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ginger whingers__text_podcast BBC

Ginger whingers

Dima and Rebecca discuss… ‘ginger whingeing’. Just why do redheads complain so much? Well it looks like science has the answer!

This week’s question: Imagine seeing a couple of people walking down the street. Do you think it’s possible to tell which one in each pair is likely to be more sensitive to pain? Is it

a) an older person as opposed to a younger person
b) a man as opposed to a woman, or
c) a red haired person as opposed to someone with a differently coloured hair?

Listen out for the answer in the programme!

Listen to the programme

Ginger whingers

Listen to the key vocabulary

Do you really need to read the vocabulary below? See if you can do better – by listening to Rebecca’s vocabulary re-cap which, because of time constraints, did not make it into the main programme

Vocabulary from the programme

ginger whingeing

this recently coined informal collocation refers to the observation that some people with red hair – also known as redheads, or gingerheads – complain about things more often than others whose hair is of another colour

fiery temper

if you have a fiery temper, you get very angry, or extremely excited quite easily

scientific backing

this means that something has been proved or confirmed by a scientific study

to avoid

to manage not to do something, to stay away from something or someone

anaesthetic requirement

how many painkillers you need before surgery, such as dental treatment, can be performed on you

phenotype

this scientific term describes how a certain quality of yours shows in your physical appearance, e.g.

the red colour of your hair is the first phenotype for your anaesthetic requirements – in other words, it shows that you are more likely to need more or stronger painkillers than others

Tapescript: BBC Learning English_6 Minute English_Ginger whingers

NB: This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 1 of 4

Dima: Hi, welcome to 6 Minute English with me, Dima Kostenko

Rebecca: and me, Rebecca Byrne. Hi.

Dima: Rebecca, can I begin by asking you a very very simple question? How would

you describe yourself?

Rebecca: Responds.

Dima: Sounds like a pretty accurate description to me – but it’s not your height,

weight, or built that we’re going to talk about today.

Rebecca: What then?

Dima: Your hair colour!

Rebecca: Responds (what IS it about my hair colour that’s worth talking about?) + short

exchange with Dima.

Dima: … today we’ll be talking about how your natural looks – and in particular your

hair colour – can tell others what kind of person you are – or at least reveal

some of your qualities.

Rebecca: Responds (sounds interesting – but shall I go through some of today’s key

vocabulary first?)

Dima: Yes, and I would like you to begin with the expression ‘ginger whingeing’.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 2 of 4

Rebecca: I haven’t heard it before but I guess it refers to the observation that some of us

who are redheads, also known as ginger heads, complain about things more

often than others. There will be the phrase ‘fiery temper’. If you have a fiery

temper, you get very angry, or extremely excited quite easily. We’ll hear the

term ’scientific backing’, which means that something has been proved or

confirmed by a scientific study. And finally the verb ‘to avoid’, meaning to

manage not to do something, to stay away from something or someone.

Dima: So that’s ‘to avoid’, ’scientific backing’, ‘fiery temper’ and ‘ginger whingeing’.

Rebecca: Yes, that’s right. Listen now to our correspondent Matt McGrath, a redhead

himself. And as you’re listening, try to catch today’s key vocabulary. Also, see

if after listening you can answer this question: during the study, who or what

did the group of redheads try to avoid?

Dima: Let’s listen to find out:

Clip 1 0′19″

We redheads are well known for our fiery tempers. Now it seems there is scientific backing

for our ginger whingeing as well. Scientists in the United States studied a group of 144 dental

patients, almost half of whom had red hair. They found that the red hair group were more

sensitive to pain and as a result were twice as likely to avoid visiting the dentist.

Rebecca: Matt McGrath says that redheads, including himself, are well known for their

fiery tempers. They have a reputation for complaining a lot, or as our reporter

put it, for their ginger whingeing. And, because it can sometimes hurt, they

even try to avoid visiting dentists! However, it looks like not all of this is down

to temper alone. There is a newly discovered scientific reason.

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 3 of 4

Dima: In a moment we’ll hear from Professor Daniel Sessler, one of the authors of the

study at the Cleveland Clinic in the United States. But before that Rebecca, I

need you to explain two more terms for us. One is ‘anaesthetic requirement’.

Rebecca: Someone’s ‘anaesthetic requirement’ is how many painkillers they need before

surgery, such as dental treatment, can be performed on them.

Dima: And secondly, the word ‘phenotype’.

Rebecca: This is a scientific term. It describes how a certain quality of yours shows in

your physical appearance.

Dima: Thanks Rebecca. OK, now, armed with all this knowledge, shall we have a go

at this week’s question?

Rebecca: Responds

Dima: Imagine seeing a couple of people walking along the street. Do you think it’s

possible to tell which one in each pair is likely to be more sensitive to pain? Is

it

a) an older person as opposed to a younger person

b) a man as opposed to a woman, or

c) a red haired person as opposed to someone with a differently coloured hair?

What do you think Rebecca?

Rebecca: Guesses

Dima: We’ll check your answer in a minute but first, here’s Professor Daniel Sessler

with his explanation:

6 Minute English © bbclearningenglish.com 2009

Page 4 of 4

Clip 2 0′29″

Red hair is the first phenotype for anaesthetic requirement in humans. And what I mean by

phenotype is external characteristic. So let’s say you’re walking down the street, and you see

somebody who’s a little older and [somebody who's] a little younger – that tells you nothing

about their anaesthetic requirement. You see a man and a woman – that tells you nothing

about their anaesthetic requirement. But you see a redhead – aha! You know that person is

going to require 20% more general anaesthesia.

Dima: OK Rebecca, did you manage to hear the answer to this week’s question?

Rebecca: Well it sounds like the first two comparisons don’t really tell you anything. A

woman can suffer from pain to no lesser extent than a man, and a younger

person, just as much as an older one. However, if you’re a ginger head, you’re

more sensitive to pain – which means that my earlier guess was right/wrong.

Dima: Responds – and of course you can find out more about this story by simply

following the links from our website, bbclearningenglish.com. You can also

find out what people in the Learning English team look like by clicking on

Meet the team.

Rebecca: Comments.

Dima: I’m afraid that’s all we have time for. Until next week.

Both: Goodbye!