Understanding KAMALA HARRIS and DONALD TRUMP - English Vocabulary and Expressions from Politics

the biggest Topic in the news right now is the American presidential election let's Advance your English fluency by learning some Expressions that the candidates Camala Harris and Donald Trump were using in their campaign speeches you will learn both some political vocabulary and some useful everyday Expressions that you can use in order to sound like a native speaker and to help you reach true fluency make sure that you get my free downloadable PDF titled 20 essential English expressions for professionals you can get it by clicking on the link below it contains 20 of the most common

professional idioms and their definitions along with conversation practice questions to help you master these expressions and use them in real life situations plus there is a fill-in the blank quiz at the end for some extra practice understanding and using these Expressions will bring you one step closer to sounding like a native English speaker in a professional environment so go to the link below to get your copy and start practicing today okay let's learn the first expression the word is Baton and in a race Runners pass the Baton to another person on their team so we

say to pass the Baton or to have the Baton or to carry the Baton but it's also used as an expression to express responsibility or leadership passed from one person to another let's listen to the way Camala Harris used it and now the Baton is in our hands she said now the Baton is in our hands and that means the responsibility or leadership has now been passed to us let's look at some more sentences for example we can say after the election the outgoing president will hand over the Baton to the new leader or we

can say the retiring CEO passed the Baton to the new director let's listen to how some other people used it and I pass the Baton but I do not leave you you pass the Baton to the next person well in life we pass that baton to the Next Generation and it helps them to succeed in that moment let's learn the meaning of to vet someone what does it mean if I say he was vetted let's listen to Donald Trump use the verb to vet when you have open borders there's no checking there's no vetting to

vet means to thoroughly check or investigate someone to carefully examine in advance for example to find out if they're suitable for a job to check their background and he said when you have open borders there's no checking there's no vetting and that means with open borders there's no process to check or to investigate the people who are entering the United States for example we can say they vet all job candidates before scheduling the interviews and that means they find out as much as they can before hiring them or before interviewing them we can say have

they been vetted yes they have been thoroughly vetted it's essential to vet the sources of information before accepting them as true let's listen to how some other people used it this could be a great way to vet who was qualified and had a committee that vetted all of these proposals from faculty across the campus make sure that it's vetted very carefully the next one is strictly a political expression up and down the ticket let's listen to the way Camala Harris used it who have been active in their Republican parties for years who have supported Republican

candidates up and down the ticket in politics a ticket refers to a group of candidates running together in an election typically from the same party so we can say the Democratic ticket or the Republican ticket the presidential candidate is on the top of the ticket and we can say further down the ticket and those are the representatives the governors the Mayors and so on Camala Harris said some have supported Republican candidates up and down the ticket and that means some people have voted for Republican candidates from many different offices from local positions to the presidency

we can say voters are being encouraged to support Democrats or to support Republicans an up and down the ticket in the upcoming election let's learn the meaning of the verb to endorse what does it mean if I say I endorse him or I endorse her let's listen to Donald Trump border patrol they're phenomenal they endorsed me last week unanimous endorsement of the border patrol he said they endorsed me last week to endorse someone is to publicly or officially support someone to announce to the public who you support and what you support so when Trump said

they endorsed me last week that means this group publicly expressed their support for Trump we can say that organization is endorsing the candidate due to his policies on education many celebrities endorse various products on social media and some celebrities endorse presidential candidates they publicly announce who they support in order to try to influence voters let's look at the next expression dare I say dare I say let's listen to Camala Harris us it you all being here with me might be a bit surprising dare I say unusual we say dare I say to introduce an opinion

that might be controversial or surprising Camala Harris said you all being here might be a bit surprising dare I say unusual and she is expressing somewhat cautiously that it's surprising or even strange that those people gathered there we can say the movie was dare I say the worst one I've ever seen or his attitude was dare I say somewhat arrogant during the meeting the new design is dare I say much better than the previous one let's listen to how some other people used it I was accepted I was protected dare I say it I was

loved and some of us dare I say cannot even go to the bathroom without our phones threatening the health and dare I say survival of the the Democracy the word press has a lot of different meanings let's listen to the way Donald Trump used it you know what if we had an honest press a press that wrote the truth we would be so much further along as a country he said if we had an honest press a press that told the truth we could be so much further along as a country the Press means the

news the journalists we can use the press this way he gave a statement to the press the Scandal was widely covered in the Press what does the expression to be at stake mean let's listen to Camala Harris because at stake in this race are the democratic ideals that our Founders and generations of Americans before us have fought for at stake in this election is the Constitution of the United States it very self and this word is pronounced exactly the same as this word so at stake or I'm eating a stake same pronunciation at stake means

something important that is at risk or something important that is being decided she said because at stake at this race are the democratic ideals and that means that she believes that the results of this election will have an impact on the survival of democratic values we often say there's a lot at stake there's a lot at stake in this negotiation so we need to be careful there's a lot of money at stake and that means we could potentially lose a lot of money your reputation is at stake or our children's future is at stake let's

go on to the next word do you know the meaning of the verb to plunder let's listen to Trump allowed you jobs to be plundered and stolen from you to plunder means to steal or to take by force especially in a chaotic situation Trump said allowed your jobs to be plundered and stolen from you and he means that jobs that have been taken away unfairly or forcefully or unethically leaving workers without employment for example we can say during the crisis several stores were plundered by looters or Pirates used to plunder ships and take their goods

the corrupt government officials plundered the country's funds for personal gain what's the difference between the word people and the word folks why do we sometimes say folks instead of people let's listen to Camala Harris using folks and at some point in the career of the folks who joined me on stage folks is a more casual term for the word people we often use it to convey warmth and friendliness she said the folks who joined me on stage meaning the people who were there with her on stage we can say I want to thank all the

folks who helped me or we can say how are you folks doing today have you heard Porky Pig saying That's all folks That's all folks have you ever seen those cartoons Donald Trump used the idiomatic expression it's like taking candy from a baby what do you think that expression means let's listen North Carolina lost over 300,000 manufacturing jobs like taking candy from a baby like taking candy from a baby is something very easy to do and something usually done unfairly he implied that something was taken away from the people without much resistance like taking candy

from a baby we can say winning that game was so easy it was like taking candy from a baby it was so simple it was like taking candy from a baby convincing him to agree was like taking candy from a baby let's learn the expression to hang by a thread look at what's happened in Michigan with the automobiles I mean they were the the capital of the world for automobiles now they're really just hanging by a thread to be hanging by a thread is to be in a very unstable or dangerous situation he said they

were in the capital of automobiles in the world and now they're hanging by a thread and that means that the automobile industry used to be strong but now it's in a very bad State we can use it this way their business is hanging by a thread after the recent layoffs many employees feel that their jobs are hanging by a thread he is still in the hospital his life is hanging by a thread I feel very unstable I feel like I'm hanging by a thread let's listen to how some other people used it collapsed the building

I had just come out of was hanging by a thread their business is hanging by a thread their culture is toxic in fact some of your marriages are hanging by a thread let's learn the meaning of the word office when it's related to politics let's listen to Kamala Harris anyone who seeks the highest office in our land office refers to a position of authority often in government the highest office in our land means the presidency of the United States we can also say to run for office or to take office or to hold office he

decided to run for office and that means he decided to be a candidate for a political position maybe the presidency or maybe for governor or for mayor we can say it happened during his time in office the president-elect will officially take office in January do you know the meaning of the phrasal verb to wrap up what does it mean if I say let's wrap up let's listen to Donald Trump we're 14 days from sort of wrapping it up to wrap up means to finish or to complete something he said we are 14 days from wrapping

it up and what he is saying is that there are only 14 days left until the campaign ends until the election and now there are even fewer days left and we can use to wrap up this way we can say we need to wrap up the meeting by 5:00 p.m. let's wrap up this project before the deadline to wrap up is a phrasal verb and I always say you can't be fluent in English unless you're using phrasal verbs and that's why I created my course phrasal verbs for fluent English make sure you get it by

going to Accurate english.com you willar learned the most common phrasal verbs that native speakers use okay let's go on to the next expression do you know the meaning of the expression to have a corner on something let's listen to Camala Harris use it cuz nobody has a corner on the good ideas they actually come from many places to have a corner on something means to have exclusive control or dominance over something and to be more successful at it than anyone else and she said nobody has a corner on good ideas and that means no single

person or group has all the good ideas and that ideas come from many different people or many different places and we can use it this way this tech company has a corner on the market for Innovative smartphone designs while they have the corner on some products competitors are emerging let's learn the expression to cover a lot of territory what does it mean if I say we've covered a lot of territory it doesn't mean territory or land what do you think it means let's listen to Trump use it you have a lot of things in the

state you cover a lot of ter Peter they cover a a lot of territory in the state it means to do many things to address many topics and he said you do a lot of things in this state you cover a lot of territory in this state and he means that this state North Carolina produces many different things it has various Industries or areas of importance and we can use it this way the speaker covered a lot of territory in the presentation from healthc care to technology we will cover a lot of territory in this

meeting let's listen to how some other people used it thank you for doing that we we have covered a lot of territory over these five weeks we've covered a lot of territory well we've really covered a lot of territory we only have a minute left because we have now less than 2 hours to cover a lot of territories have you ever been stranded what does to be stranded mean let's listen to the way Donald Trump used it when the people of North Carolina were stranded in drowning in Hurricane Helen to be stranded means to be

left alone usually in a helpless situation without a way to move forward and he said when the people of North Carolina were stranded and drowning in Hurricane Helen and he means that the people were left helpless during the hurricane there was no one to help them we can say the hikers were stranded without food or water many Travelers were stranded at the airport due to the storm they were stranded in the middle of the ocean I hope I never get stranded anywhere have you ever been stranded if some of these Expressions were new for you

I suggest that you watch the video again and take notes and then make your own sentences make your own examples and make sure that you say them out loud that way you're much more likely to remember them thanks for watching and keep practicing your English