M: But here, it's an adjective, yeah?
R: Yeah.
M: Like possibly false or dangerous. Like a suspect bag. Strange bag, suspicious. Yeah? Or for example, the results were suspect. And also, dear listener, the recent trend is... We call it ROPO. Research online, and purchase offline. So it's kind of vice versa. You first do your research online, you check out what's going on with a kettle you want to buy to make the best tea ever. And then you go to a brick-and-mortar store, to offline shops and you purchase the item offline. Yep. Research online, and purchase offline.
R: That's the first time I've ever heard of this.
M: Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Interesting. And it's kind of it's now kind of people are doing it now. So they don't go to physical stores first, but they research online and then buy the things. Maybe to avoid this craziness with the delivery. Because the delivery is just... The popularity of online shops could change the shops in the city centre. And Rory told us the popularity of online shops has exploded since the pandemic. So online shops have started being super popular.
R: Yeah. Well, yeah. Ridiculously popular. Lots of people order things online now.
M: People order things in all the time. So people order food at home. Yeah? So people order things in all the time.
R: Yeah, if you order, then it's usually food.
M: From takeaways to their regular weekly shop. So people buy groceries, like usual products, like milk, bread, and eggs online. They order food from restaurants. And then, Rory, you said, it's gutted the high street. First of all, tell us what a high street is. And then what gut, to gut.
R: So the high street is a specifically, it's a piece of British English, which means that it's talking about the place in towns where most of the shops are located. So for most people, this is the city center. And so that's, when we refer to the high street we're referring to these places where things are sold in brick and mortar stores. If something is gutted, then it means that a big chunk of it is removed, like a vital part. So if the high street is gutted, then there are lots of shops that are closing down, they're leaving this empty space, for example. And there are no new shops taking their place. But they're being replaced by things like coffee shops and charity shops. So that's not necessarily a bad thing.
M: So there's the popularity of online shops, damaged offline stores in city centres. The popularity of online shops gutted the high street. But now people have access to a wider range of goods and services online. So a wide range of goods and services online, meaning lots of things. Like any product can be bought online, right? These days. And any service as well, I think.
R: Well, almost any. I'm trying to think of something that you might struggle to buy. But...
M: Maybe like to open an account in a bank, in certain banks you have to go, like physically go to a bank to get a card but some banks just you can open an account online and they can deliver the card to you. So no problem. Off, Rory, being a girl is so expensive, you know?
R: Are you looking at your shopping list?
M: Yeah, I just have to buy things, you know? Perfume, cosmetics, shoes, dresses.
R: Do you have to buy them?
M: Absolutely. Like you see my face, Rory? Does it look nice? Look. Shiny. See?
R: I believe that your face would be nice even without all of these expensive things.
M: Yes, dear listener, avoid getting scammed when you buy things online. So if we speak about the dangers of online shopping, we use the words to be or get scammed. And also frauds. Rory, tell us about scams and frauds while shopping online.
R: What can we say about that? If something is a scam, then it's something that's sold under false pretences. So that means that people tell you one thing, that it's going to be amazing. And it turns out not to work properly, for example. The same thing is true of fraud, actually. It's all about saying things that are amazing about the products that are not true.
M: Thank you very much! And we'll get back to you in our next episode! Bye!
R: Bye!
M: Oh, I need new shoes now.