 |
Retro English
Welcome to Retro English, the place
that's all about yesterday's phrases and crazes. Today, we'll be looking
at 80's disasters - and listening to some of the music of the decade.
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
| The 80's: disasters |
|
 |
|
 |
|
The song 'Save A Prayer' by Duran Duran was written at the beginning
of the 'disaster decade'. |
|
 |
|
Famine
in Ethiopia
During the 80's, British public attention was certainly drawn to a
whole spectrum of disasters, like the famine in Ethiopia. Huge Charity
Concerts raised money for famine victims. For example, the Live Aid
Concert in July 1985, which took place simultaneously in London's
Wembley and Philadelphia in the US, lasted for 16 hours and helped
to raise a total of 60 million pounds.
|
|
| |
|
|
Listen
to Tony Thorne talking about Live Aid and the Western response to
the famine:
|
| |
 |
|
Check
the transcript - note the words in bold |
 |
|
AIDS
Another disaster that had a very high profile in the 1980's was
the virus that caused AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome).
AIDS had become a global epidemic and by the early 1980's, British
society couldn't ignore it. |
|
| |
|
|
Listen
to Tony Thorne explaining how the epidemic affected society - and
the language:
|
| |
|
|
Check
the transcript - note the words in bold |
 |
|
More
disasters - and 'compassion fatigue'
AIDS, famine... Then there was the war between Iran and Iraq,
the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl and the Zeebrugge ferry disaster.
Even planet Earth was discovered to be in peril, as the consequences
of the 'greenhouse effect' were disclosed. No wonder that a new phrase
appeared to describe the effects of disasters on the general public. |
|
| |
|
|
Listen
to Tony explaining where the 'compassion fatigue' of the 80's came
from:
|
| |
|
|
Check
the transcript - note the words in bold |
| |
 |
|
See how much of a 80's language expert you are - check out today's
Retro English exercise!
|
|
