In this mini episode, you will learn a surprising meaning of the word “poor.”
Episode 280 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you a surprising meaning of the word “poor.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions for future episodes to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Vivi from Lefkoşa, Cyprus, and you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 280 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts, on the Stitcher app, and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to talk about a word that you probably already know. But you might not know this other interesting meaning of this word. The word is poor: p-o-o-r. Poor.
You probably know this word as the opposite of rich. When we describe people as poor, we mean that they don’t have very much money. A poor person does not have very much money. Or a poor person does not have enough money.
But there is another meaning of the word poor that I think might be a little bit surprising. This other use of the word poor is pretty common, but you might not be familiar with it. This other meaning of the word poor is something like “pitiful,” and that means “deserving pity, deserving people’s sympathy.”
If somebody or something is hurt or broken or suffering in some way, you can call it poor. And that means that that person or thing or situation deserves your sympathy. It deserves your pity. It makes sense to feel bad for it.
For instance, if your friend just got sick, you might say something like this: “My poor friend just got sick.” My poor friend just got sick.
And when you say that, you are not saying that your friend does not have very much money. Instead, you are saying that your friend is suffering in some way, and you feel bad for your friend. “My poor friend just got sick.”
You can use poor in this way to talk about a thing, too. You could talk about part of your body. If you hurt your arm somehow, you could refer to your “poor” arm. “Oh, my poor arm is so sore.” You are saying that your arm is hurt or injured or suffering in some way.
And so a person can be poor in this way, or even a part of someone’s body can be poor in this way. Or an animal can be poor. I think you could even describe your car as poor. If your car was broken—something is wrong with your car—you could refer to your “poor” car. Because it is broken or injured in some way. It’s suffering, I guess, if a car can suffer. It’s in bad condition. Something bad has happened to it. And you feel bad for it, almost like it is a person.
And let me tell you this very common phrase that you might hear when someone is describing a person who is suffering in some way, a person who deserves your pity or your sympathy or your concern. You will often hear people address somebody as“you poor thing.” You poor thing. Thing. That’s right: in this case, at least, we often refer to people as things. So if your friend just heard some very bad news, or your friend is having a very difficult time, you might try to comfort your friend by saying, “Oh, you poor thing.”
I’m not sure why that’s comforting, but I think that’s what we have in mind when we use this phrase.
And that is this interesting and maybe surprising meaning of the word poor.
Outro
This is the end of episode 280 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments or suggestions for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Vivi recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to everybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode, and until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!