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  • Rafael Nadal has won a record 21st Grand Slam singles title in Australia.

  • Hello, welcome to News Review from BBC Learning English.

  • I'm Rob and joining me to talk about this story is Roy. Hello Roy.

  • Hello Rob and hello everybody.

  • If you would like to test yourself on the vocabulary around this story,

  • all you need to do is head to our website

  • bbclearningenglish.com to take a quiz.

  • But now, let's hear more about this story from this BBC News Report:

  • So, Rafael Nadal has won a record 21 Grand Slam singles titles

  • and he has moved ahead of rivals Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

  • In the Australian Open, he played against, in the final, Daniil Medvedev

  • and at times it looked like he was going to lose,

  • but in the end he won.

  • Yeah, and we've got three words and expressions

  • from the news headlines to help us talk about this story.

  • What are those words and expressions please, Roy?

  • We have: 'comeback', 'Herculean' and 'GOAT'.

  • So, that's 'comeback', 'Herculean' and 'GOAT'.

  • OK. Let's have a look at the first expression from a news headline please.

  • Yes. So, our first expression comes from Reuters and the headline reads:

  • So, that's 'comeback' — winning after being in a losing position.

  • Yes. So, 'comeback' is spelt C-O-M-E-B-A-C-K

  • and is a noun and it basically means to win after being in...

  • win after being in a losing position.

  • OK. Let's talk about this match.

  • I watched this match and, of course, at first Nadal was losing,

  • but then he got better and therefore he made a 'comeback', didn't he?

  • Yeah, a perfect example of a 'comeback'

  • and it is commonly used in sporting eventsfor example, like that

  • but there are other ways that we use 'comeback' other

  • than to say winning after being in a losing position.

  • But first, let's have a look at those words, or that word, 'come'.

  • There's that expression 'come and go';

  • these words get confused a bit, don't they?

  • They do. OK. So, the difference between 'come' and 'go':

  • they're both about travelling to a place,

  • but a lot of it depends on perspective.

  • Let's talk about 'go' first.

  • 'Go' is when you're travelling to another place.

  • So, in a conversation, I will be the speaker;

  • Rob, you are the listener.

  • I say, 'I will go to Brazil.' It is another place

  • where neither the speaker, me, or the listener is present,

  • so you 'go' there: 'go' to another place.

  • 'Come' is a little bit different.

  • It means travel to a place where either the listener

  • sorrythe listener, which is you, or the speaker is present.

  • So, for example, I could 'come' to your house, which is where you are present,

  • or you could 'come' to my house.

  • So, it's like: 'come here' and 'go there' — very simplistically put.

  • 'Come back' is a phrasal verb, which means return to here

  • and it is inseparable. So, we say: 'Come back home,' for example.

  • So, I went to Brazil earlier this year

  • and then I 'came back' to the UK four weeks later.

  • And also, could I say, you know,

  • if you visited my house and you left your car keys behind,

  • could I say to you: 'Roy, come back. You've forgotten your keys.'

  • Yeah, it basically means 'return'.

  • Return to me — 'come back' here.

  • Are you making a 'comeback', when you 'come back' for your keys then?

  • Ah... well, that's interesting.

  • That's another use of 'come back' there.

  • We have another use and it quite often gets used

  • to mean return to one's success,

  • or to return to an activity that someone was successful for.

  • Now, last year, Neil and I, we did a News Review

  • about ABBA making a 'comeback tour'.

  • That basically means they are returning to the activity

  • the concerts, the performancesthat they were famous for: a 'comeback'.

  • And in sport, sometimes we hear about footballers making a 'comeback'

  • after a long period of illness or injury.

  • Absolutelycan be used as both a noun and a verb:

  • to 'come back' from injury, or a 'comeback'.

  • Got it. OK. Let's have a summary of 'comeback':

  • Roy just mentioned about ABBA making a 'comeback'

  • and that's what we discussed last year in News Review.

  • How can we watch that video again please, Roy?

  • All you need to do is click the link in the description below.

  • OK. Let's now have a look at your next news headline please.

  • OK. So, our next headline comes from BBC Sport and it reads:

  • So, that's 'Herculean' — requiring great effort; or epic.

  • So, 'Herculean' is spelt H-E-R-C-U-L-E-A-N

  • and it's being used as an adjective.

  • And it basically describes something that requires a lot of effort,

  • or is incredible, or epic.

  • Now, I've heard of Hercules.

  • Is he related to Heracles?

  • OK. So, Hercules is present in Roman mythology.

  • I believe he is the son of Jupiter and he was famously talked about

  • as being just incredibly strong and athletic and physically fit.

  • Heracles is the Greek mythological version of Hercules.

  • Now, in British English, we sometimes use the adjective form

  • of the name Hercules, 'Herculean', to talk about something that requires

  • an incredible amount of strength or energy

  • and it quite often is talked aboutused to talk about sporting events.

  • So, if an athlete makes a 'Herculean' effort to win the race,

  • maybe they run faster than you could ever imagine.

  • But, we don't only limit it to using...

  • to talking about sporting events; you can also talk about...

  • you can also use it to talk about incredible efforts in other areas.

  • Ah, yes, such as natural disasters.

  • When we hear about some of the terrible things that have happened,

  • we hear about a 'Herculean' effort to help the people

  • who've been devastated by, say, floods or a tornadothat sort of thing.

  • Lots of effort involved to help the people.

  • Yeah, like, just a massive movement to evacuate, help, deliver aid

  • it's a 'Herculean' effort.

  • And we also talk about the effort we make at work

  • we use this word then, don't we?

  • Absolutely. We use it...

  • we say a 'Herculean' task, maybesomething that is incredibly difficult.

  • Now, it is quite commonly used to talk about something physical:

  • physical labourso, something that requires a lot of strength,

  • you could say: 'It's a Herculean task.'

  • But we also use it to talk about work that is very difficult

  • or something that is incredibly time-consuming.

  • OK. And I think you've made a 'Herculean' effort to explain this word,

  • so let's have a summary:

  • We've talked a lot about climate change and in 6 Minute English,

  • we talked about changing the Earth's climate.

  • How can we watch that video please, Roy?

  • All you need to do is click the link in the description.

  • Great. OK. Let's have a look at your next headline please.

  • OK. So, our next headline comes from The Express and it reads:

  • So, that's 'GOAT' — greatest of all time.

  • Yes. So, 'GOAT' is spelt G-O-A-T and it is an acronym,

  • which stands for 'greatest of all time' but we say 'GOAT'.

  • OK. And just to be clear, we're not talking about the farmyard animal

  • and we're not talking about goats winning tennis here, are we?

  • No...! No, now I've got that image in my mind, but no.

  • No, we're not talking about the animal commonly seen on a farm

  • or sometimes on mountain sides that are famous for eating nearly everything;

  • they just eat everything and they have horns and a little beard.

  • No, we're not talking about that.

  • We're talking about an acronym 'greatest of all time' — 'GOAT'.

  • Now, an acronym is somewhere...

  • something where we take the first letters of several words

  • and say it as one word.

  • For example: NASA, NATO and this one is 'greatest of all time'.

  • G-O-A-T — 'GOAT'.

  • Right. And we're not just talking about somebody amazing;

  • this is the most amazing person everthe greatest...

  • ...of all time. Of all time.

  • Yeah, absolutely. So, it's not just, like:

  • 'Oh, they're really good.' This is the greatest example

  • of that person or of that achievement ever.

  • And we do commonly use it to talk about sports stars,

  • but we also use it to talk about, maybe, music, singers, bands:

  • 'Oh, that band is the GOAT!'

  • Video gamesthings that we believe are the greatest ever.

  • And you can use it as a noun and also an adjective.

  • He or she or they are the 'GOAT',

  • or you can also say they will forever be known as 'GOAT'.

  • OK. Well, not only are you the 'GOAT' of News Review...

  • you look a bit like a 'goat' as well!

  • Maaah!

  • Just kidding! Just kidding.

  • Oh! Very good!

  • Let's have a summary:

  • OK. Roy, it's now time to recap the vocabulary

  • we've talked about today please.

  • Yeah, sure. We had 'comeback' — winning after being in a losing position.

  • We had 'Herculean' — requiring... requiring great effort; epic.

  • And we had 'GOAT' — greatest of all time.

  • Don't forgetyou can test yourself

  • on the words and expressions we've discussed today in a quiz

  • and that's on our website at bbclearningenglish.com.

  • There's lots of other Learning English resources there too.

  • And don't forget of coursewe're all across social media.

  • That's all for News Review for today.

  • We'll see you again next time. Thanks for watching. Bye bye!

  • Bye.

Rafael Nadal has won a record 21st Grand Slam singles title in Australia.

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