16:13
Well, hello and welcome to this English lesson about how to describe the rich and famous. So I am not rich and I do not consider myself famous. I think if you go below famous, if you go all the way down to well known in some parts of the world in the English learning community, that's where I am. I do not consider myself up here with the rich and famous, but I thought describing the rich and famous would be a great topic.
Couple months ago, I did a lesson on phrases we use to describe wealthy people. And when I did that lesson, I made some notes because I thought I could do a longer lesson on the same topic and teach some more words and phrases. So once again, welcome to this English lesson about describing the rich and famous. Rich. If you are rich, it means having a lot of money or valuable possessions. Would argue it means both. If you are rich, it generally means you are someone who has a lot of money and has a lot of valuable possessions.
I would change the or to an and although I did hear once of an older person passing away and everyone thought they were poor and they actually had millions of dollars. So I take that back. This is the correct definition. Having a lot of money or valuable possessions. This person flies on a private jet. That is telltale sign that they are rich. Famous, though, means to be known by many people. And of course, this is Matt Damon. Matt Damon is famous because he has been in a lot of movies and he is known by a lot of people. If I was walking down the street in Toronto
and saw Matt Damon, I would recognize him. I would know who he is because he is famous. He is known by many people. Okay, we got the rich and famous out of the way. Now we have to do rich and famous. When I searched the Internet, Ronaldo came up. If I said, who is the most rich and famous person in the world? This is the picture that came up. Number one meaning having a lot of money and being known by many people. If you look at the world, there are singers, there are actors, there are athletes, there are people on YouTube, and they all have different degrees of
celebrity or being rich or famous. And apparently this person, this guy's number one. So rich and famous, having a lot of money and being known by many people. Celebrity. So a celebrity is a person who is famous in the entertainment or social media world. And we do usually limit it to that. Like you could say, Mark Carney, the Prime Minister of Canada, is famous, but he's not a celebrity. A celebrity is someone who you see in movies.
Maybe there's someone who has a really good, song out right now. And it's a person who is famous in the entertainment world or social media world. This of course is Taylor Swift. Oh, I wasn't going to mention the names. I was going to tell all of you that as we do this lesson in the chat. For those of you that like to guess, try to guess who the person is. As we do the lesson. Well known, recognized by many people. If you are well known, it's very similar to being famous. But we use this in a broader sense.
Like you could say he's a well known journalist, he's a well known author, he's a well known movie star. She's a well known dancer. She's a well known athlete, Olympic athlete. So well known simply means that if someone saw you, there's a very good chance they would know who you are. So again, it's your job in the chat to shout out who the person is in the limelight, receiving a lot of public attention. This actress at this point in time is, definitely in the limelight. They are someone who, is in a lot of movies right now.
Seems like two or three movies a year have this person in it. So this person is certainly in the limelight. There are a lot of news articles about her. There are a lot of news stories on TV about her. She is definitely in the limelight. And just a little, push here. There is a band from Canada called Rush and they have a song called Limelight and it's really, really cool. And I think another band just put out a cover. I can't remember the name, but, Limelight, Good rock and song by a Canadian band named Rush.
Affluent, having a lot of money and living comfortably. You don't need to guess who this is because this is just a stock image. Okay? So don't, don't try to guess. But affluent means having a lot of money and living comfortably. If someone is affluent, they most likely don't need to work or they don't work. And I'll explain both of those. When you don't need to work, it might mean you still work because you enjoy it, but you don't actually need to earn money. So someone who is affluent might not work or they might not need to work, but they still do because they enjoy it. So affluent, having a lot of money and living comfortably, high profile, attracting a lot of public attention. So there are a lot of different
types of people who are high profile. If you are involved In AI right now, in developing artificial intelligence, you are most likely a high profile person. You are attracting a lot of public attention. When you watch the news, you probably hear about this person every once in a while because they are a high profile person in the world of AI. So once again, high profile, attracting a lot of public attention. There's a certain president in the world who is very high profile, is definitely attracting a lot of public attention quite often. So high profile, attracting a lot of public attention.
Influential, having the power to affect people or decisions. So this person, is very influential. They are influential in the world of business. They are actually influential in the world of politics as well. Although not directly involved. When you are influential, you can affect other people or decisions. You might affect people by giving advice. You might make decisions that also affect that other person. So influential, having the power to affect people or decisions. At my job, I guess I'm kind of a, little bit
of an influential person because I've been there for so long. So, so I've almost been teaching for 30 years at some point, which sounds crazy. So I have a little bit of influence because I remember the history of the school and I know how things used to be. Powerful. I said that a little quick. Having a lot of control or authority. So a powerful person can be a president or a prime minister or a king or a queen. When you read history, there are many powerful kings and queens, meaning they had a lot of control and authority. They could control what people did, they could make it. So people had to live a certain way because they were in charge, they were powerful, they had a lot of control and authority. Iconic.
Widely recognized and admired as being the top in your field or area. So if you are considered iconic, this person is iconic in the world of, of singing. Has her own show in Vegas. I don't know if it's still running, but she's definitely iconic. So it's not just being famous, it's got another. There's a couple more aspects to it. If you're iconic, you're really good at what you do and you're also one of the best at what you do. So if you were a singer and you had a large following, that would be cool.
But if you released album after album and they all went to number one on the charts and you did that for 15 years, people would start to say you're iconic because you're widely recognized for your work. Your work is of high quality. And it's of high quality even compared to other people doing the same thing. So iconic, widely recognized and admired as being the top in your field or area. Legendary, very famous and admired over a long time. So the Beatles definitely were legendary. They were probably the most famous band ever.
Like even today people still know who they are generally because they, they were legendary. Like they wrote music that connected with so many people that when you hear the song on the radio today, you still turn it up. Like if I'm driving in the car and a song comes on from the Beatles, I turn the radio up. There's no actual knob. I turn the radio up, that, that reveals my age, right? I turn the radio up because I, when I was a kid I still had a knob. Anyways, legendary, very famous and admired over a long time or over a long period of time. And the Beatles certainly fit that category.
The goat considered the greatest of all time in a particular area. This phrase I think just started in last, in the last five or 10 years. I think the first time I heard this phrase was five or six years ago. But if someone says you're the goat, it's not an insult. It doesn't mean that you are like a four legged animal with horns. It means that you are, if you look at the orange letters, G O A T you are the goat considered the greatest of all time in a particular area. So this person there, there would be arguments
about this but this person in NBA basketball, some people would say he's the goat. He's the greatest of all time. Successful, achieving goals and doing well in life or work. So if you are successful it doesn't mean that you're famous, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're rich. It does mean though that what you are doing for work or as a business person is going well and you are growing and improving and making money. So you could say Jen is successful at running a flower farm. You could also say that this person is successful, started a massive company and I order almost all of my stuff from this person's company now because it's so convenient. If I need some little computer
part, I order it from Amazon. It's just the way it is. And the Amazon guys are pretty nice except when they put Ratzebaid law. Anyways, successful achieving goals and doing well in life or work. The elite, a group with the most power, skill or wealth or a combination of those three things. You look here, you see a row of people. These are definitely the elite in the world right now. Most of them are attached to the tech world because things like social media and AI have pretty much created very successful people to the point that they have more
money than they know what to do with. So these are the elite, a, group with the most power, skill and wealth. Notice that I am not in this picture, so no more questions about my net worth. I, do not know these people, have not met these people. I am not part of the elite in any way, shape or form. Upper class, belonging to the highest social and economic, group. So just so you know, there's lower class, middle class and upper class. The vast majority of people in the world are either lower class or middle class. They're considered to either not earn enough money to have a nice life or to earn a comfortable amount of money. And there's a whole range. But then there's the upper class.
The people who, they're in the highest social and economic group, the upper class. Here's how someone told me, you know, if you're in the upper class, if you're in the upper class, you don't ask how much something is when you buy it. If you're in the lower class or middle class and you go to buy something, you say, how much is it? And then when they tell you how much it is, you decide if you want it. If you're in the upper class, you don't do that. You look at something and you say, I want it. And then you buy it and you don't ask how much it is. You see a Lamborghini. If you are someone who is in the upper class and you just decide you want it, you don't ask how much it is, you just decide you want it.
And that's how you know that you have too much money, in my opinion. Jetsetter, a person who travels frequently and lives a, luxurious lifestyle. So a jetsetter is someone who probably flies on jets a lot, and that is where the word comes from. But it doesn't have to mean that they fly everywhere. But a jetsetter is someone who decides to go on vacation for three weeks and then jumps on a private jet and goes there. A jetsetter is someone who maybe goes to a party in Paris and then the next day they fly to Montreal for another party. So a jetsetter, someone who, I would say this, a jet setter, is someone who uses an airplane the same
way we use cars and motorcycles and bicycles. So if I decide I want to go to Toronto, I drive my car and I take the train. If I was a jetsetter, I would just climb into my private helicopter and fly to Toronto. So jetsetter, a person who travels frequently and lives a, luxurious lifestyle. A lister. So this is reserved for celebrities. So al, an A lister is the most famous celebrities or a listers are the most favorite celebrities. Sorry, there's a bit of a disconnect between the singular of the term and the plural of the definition. So A listers, the most famous celebrities.
These two guys are a listers. They, they are a list actors. They get paid 20 million, $30 million per movie. So if I was in a movie, they would pay me $10,000 to be in a movie. If one of these two people are in a movie, they are going to make tens of millions of dollars because they are a listers. They are the most famous celebrities in the world, or two of the most famous. I mean, there's probably 15 to 20 people in this category, maybe more. And I do have to apologize again. This is a very North American centric, lesson. So a lot of my example people are from American social media, entertainment, the world of music, the world of politics. So I apologize for that.
It's my lack of knowledge of who all of the rich and famous people are around the world. But a lister, the most famous celebrities, big name. So if you are a big name, you are very famous and widely recognized. We sometimes use this as an adjective. Like you could say, he's a big name. You could also say, oh, he's a big name actor. So that's how you would use it. Are you going to get a big name to do that or are you going to get a big name celebrity to do that? So when you are a big name, you are very famous and widely recognized sometimes in a certain field.
Like I would say Lucy, from the YouTube channel, learning English with Lucy is a big name in the world of teaching English on YouTube. So big name, very famous and widely recognized. Trendsetter, a person who starts new styles or ideas that others follow. So in the world of music, I would say, this person is a trendsetter. I would say that this person has taken the time to become a very good musician and songwriter and has kind of done things that are a little bit different in the world of music. So a trendsetter being able to perform by himself, using machines to help produce
the sounds when he does a concert. So trendsetter, a person who starts new styles or ideas that others follow. A household name, a person or thing that is known by almost everyone. So if you become a household name, it means that everyone know if. If I said to Jen, hey, do you want to go see Ed Sheeran? She knows who I'm talking about, because Ed Sheeran, that's a household name. Justin Bieber is a household name. Something like. I'm trying to think, like, Tesla is a household name. So anything that has become popular enough that when people hear the name, they know who or what you're talking about, we would call that a household name.
Definitely. Probably a good sign that you are doing well in the world. To have status, to have a high social position or level of respect. You don't need to be the king to have status, but certainly the king would have status. This means that they. I say this. I don't actually agree with this. It means they're more important than other people. Like, they're not actually more important, but the whole idea is that there's different levels in the world, and the higher up you are in society, the more status you have.
So this person definitely has status. They have more status than I do. But even in, like, the YouTube world, there are teachers who are teaching English on YouTube who, because they've put out more content and have more subscribers, have status. Okay? So to have status, to have a high social position or level of respect. Lavish. Often tied with the phrase a lavish lifestyle. So lavish is very rich, detailed and expensive in style. If you own a sports car, a helicopter and a yacht, you are living a lavish lifestyle. I would say that is lavish. It's a fun word to say. That's why I've said it a few times. Lavish. In this picture, I would be the guy who owns the bicycle against the railing over there.
I would not be the person who owns the sports car, the yacht and the helicopter. But you see that old bike over there against the railing? That would be in this. That's what Bob the Canadian would own. But lavish, very rich, detailed and expensive in style. Privileged. Having special advantages or opportunities not available to everyone. These two boys were very privileged when they were growing up. They had special advantages and opportunities not available to me or someone else. What I would call the normal people. So if you are privileged, it usually means your parents are rich and famous.
It usually means that they are celebrities or actors or in the monarchy or someone who has status in the world. And because of that, you are privileged. You know, I took a yellow school bus to school. They probably went to school in a private car with security guards. So a little bit of a different lifestyle. A mogul, a very powerful and wealthy business person. So we often combine this word with the word business. So you usually say business mogul, but you can just say mogul as well.
Another fun word to say. So this person is a business mogul. Definitely a mogul. Someone who is very powerful, wealthy in the world of business mogul, filthy rich, extremely rich, and rolling in money. Having a lot of money. These two phrases mean exactly the same thing. If you carry money around in a bag like this, you must be filthy rich, because obviously you don't care that everyone's seeing all of your money. Let's get closer. Like, this is Bob. The Canadian does not recommend this way of carrying money around. If you do this, you must be filthy rich, which simply means you just have so much money you don't know what to do with it all.
And then rolling in money, the same thing. This probably comes from the phrase of actually throwing money on the couch and rolling in it because you're just so happy you're rich. But, definitely if you say someone is filthy rich or if you say someone is rolling in money, it means they have a lot of money. Like in excess of what you need to enjoy life, you're rolling in money. What did I say? You have more money than you know what to do with.
