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  1. 'Deafening silence' is an .
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1103 The Big Divide

Adria and Shiloh talk about the big issues that divide most Americans.

  • Transcript
  • Audio Slide Show
  • Vocabulary
notes
Audio notes are simple, spoken, downloadable explanations of key vocabulary and phrases from the audio. Learn more about them at the audio notes tutorial page here.

discriminate against

Homosexuals are largely discriminated against in my state.

People who are discriminated against are treated differently and in a negative way, than most other people.  Notice the following:

  1. Immigrants are often discriminated against.
  2. It's against the law to discriminate against someone because of race, religion or sex.

oxymoron

Britney Spears was married for fifty five hours so saying that there's a sacredness to marriage is kind of an oxymoron.

An oxymoron is two words used together that seem to have opposite meaning.  Notice the following:

  1. 'pretty ugly' is a classic oxymoron.
  2. 'Seriously funny' is in fact a funny example of an oxymoron.

screw up

You did something wrong, maybe it's not immoral, but you screwed up.

When we screw up, that means we do something wrong or make a mistake.  Notice the following:

  1. I really screwed up at work yesterday.
  2. He screwed up big time!

suffer the consequences

You don't want to have to suffer the consequences for something that you did.

We use the phrase 'suffer the consequences' to talk about a negative result of our actions.  Notice the following:

  1. If you're late, you'll have to suffer the consequences.
  2. He had to suffer the consequences of his mistake.

the easy way out

They're choosing the easy way out.

Choosing the easy way out of a situation is the way that is least difficult for us.  Notice the following:

  1. I'm lazy.  I always look for the easy way out.
  2. The easy way out is not always the best way.