharmaceutical companies or the financial services sector, spend tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars every year on lobbying. That's a ton of money. It is, and it's a big point of controversy for those who believe the money is corrupting politicians and feel that politicians can be bought. I can definitely see that.

One thing they can't corrupt, though, is vocab. Ready? Okay, let's go. The first word we shall see is... To ask out. To ask someone on a date with you. To ask out. To ask out. Next is... Hearing. A meeting of a committee where experts on an issue are questioned. Hearing. Hearing. Next we have... To sneak in.

to gain access to something secretly, to sneak in, to sneak in. Next is the Library of Congress, the National Library of the United States and the largest library in the world, also the home for all congressional research. The Library of Congress, the Library of Congress. Next we have Congressional Research Service,

A governmental organization that provides unbiased research requested by the Congress to see the potential impact of legislation. It is based in the Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service. Congressional Research Service. Next is... Annoying. Bothersome. Troublesome. Annoying. Annoying. Next we have... To whine. To complain. To whine. To whine.

Next is... K Street. A street in northwest Washington, D.C., famous for being the headquarters of many lobbying firms. Lobbying firms try to influence congresspeople on behalf of their clients' interests. K Street. K Street. Next we have... Wall Street. A street in New York City, famous for being the headquarters of many U.S. and world financial institutions. Wall Street. Wall Street. Next is...

The White House. The house where the U.S. President lives. The White House. The White House. Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases from this lesson. What will we look at first? We're going to look at some of the business and government jargon that came up in the dialogue. Can you tell us what Sheila says about next week's hearing? Okay, here goes.

Sheila says, I'm writing this big memo for next week's hearing about Wall Street. The White House is coming over to meet with us, and K Street keeps trying to sneak their way into the discussions. Great. Remember in the vocab section when we talked about K Street, Wall Street, and the White House? Yep. We can use the names of the locations of some important businesses and government organizations to represent them as a whole. This is what it means when we say we are using metonyms.

Ah, I see. So Sheila meant that there is a hearing about the financial services sector next week, and the president is coming over to meet with Sheila's office, but lobbyists keep trying to get into the discussions? Exactly. There are a huge amount of metonyms and jargon that are used in government. Let's look at some other ones. Okay. This is one that I think everyone knows.

Hollywood. Ah, that must be the movie industry. That's right. Can you figure out what we say when we are talking about the Pentagon? Well, I know the Pentagon is a big building near D.C. I think the Army works there? Yup. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the U.S. military, so we can talk about the military as a whole by calling them the Pentagon.

Check out the lesson notes for even more examples of common metonyms that you can use. I feel we should be getting to the grammar though. Me too. Let's do it. This lesson's grammar point is something most of you are probably already familiar with. The conditional tense is used when we want to express what we would do if something were to be true. There are three lines from the dialogue that use the conditional tense. Let's take another listen to them.

Sheila says, if I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier. And then Dave says, if I were you, I wouldn't whine. It sounds like really interesting work. To which Sheila replies,

But if I didn't have so much work, I wouldn't be so annoying. In this example, we first see the conditional used for a positive statement. If something is true, then I would do something. Right. Sheila says, if I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier. After that, Dave responds with a mixed statement. If something is true, then I wouldn't do something.

Hmm, I see. If I were you, I wouldn't whine. And lastly, we see a negative statement. If something is false, then I wouldn't do something. Yes. If I didn't have so much work, I wouldn't be so annoying. Being negative or positive doesn't really change the structure of the grammar, though. I think it's just important for understanding what they are saying. That's right. It always follows the same pattern.

if followed by a past tense verb, and then would or wouldn't followed by an infinitive verb. Right. Let's show some examples. Okay. If I got a million dollars, I would eat sushi every day. If I didn't have a job, I wouldn't have to get up early. If I didn't like meat, I would be a vegetarian.

If I didn't like you, I wouldn't do this podcast. Aw, so you like me? There is one exception to this rule, though. That's right. Dave said, if I were you, I wouldn't whine. Why isn't it was? Because it's the conditional. For to be, we always use were.

Can you tell me an example? Of course. If I weren't so short, I would play basketball. How about one more? If lobbying were outlawed, Washington, D.C. would be a better city. That's easy to understand. Yep, it's not too difficult. Just remember to use were instead of was for I and he, she, or it.

All right. Well, listeners, it looks like we're just about out of time for this lesson. Come back soon for the next lesson. Bye for now. Oh, hey, Dave. I'm so sorry to hear that you got mugged. That's terrible. Yeah, I'll be okay, though. The police officer was actually really cute. I think I'm going to ask her out. How's your work going? You dog. Work is all right. I'm super busy, though. I'm on my way to meet with the Congressional Research Service right now.

Really? You're going over to the Library of Congress? What for? I'm writing this big memo for next week's hearing about Wall Street. The White House is coming over to meet with us, and K Street keeps trying to sneak their way into the discussions. Jeez, sounds crazy. It is. Ugh, I'm so stressed out. If I had a bit more time, it would be so much easier. If I were you, I wouldn't mind. It sounds like really interesting work.

I know. But if I didn't have so much work, I wouldn't be so annoying.