Hello. This is The English We Speak,
with me, Feifei...
...and hello, it's me, Rob.
Hey, Rob, you look a bit fed up.
I am. I had tickets to see Roy's Rolling
Biscuits next week - but now the gig
has been cancelled.
Cancelled - meaning a planned activity
will now not happen? Well,
lots of things have
been cancelled at the moment.
But this was 'The Biscuits' , you know,
the best band ever!
Well, Rob, to be honest, I cancelled
them a long time ago.
What?! You had tickets and
you cancelled them?
No, Rob. This is another meaning
of 'cancelled'. I didn't like
the bad language in the band's
songs so I stopped supporting
them - I 'cancelled' them.
Oh!
Yep. When you cancel someone,
you don't agree with what they do
or say, and you stop supporting
or promoting them. This particularly
relates to celebrities. So if you
don't like someone,
cancel them!
OK, Feifei. Let's hear some examples...
I was a big supporter of our local mayor
until he agreed to build
the by-pass. I've cancelled
him now.
My favourite singer started singing
anti-climate change songs.
She's cancelled as far as I'm
concerned!
'Cancel culture' means we can shame
celebrities on social media
when they have controversial
opinions.
This is The English We Speak from
BBC Learning English, and
we're talking about a new meaning
to the word 'cancelled'. Cancelling
someone means to stop
supporting or following someone,
particularly a public figure, because
of something they have said or done.
It's also known as
a 'cancel culture'.
So, you've cancelled supporting
Roy's Rolling Biscuits, and my gig
has been cancelled. So
what am I going to do now?
Hmmm... what about trying to get tickets
for that other band you like?
The Bananas? No, no, I'm cancelling
them because their tickets are
always too expensive.
Oh dear, Rob. It looks like you'll be having
a quiet night in. Bye.
What are you doing tonight, Feifei? Bye.