After the excesses of Christmas, many people decide to give up booze for the month of January in the hope that it will do them some good. But what are the real benefits of going dry and is just one month long enough?
Rob and Catherine discuss abstaining and sobriety and explain these words and several other drink-related vocabulary in just six minutes.
This week's question:
According to data from the World Health Organisation in 2015, which country consumed to most alcohol per person? Was it…
a) Australia
b) Finland
c) The Czech Republic
Listen to the programme to find out the answer.
Vocabulary
resolution
a promise to yourself to do or not do something
to shed
to lose
sobriety
the state of not being drunk
crutch
crutch here is something you depend on for support
abstain
not do something that is enjoyable but bad for you
bed in
to become normal and start working properly
Transcript
Note: This is not a word for word transcript
Rob
Hello and welcome to 6 Minute English– the show that brings you an interesting topic, authentic listening practice and vocabulary to help you improve your language skills. I'm Rob…
Catherine
And I'm Catherine. In this programme we'll be discussing quitting drinking and staying dry.
Rob
Right, so when you say ‘quitting’, you mean ‘giving up’ – and when you say ‘drinking’, you're particularly referring to ‘the activity of drinking alcohol’.
Catherine
Exactly Rob.
Rob
But, what about staying dry? It's nothing to do with the weather?
Catherine
No that's true. The adjective ‘dry’ here means ‘no alcohol’. And I, Rob, am currently having a dry January.
Rob
Ah yes, your New Year's resolution is to give up alcohol for one month. Any reason?
Catherine
Yes. I'm doing it in order to improve my health and save some money. And a resolution, by the way, is a promise to yourself to do something or not to do something.
Rob
Well they seem like good reasons. And for now, we must keep up our resolution to always start the programme with a question, so are you ready for it, Catherine?
Catherine
I am, crack on, Rob!
Rob
According to data from the World Health Organisation in 2015, which country consumed to most alcohol per person? Was it…
a) Australia
b) Finland
c) The Czech Republic
Catherine
Well they're sound quite likely, but I did visit Prague once and I had a lovely time, so I'm going to say c) the Czech Republic.
Rob
OK, well as always, we'll find out the answer later on. But let's continue our discussion about drinking – or informally known as boozing – and trying to give it up. We all know that too much drinking can be bad for us and that's why you Catherine, have decided to quit – but only for a month.
Catherine
Yes just a month but it's a start and I might continue into February. But I'm seeing the benefits already. I've managed to shed some weight – most of which I actually put on over Christmas!
Rob
I can see. So to shed here simply means 'lose'. And I bet your sobriety is helping you sleep better. Sobriety, by the way, means ‘the state of not being drunk’.
Catherine
It is actually. And I'm not alone: A study of 857 British adults by Dr Richard de Visser from the University of Sussex found that after going for a month without alcohol, 62% of the people in the study said they had better sleep. So Rob, does that tempt you to become teetotal and stop drinking?
Rob
Not me Catherine. I need a drink to help me relax and be more sociable – you know how shy I am!
Catherine
Yes of course Rob! Well, maybe you should listen to Catherine Gray. She's the author of a book called The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober, which she wrote after she discovered the negative effects of going to too many work-related parties where she was just drinking too much. Here she is speaking on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme…
Catherine Gray, author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober
I had a lot of social anxiety and when I quit I had to deal with that. I think I used drinking as a crutch, a confidence crutch - it eased the way to go to big glittering parties and stuff like that and when I quit I had to learn real confidence in a way.
Catherine
So Catherine worked in the magazine business which involved going to lots of boozy parties. Drinking, she says, helped herdeal with a nervous and worried feeling that she had when she met new people - she called it social anxiety.
Rob
Yes, and she used drinking as a crutch. A crutch here is something you depend on for support – and sometimes you rely on it too much.
Catherine
Yes and eventually she decided to abstain from drinking – in other words stop doing something that is enjoyable but bad for you – and she feels much better for it. So come on Rob, haven't you got the willpower to just quit drinking for just 30 days?
Rob
Well according to Catherine Gray, that wouldn't be long enough…
Catherine Gray, author of The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober
Experts say that it takes 66 days for a new habit to bed in, so I would always recommend trying it for 90 days. 30 days is the hard bit before you get to the rewards. Because after 66 days it starts getting a lot easier and you start feeling better in yourself.
Catherine
Right, so it takes 66 days for doing a regular activity - a habit - to bed in. And ‘bed in’ means to ‘become normal and start working properly’.
Rob
Now, earlier I asked you, according to data from the World Health Organisation in 2015, which country consumed the most alcohol per person? Was it…
a) Australia
b) Finland
c) The Czech Republic
Catherine
And I said the Czech Republic. Was I right?
Rob
You were Catherine. Spot on, well done. Apparently, 14.1 litres of pure alcohol is consumed per person each year.
Catherine
Well like I said, they do make good beer in the Czech Republic – but people, be careful, only drink it in moderation. Now Rob, shall we take a look at the vocabulary we've mentioned today?
Rob
Indeed. The first word we had was resolution – that's a promise to yourself to do or not do something. 'Catherine's New Year's resolution was to give up drinking alcohol for a whole month.'
Catherine
Yes, and I'm still doing it Rob – the plan is to shed a few kilos and get fit. So for example, 'Rob shed lots of weight when he went on a cake-free diet!'
Rob
Really? I'd never give up cake Catherine, but I could be tempted to give up booze as I know sobriety is good for my health – that's the noun word to mean ‘the state of not being drunk’.
Catherine
Now our next word was abstain. That means ‘not do something that is enjoyable but bad for you’. 'Rob needs to abstain from eating cakes if he wants to wear his skinny jeans.'
Rob
Are you dropping a hint there, Catherine? Now, our final word is actually two words – bed in. It means ‘to become normal and start working properly’. 'It took a while for the new computer system to bed in but now it's working perfectly.'
Catherine
That's brilliant because now we can go online and find more BBC Learning English programmes at bbclearningenglish.com. That's all for today's 6 Minute English. We hope you enjoyed it. Bye for now.
Rob
Bye.