📘 Part 3: Popularity

This episode's vocabulary

Personable (adj.) - having a pleasant appearance and character.

Disagreeable (adj.) - unpleasant.

At each other's throats (idiom) - if two people are at each other's throats, they are arguing angrily.

To subordinate (verb) - having a lower or less important position.

Mutually exclusive - not possible at the same time.

Well-liked (adj.) - liked by many people.

To praise (verb) - to express admiration or approval of the achievements or characteristics of a person or thing.

Overinflated (adj.) - inflated too much.

To inflate (verb) - to become or to make something larger or more important.

Insulation (noun) - the fact of being protected from something harmful.

Backlash (noun) - a strong feeling among a group of people in reaction to a change or recent events in society or politics.

Inclined (adj.) - likely or wanting to do something.

Detriment (noun) - harm or damage.

Well-rounded (adj.) - involving or having experience in a wide range of ideas or activities.

To showcase (verb) - to show the best qualities or parts of something.

Double-edged (adj.) - Something that is double-edged acts in two ways, often with one negative and one positive effect.

Charitable (adj.) - kind and not judging people in a negative way.

Outrageously (adverb) - in a way that is shocking, usually because of being unusual or strange.

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Questions and Answers

M: Let's talk about popularity. Rory, tell me what kinds of people are popular at work?

R: Most of the time it's people who can do their jobs well and in a personable manner. I think there are occasions when being disagreeable and uncaring of people's emotions, well, works well, in certain circumstances. But if everyone behaved that way, then the workplace cultures would just fall apart and everyone would be at each other's throats.

M: And do you think it's good to be popular at work?

R: Most of the time, yes. I can imagine there are circumstances where it's not, but most of the time it works out quite well.

M: Are bosses more popular than employees at work?

R: If anything, it seems like the opposite's the case. I was speaking to someone about this the other day and he was basically referring to managers, especially middle managers, as punch bags for all sides and the sort of structure of the company. And we shouldn't forget that the employees subordinate to managers are doing the actual work. So it's easy to see why bosses might be less popular because they are not doing the actual work that's involved in the business. On the other hand, upper management are involved with creating and running the company, so they might be more popular for giving people jobs. I think that would make anyone popular in a bad economic climate.

M: Which one is more important? Keeping a good relationship with colleagues or doing well at work?

R: I'm not sure they're mutually exclusive, to be honest. Most jobs require you to work with other people, so having a good working relationship is essential for just getting by. Can't imagine a workplace where the opposite would be the case unless it was like The Hunger Games or something.

M: And is it true for your country or the whole world?

R: I imagine it's probably true for the whole world. But to a greater and lesser extent, some cultures are more competitive than others.

M: And do you think most people want to be popular at work?

R: I can't imagine a situation where the reverse would be true unless you're like extremely introverted and then you might not like getting the attention from lots of other people. But most people want to be well-liked, if not necessarily praised for that all the time. Then just being aware of it is a good thing.

M: And what could be the disadvantages of being popular amongst your colleagues or...

R: Well, it could be a distraction, first and foremost. For example, you might have an overinflated sense of your own importance, and that could lead you to behave in ways that are a bit arrogant, for example. Or you imagine you have more power than you actually do.

M: And what about school? What are the benefits for a child to be popular at school and what are the disadvantages?

R: Well, there's a certain level of insulation from any social backlash, since people are more likely to let you off with things, if they like you. And it's nice to have a lot of friends, isn't it? As for the disadvantages, I think we already kind of covered that. If children know that they're well-liked and know they'll get away with things, then they might be inclined to behave in a way that's not very nice towards other people.

M: And what about celebrities? Are they good role models for children?

R: That will depend entirely on what they're doing. Given that most celebrities are famous because they were very driven and single-minded and focused on one thing, usually to the detriment of others, they're probably not great role models for being a well-rounded human being, but they might be good role models in terms of showcasing where following your ambitions can get you.

M: Do you think that any person could be popular and could enjoy this fame?

R: Well, anybody could be popular, but it's the extent of the popularity that they might achieve. I think it's probably easier to be popular if you're a traditionally good-looking person than if you're not. And I think that's true for most things in life, to be honest. That's unfortunate, but that's just a fact. People respond more positively to better-looking people.

M: Some people think that fame is a gift. Would you agree?

R: It's a bit of a double-edged sword, to be honest, because, okay, yes, it does get you all of these extra privileges. However, it's also got some drawbacks, like people being overly invasive in your personal and private life. And of course, like I say, if you have an overinflated sense of self-importance or the power really goes to your head, then that can lead you into some very dark behaviours as well. So it is a gift but it has to be handled with care.

M: Would you give me some examples of the dark behaviour of celebrities?

R: Well, it's not very charitable to focus on any, like to name names. However, we're all aware of cases where famous producers or directors in Hollywood have behaved outrageously towards members of staff. No, like in a particularly harassing way, but just treating them like they're a lower class of human being, like shouting and things like that. So that's, that's like the least extreme example of dark behaviour, but that's still not a nice thing to do to people who are really paid to help you.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers! I'm sure they'll be popular among our listeners.

R: Ho-ho, it's a pun.

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Discussion

M: Yeah. So remember, Rory, you told me when you were walking down the street in Moscow and somebody recognised you on the street?

R: Yeah, that was weird.

M: That was amazing. You know, like I walk around so often in Moscow and nobody recognised me just in the street.

R: I would consider that a blessing, to be honest with you. It's not... Especially if you're in a rush, the people don't know that, they're not doing that because they're evil. It's just if you have places to be going, then they really have time to stop and chat to everyone on the way there.

M: I do get recognised during the conferences so when they visit some conferences for teachers people recognise me. That's really nice and they want to take a selfie with me and yeah. That's, that's nice.

R: All right, show-off, calm yourself.

M: Yeah. And here we are talking about my overinflated sense of importance. So sense of importance, so how important I am. But what does overinflated mean?

R: It just means it's too much, like you think you're the best at everything or you're the bee's knees. That's not good to have. That's not an attractive feature, or it's certainly not good for encouraging people to work with you.

M: Yeah. What did you say? Bee's knees?

R: Yes. If you think you're the bee's knees, then you think you're amazing. I don't know where that comes from, to be honest.

M: It's an idiom.

R: I know, but I'm not really sure what the connexion with being a bee and having knees is. Like why does that mean that you're amazing?

M: Yeah. So people enjoy being famous at work or at school because they are, they enjoy being well-liked. So a famous person in school is well-liked or they are usually praised for different things, for praise for their performance at work or at school. And also they... What?

R: They have nice things said about them?

M: Yeah, yeah. People say nice things about them in a personable manner. What did you mean by a personable manner?

R: That just means treating people nicely so that they can relate to you. It includes things like using people's names when you're talking to them, shaking hands, just being kind. Not behaving like some sort of privileged eejit.

M: And if people disagreed with each other, if they didn't care, so then workplace cultures would fall apart and everyone would be at each other's throats.

R: So would for talking about things hypothetically. Yay.

M: And also the collocation to be at each other's throats. So when you want like to kill people, maybe for a better position or for a higher salary.

R: You can be said to be at each other's throats or people in your office could be said to be at each other's throats.

M: And then who is more popular? Bosses or employees? Employers or employees? Workers. And Rory said that, well, actually, middle managers are usually really popular at work because they can do their job well and they are doing the actual work.

R: Oh, no, not middle managers, like employees subordinate to the middle managers do the work. Middle managers are just...

M: Oh, okay.

R: They're just there to take orders from the upper managers.

M: Ah, right. Okay. Okay. So bosses, middle managers and then would go lower. So the managers who are subordinates. So who help the middle managers. Right? So like the usual managers, right?

R: Like a head of department, I suppose, is an example of middle management.

M: So. But you think that head of the department would not be as popular as just people who work for this head of department, right?

R: No. Because they're supervising the work that makes the money. So their job relies on the hard work produced by other people.

M: And then Rory says that, on the other hand, upper management are involved with creating and running the company. So you remember that we run a company. I run my own company means I'm the boss of my company. Yeah, it's called Maria's IELTS world. Maria's IELTS universe. So it's called, yeah. So I run my own IELTS, Maria IELTS universe. And interestingly enough, grammar-wise, Rory said that upper management are involved, but management actually is. Hmm. But what did Rory mean? He meant the people. Right?

R: Yes. So if we talk about the group as one thing, upper management is, but if we talk about the individuals making up the group upper management are.

M: Cool.

R: So it's all about perspective.

M: And then we can say something about a bad economic climate. So a bad economic situation and better, a better word is climate, huh?

R: So the economic climate right now is really bad, especially in Western Europe, where the cost of living is going through the roof.

M: Yeah. What about the cost of living in Scotland? What about the prices for, like, oil and gas?

R: It's not so bad because we're fairly insulated from the worst of it by our government. However, it's still not great. Get me back to Russia.

M: And then a good strategy is to say, I'm not sure they're mutually exclusive, to be honest. So like keeping a good relationship with colleagues or doing well at work. So the examiner gives you two options is it this or this, which is more important? And then you go, I'm not sure they are mutually exclusive. So you can do both. Right? So they're kind of, both of them are important. And then some introverted people may not like to be famous or may not enjoy being popular at work or at school introverted. What else can we say? What people don't like to be in the spotlight?

R: Socially distant, nervous, shy.

M: Anxious, yeah, mentally unstable people may not want to be in the spotlight.

R: No, wow, let's not connect being introverted to being mentally unstable.

Speaker 1 M: No, no, I'm just giving, like, examples and adjectives. Yeah. Just...

R: Okay.

M: Yeah. Introverted are introverted people. Mentally unstable are mentallly unstable. And then at school. So a child is popular at school. What are the benefits? And then Rory says something really band 50. Rory says there is a certain level of insulation from any social backlash. Rory, what?

R: Well, think about it. Like insulation is something that protects you, so it's like you don't suffer as much. And then social backlash is just social consequences for poor behaviour.

M: So social backlash, what is it again?

R: It's consequences for bad behaviour.

M: For example? Give us an example of a backlash.

R: Like for example, if you're popular and you say that you like a colour that's different to what the other kids like, then you wouldn't be treated as badly as you might be because you're well-liked. So it's just like, oh, they'll just do their own thing. It's fine, whatever.

M: Ah, okay, okay, okay. So if I'm popular, everybody has a smartphone, but I don't have a smartphone. I have this button phone, but still I'm popular and everybody doesn't make fun of me. That Maria doesn't have a smartphone. Because I'm already too cool, you know.

R: Yeah. I mean, like, I'm a big nerd, but because most people like me, it's not such a big deal that I like geeky things.

M: Hmm. Geeky stuff. Yeah.

R: Well, also, also, I don't really care what other people think. That's also quite good for being insulated from social backlash if you just like whatever, deal with it.

M: Cool. Yeah. So see, to be insulated from any social backlash. Nice. Then celebrities could be good role models or may not be great role models to children. And we can say some celebrities are well-rounded people, so well-rounded people, they know different things from different fields. And fame is a double-edged sword. That's a nice one.

R: It's another idiom.

M: It is, isn't it?

R: And that's a question tag.

M: So I said, like fame is a gift. Well, on the one hand, it is a gift. On the other hand, it is not a gift. So there are drawbacks, benefits. So it is a double-edged sword. Sword like a weapon. Edged, it has two edges, like it has two kind of sides. And Rory said that sometimes people could be invasive. So to be invasive to private life, what was it?

R: I can't remember. But some people might be invasive in terms of your private life. So it just means like people would be prying into your stuff, you might not really want them to do that, because it's none of their business.

M: Yeah, they pry into your own life. They are invasive or paparazzi could be invasive, like fans, followers could be invasive. And they pry into your private life. Pry like they poke their noses into your private affairs, and then power could go to your head, dear listener. So imagine you write a book and then you become all famous, and then the power goes to your head. And then you kind of start behaving in a strange way. You start having this overinflated sense of impotence, so the power goes to your head. Yeah. So the power didn't go to our heads. So we are still normal people. We are not celebrities. No.

R: Well, we're as normal as it's possible to be.

M: Yeah, we are all normal. Yeah. Especially Rory...

R: Oh, yeah. I'm so like, really I'm very boring. I don't do anything.

R: Scottish normal. Yeah, but I think we had this quiz or this survey on our social media. Do you think Rory is boring? And I think most people said that no.

R: Did they?

M: One of our listeners... Oh, I love that. One of our listeners, dear listener, maybe it was you, hello. So somebody said that Rory is not boring. Rory is like an ocean. They compared you to an ocean. That was so sweet.

R: Is that because I'm fat?

M: Too deep. You're fat, you're too big.

R: That's because you're big.

M: Oh, you're like an ocean. Sweet. Thank you very much for listening, dear listener! We'll see you in our next episode. Bye!

R: Bye!

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