MULTIMEDIA-ENGLISH
Push to add drama (TNT)
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1:46
Video page URL
https://multimedia-english.com/videos/esl/push-to-add-drama-tnt-3832
Description

On a square where nothing really happens, we placed a buttom...


 

Transcript

Somewhere in a little town in Belgium
On a square where nothing really happens
We placed a button
And waited for someone to push it

<< your daily dose of drama. From 10/04 on Telenet >>

Explanations

SQUARE= A wide area, big or small, in the middle of a town, with no buildings, usually closed to traffic, very common in Mediterranean countries (Spanish “plaza”, Italian “piazza”, French “place”). Some famous squares around the world are:
- Trafalgar Square (London, UK)
- Piazza San Marco (Venice, Italy)
- Plaza Mayor (Salamanca, Spain)
- Tiananmen Square (Beijing/Peking, China)
- Times Square (New York, US)
- Piccadilly Circus (London, UK)
- Saint Peter’s Square (Vatican City)
- Djemaa el Fna (Marrakech, Morocco)
- Red Square (Moscow, Russia)

Notice that for some famous squares we keep the original name in the foreign language, while others are translated.
Notice also that squares come in all shapes and sizes, they can be square but they can also be circular, triangular, polygonal or shapeless.
The word “square” can be abbreviated to “Sqr” or “SQR”, especially in an address format:
Lucile Smittenson
2, Trafalgar Sqr
SW7 2AZ
London, UK


[We] WAITED FOR SOMEONE TO PUSH IT= Notice this construction, common to many other verbs:
- I’m waiting for something
- I’m waiting for the bus
- I’m waiting for the bus to arrive
---
- I expect something
- I expect someone to call me
---
- I want something
- I want to go
- No, I don’t want to go, I WANT YOU TO GO


DAILY= Happening every day (e.g. “a daily newspaper” = a newspaper which is published every day).

DOSE= A specified quantity of a therapeutic agent, such as a drug or medicine, prescribed to be taken at one time or at stated intervals.
(We don’t normally use “dose” to talk about TV programmes, but we can by analogy)

10/04= the 10th of April

DRAMA= A drama can be a serious play (a theatrical performance, like "Hamlet") as opposed to a comedy, which is not so serious and tragic. It can also be a real situation which looks like a theatrical drama (She lost her family and then her job and now she has nowhere to live, what a drama!). On television, the label "drama" has sometimes expanded to include any kind of movie or series with lots of action, violence, killing, etc.

ON TELENET= When talking about television we use the preposition ON, not “in”. (Telenet is a TV channel).
- I saw you on the television yesterday!
- Today, most of what you get on the TV is crap
- There are always terrible things showing up on the news

Notice the difference:
- I read it in the news (in the newspapers)
- I heard it on the news (on TV or the radio)