In this mini episode, you will learn two related words with opposite meanings: “childish” and “childlike.”
Episode 310 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you two related words with opposite meanings: “childish” and “childlike.” Send your questions about English and your suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com! (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hi! This is Lucas, from Chile. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 310 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 teach you two words that look very similar, but mean opposite things. And the two words are childish and childlike. Childish and childlike.
That’s childish: c-h-i-l-d-i-s-h. And childlike: c-h-i-l-d-l-i-k-e.
You have probably seen other words that use that -ish ending. This is a suffix that attaches to the end of nouns to make adjectives. For instance, the word foolish. That is the noun fool and this -ish (i-s-h) suffix. Foolish. That means “similar to a fool.”
And you have probably seen the suffix -like before. This also attaches to nouns to make adjectives. For instance, the word plantlike. Plantlike: p-l-a-n-t-l-i-k-e. Plantlike means “similar to a plant.”
When you look at the words childish and childlike, you might think they mean the same thing. You might think that they both mean “similar to a child.” And in a way, you would be correct. They do both mean “similar to a child,” but they mean this in very different ways.
Childish means “similar to a child,” but it usually means “similar to the negative traits of a child.” What are the negative traits of a child? Well, we often think of children as being impatient and unreasonable and selfish. Now, of course children are not always those things, but sometimes they are. And we can refer to people, to adults who are acting in that way, as childish. If an adult is acting selfish or impatient or unreasonable, we might say that adult is being childish. They are similar to a child, but in a negative way.
Okay. Well then what about childlike? Childlike means “similar to a child, but in a positive way.” What are the positive traits of children? We often think of children as playful and curious about the world and innocent. We can describe somebody—we can describe an adult—as childlike if they also are playful and curious about the world and innocent. In other words, we are saying they are similar to a child, but in the positive way.
Childish and childlike: two words that kind of mean the same thing, but also are kind of opposites.
Outro
This is the end of episode 310 of Everybody ESL. Remember: if you have questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Lucas 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!