Monday Morning English
Travel News
JAL’s inflight announcements in English will be gender-free
Japan Airlines has announced that it will phase out the traditional salutation of “Ladies and Gentlemen” and will instead start using phrases such as “Attention all passengers…”
In Japanese, many airlines use the term “Mina sama” (皆様) which is already gender free. The new policy is part of ANA’s drive to be LGBTQ friendly and avoid identifying passengers in terms of their gender.
Other airlines have also followed suit.
LGBTQ: Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer.
Gender free: Not separating people by men and women. Not referring to people by their gender.
Follow suit: To follow a previous example made by someone else. 先例に従う.
This Week’s Natural Phrase
stop horsing around
Frank: Are you ready to study for the entrance exam? I reserved a room in the university library so we can concentrate on our books.
Brooke: Yeah, we can go after a while. I want to dress up like a cosplay character and take a selfie on the roof of the building, and then write a funny comment, and then post it on my social media, and then…
Frank: Hey, would you stop horsing around? The exam is tomorrow! We need to concentrate on the test preparation.
The phrase “horsing around” means to play carelessly, or to waste time making jokes instead of concentrating on a job. It is like horses running and playing in a field.
This Week’s Medical Phrase Brandon: What happened to that singer? He cancelled his tour, and he looks awful in his recent photos. Edward: He’s in a rehab clinic. He overcame an addiction last year, but now he’s had a relapse. Brandon: Well, I hope he makes it through rehab and gets back on track. He should make a comeback with his music career. Explanation: The term “overcome an addiction” means that a person struggled to get rid of a substance addiction or a behavioral addiction. This Week’s Business/Email Phrase Tomorrow is the basketball championship. It will be watched live around the country. This is the rookie player’s first championship game, and some people are worried that he might crack under pressure. It is normal to feel nervous when so many fans are counting on a player. Explanation: The term “crack under pressure” means to become afraid and make mistakes because of the pressure to win.overcome/overcame an addiction
(drug) addiction: 麻薬中毒
relapse (noun/verb): ぶり返し, 逆戻り
rehab (rehabilitation clinic) (noun): a clinical program to support people who have a (drug or alcohol) addiction. リハビリ治療Crack under pressure
counting on (someone): 当てにする
crack under pressure: プレッシャーに負け
