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TAKE IT UP A NOTCH

Video vocabulary

know

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US / nəʊ /

UK / noʊ /

A1
  • verb
  • To be familiar with a person or place, thing
  • To feel sure or be convinced about something
  • To discover or be aware of something
  • To be able to distinguish
  • To have knowledge of things

break

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US / breɪk /

UK / brek /

A1
  • noun
  • Time you stop an activity before continuing
  • End of a relationship
  • An escape from a place such as a jail
  • (Lucky) advantage or benefit from something
  • Find a solution or answer to a problem or crime
  • Change in the weather
  • verb
  • To create a new record e.g. running the 100m dash
  • To form a crack in something
  • To burst or become damaged
  • To end a relationship
  • To escape from a place such as a jail
  • To train a wild animal e.g. a horse
  • To separate into pieces by force, or by dropping
  • To act against a law, rule, or promise
  • To become known suddenly, as in the news
  • To not do what you promised e.g. not keep promises
  • To solve a crime, or answer a problem
  • To stop functioning properly
  • To suddenly start, open or commence
  • To change in pitch suddenly, as in a voice
  • To fall on the shore, as in waves
  • To begin or change suddenly; the dawn or weather
  • To defeat by causing the person to lose their will

tuesday

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US / ˈtjuːzdeɪ /

UK / ˈtuːzdeɪ /

A1
  • noun
  • Second day of the week; the day after Monday

world

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US / wɜ:ld /

UK / wɜrld /

A1
  • noun
  • All the humans, events, activities on the earth
  • Political division due to some kind of similarity

hank

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US / hæŋk /

UK / hæŋk /

A1
  • other
  • A coil of rope or wool or yarn

take

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US / teɪk /

UK / tek /

A1
  • noun
  • Filming of a single scene for TV or the movies
  • verb
  • To accept something that is offered
  • To use a method of traveling, e.g. a bus or train
  • To use a camera to make (a photo)
  • To pick up something and go away with it
  • To study a subject in school
  • To attempt to pass (an exam)
  • To require a certain amount of time, money, space

notch

Copy vocabulary

US / nɒtʃ /

UK / nɑtʃ /

B2
  • noun
  • Certain level (slightly higher or lower than)
  • Narrow pass between two mountains or hills
  • Cut in the shape of the letter V
  • verb
  • To cut a small V-shaped mark into something

sometimes

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US / ˈsʌmtaɪmz /

UK / ˈsʌmˌtaɪmz /

A1
  • adverb
  • Only at certain times; occasionally

back

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US / bæk /

UK / bæk /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Farthest from the front e.g. in a classroom
  • adverb
  • Have returned to a place you were before
  • noun
  • The part of a chair that the upper body leans upon
  • Location at the rear of something
  • The reverse of side something
  • Area on the rear of your body
  • verb
  • To bet money on something
  • To go backwards in a car
  • To support and encourage someone or some cause

from

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US / frəm /

UK / frʌm, frɑm,frəm /

A1
  • preposition
  • Starting at a particular place, time or level

only

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US / ˈəunli /

UK / ˈonli /

A1
  • adverb
  • Just one; just that amount or thing; not more than
  • Not very important or serious
  • Just that type of thing, person
  • Short time ago; not before a certain time
  • conjunction
  • Except; but

real

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US / rɪəl /

UK / ˈriəl, ril /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Actually existing or happening, not imagined
  • Being important or special

and

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US / ənd /

UK / ənd, ən,ænd /

A1
  • conjunction
  • Used to refer to two or more things
  • Plus; in addition; on top of that
  • Used to introduce an action that follows another

tiny

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US / 'taɪnɪ /

UK / ˈtaɪni /

A2
  • adjecitve
  • Very, very small

tape

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US / teɪp /

UK / tep /

A2
  • noun
  • Narrow strip of magnetic material for recording on
  • Thin material used to mark an area or seal things
  • verb
  • To record some sounds using an electric device
  • To stick things together using an adhesive strip

good

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US / ɡʊd /

UK / ɡʊd /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Proper, appropriate or right
  • (Of an amount) enough; plenty
  • Excellent; high quality
  • Acting well or properly; of moral character
  • In a positive or happy emotional state
  • noun
  • Advantage or benefit

buddy

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US / 'bʌdɪ /

UK / ˈbʌdi /

B2
  • noun
  • Friend, usually male

just

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US / dʒʌst /

UK / dʒʌst /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Proper or appropriate; as is deserved
  • Doing or being what is right or fair
  • Legally correct; having enough evidence
  • adverb
  • Almost; nearly
  • Exactly at the time of
  • Exactly (the same as, like)

news

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US / nju:z /

UK / nu:z /

A1
  • noun
  • Broadcast on radio or TV about recent events
  • Information about recent events

for

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US / fə(r) /

UK / fɔr,fə /

A1
  • preposition
  • Used to show the purpose, or need of something

january

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US / ˈdʒænjuəri /

UK / ˈdʒænjueri /

A1
  • noun
  • 1st month of the year

let

Copy vocabulary

US / let /

UK / lɛt /

A1
  • verb
  • To allow someone to do something
  • Introducing a suggestion to do something together
  • To rent a house, etc. to others

the

Copy vocabulary

US / ðə /

UK / ðə /

A1
  • article
  • Used to refer to something already mentioned
  • Used to show there is only one of something
  • determiner
  • Used to describe all of a family

you

Copy vocabulary

US / jʊ /

UK / ju /

A1
  • pronoun
  • Person someone is speaking or writing to
  • Person or people in general

little

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US / 'lɪtl /

UK / ˈlɪtl /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Being short in length of time
  • Not great in size, amount, or degree; small
  • Being very young or younger than others
  • adverb
  • By an amount or degree that is not very much
  • Not often; rarely
  • noun
  • A person's name

year

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US / jə: /

UK / jɪr /

A1
  • noun
  • Unit of time equal to 12 months or 365 or 366 days
  • Used to refer to the age of a person

big

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US / bɪɡ /

UK / bɪɡ /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Popular
  • Serious
  • Large

play

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US / pleɪ /

UK / pleɪ /

A1
  • noun
  • Loose, free movement between two objects
  • Single action in a sports game
  • Performance in which people act in a theater
  • verb
  • To act as a character in a movie, or on stage
  • To perform music on an instrument
  • To use a device, e.g. a video game
  • To do something for enjoyment and fun
  • To do or perform a game or sport

goal

Copy vocabulary

US / ɡəʊl /

UK / ɡol /

A2
  • noun
  • Something you try to do or achieve; an aim
  • (Sports) net into which you put a ball to score
  • (Sports) act of scoring by putting a ball in a net

cute

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US / kju:t /

UK / kjut /

B2
  • adjecitve
  • Attractive in a pretty or endearing way

baby

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US / ˈbeɪbi /

UK / ˈbeɪbi /

A2
  • adjecitve
  • Small in size; smaller than usual
  • noun
  • A very young child, who cannot yet speak
  • verb
  • To treat someone as if they were newly born

that

Copy vocabulary

US / ðæt /

UK / ðæt, ðət /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • The person or thing being talked about
  • Used to identify something both the speakers know
  • adverb
  • Used to reinforce adjectives and adverbs
  • To such a degree
  • conjunction
  • Used to connect a noun clause
  • Used to introduce an adverbial clause
  • Used to introduce a noun clause
  • determiner
  • Used as a noun to refer to something
  • pronoun
  • Referring an object far away
  • Used to refer to the relative pronoun ‘which’

what

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US / wɒt /

UK / hwɑt, hwʌt, wɔt, wʌt,hwət, wət /

A1
  • pronoun
  • Thing or things that; the same kind as
  • Used to emphasize something you are about to say
  • adjecitve
  • Used to refer to a particular amount, or number
  • Used to place emphasis on a particular quality
  • adverb
  • To a certain degree
  • determiner
  • Question words used for asking for information
  • exclamation
  • Used to express excitement, shock, or surprise
  • Used to ask people to repeat something they said

down

Copy vocabulary

US / daʊn /

UK / daʊn /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Being sad, sick, or unhappy
  • Not operating, working, or functioning as expected
  • adverb
  • In a sitting or lying position
  • Towards or on the ground, floor, or bottom
  • Written or copied onto a piece of paper or book
  • noun
  • A period of play in American Football
  • The soft, smooth hairs that cover a bird's body
  • preposition
  • Along something's path, course, or direction
  • Going from a higher position to a lower position
  • verb
  • To eat or drink very quickly and without stopping

tuesday

Copy vocabulary

US / ˈtjuːzdeɪ /

UK / ˈtuːzdeɪ /

A1
  • noun
  • Second day of the week; the day after Monday

break

Copy vocabulary

US / breɪk /

UK / brek /

A1
  • noun
  • Time you stop an activity before continuing
  • End of a relationship
  • An escape from a place such as a jail
  • (Lucky) advantage or benefit from something
  • Find a solution or answer to a problem or crime
  • Change in the weather
  • verb
  • To create a new record e.g. running the 100m dash
  • To form a crack in something
  • To burst or become damaged
  • To end a relationship
  • To escape from a place such as a jail
  • To train a wild animal e.g. a horse
  • To separate into pieces by force, or by dropping
  • To act against a law, rule, or promise
  • To become known suddenly, as in the news
  • To not do what you promised e.g. not keep promises
  • To solve a crime, or answer a problem
  • To stop functioning properly
  • To suddenly start, open or commence
  • To change in pitch suddenly, as in a voice
  • To fall on the shore, as in waves
  • To begin or change suddenly; the dawn or weather
  • To defeat by causing the person to lose their will

world

Copy vocabulary

US / wɜ:ld /

UK / wɜrld /

A1
  • noun
  • All the humans, events, activities on the earth
  • Political division due to some kind of similarity

know

Copy vocabulary

US / nəʊ /

UK / noʊ /

A1
  • verb
  • To be familiar with a person or place, thing
  • To feel sure or be convinced about something
  • To discover or be aware of something
  • To be able to distinguish
  • To have knowledge of things

hank

Copy vocabulary

US / hæŋk /

UK / hæŋk /

A1
  • other
  • A coil of rope or wool or yarn

take

Copy vocabulary

US / teɪk /

UK / tek /

A1
  • noun
  • Filming of a single scene for TV or the movies
  • verb
  • To accept something that is offered
  • To use a method of traveling, e.g. a bus or train
  • To use a camera to make (a photo)
  • To pick up something and go away with it
  • To study a subject in school
  • To attempt to pass (an exam)
  • To require a certain amount of time, money, space

from

Copy vocabulary

US / frəm /

UK / frʌm, frɑm,frəm /

A1
  • preposition
  • Starting at a particular place, time or level

sometimes

Copy vocabulary

US / ˈsʌmtaɪmz /

UK / ˈsʌmˌtaɪmz /

A1
  • adverb
  • Only at certain times; occasionally

back

Copy vocabulary

US / bæk /

UK / bæk /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Farthest from the front e.g. in a classroom
  • adverb
  • Have returned to a place you were before
  • noun
  • The part of a chair that the upper body leans upon
  • Location at the rear of something
  • The reverse of side something
  • Area on the rear of your body
  • verb
  • To bet money on something
  • To go backwards in a car
  • To support and encourage someone or some cause

only

Copy vocabulary

US / ˈəunli /

UK / ˈonli /

A1
  • adverb
  • Just one; just that amount or thing; not more than
  • Not very important or serious
  • Just that type of thing, person
  • Short time ago; not before a certain time
  • conjunction
  • Except; but

real

Copy vocabulary

US / rɪəl /

UK / ˈriəl, ril /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Actually existing or happening, not imagined
  • Being important or special

and

Copy vocabulary

US / ənd /

UK / ənd, ən,ænd /

A1
  • conjunction
  • Used to refer to two or more things
  • Plus; in addition; on top of that
  • Used to introduce an action that follows another

notch

Copy vocabulary

US / nɒtʃ /

UK / nɑtʃ /

B2
  • noun
  • Certain level (slightly higher or lower than)
  • Narrow pass between two mountains or hills
  • Cut in the shape of the letter V
  • verb
  • To cut a small V-shaped mark into something

year

Copy vocabulary

US / jə: /

UK / jɪr /

A1
  • noun
  • Unit of time equal to 12 months or 365 or 366 days
  • Used to refer to the age of a person

big

Copy vocabulary

US / bɪɡ /

UK / bɪɡ /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Popular
  • Serious
  • Large

you

Copy vocabulary

US / jʊ /

UK / ju /

A1
  • pronoun
  • Person someone is speaking or writing to
  • Person or people in general

little

Copy vocabulary

US / 'lɪtl /

UK / ˈlɪtl /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Being short in length of time
  • Not great in size, amount, or degree; small
  • Being very young or younger than others
  • adverb
  • By an amount or degree that is not very much
  • Not often; rarely
  • noun
  • A person's name

let

Copy vocabulary

US / let /

UK / lɛt /

A1
  • verb
  • To allow someone to do something
  • Introducing a suggestion to do something together
  • To rent a house, etc. to others

the

Copy vocabulary

US / ðə /

UK / ðə /

A1
  • article
  • Used to refer to something already mentioned
  • Used to show there is only one of something
  • determiner
  • Used to describe all of a family

play

Copy vocabulary

US / pleɪ /

UK / pleɪ /

A1
  • noun
  • Loose, free movement between two objects
  • Single action in a sports game
  • Performance in which people act in a theater
  • verb
  • To act as a character in a movie, or on stage
  • To perform music on an instrument
  • To use a device, e.g. a video game
  • To do something for enjoyment and fun
  • To do or perform a game or sport

goal

Copy vocabulary

US / ɡəʊl /

UK / ɡol /

A2
  • noun
  • Something you try to do or achieve; an aim
  • (Sports) net into which you put a ball to score
  • (Sports) act of scoring by putting a ball in a net

january

Copy vocabulary

US / ˈdʒænjuəri /

UK / ˈdʒænjueri /

A1
  • noun
  • 1st month of the year

for

Copy vocabulary

US / fə(r) /

UK / fɔr,fə /

A1
  • preposition
  • Used to show the purpose, or need of something

news

Copy vocabulary

US / nju:z /

UK / nu:z /

A1
  • noun
  • Broadcast on radio or TV about recent events
  • Information about recent events

just

Copy vocabulary

US / dʒʌst /

UK / dʒʌst /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Proper or appropriate; as is deserved
  • Doing or being what is right or fair
  • Legally correct; having enough evidence
  • adverb
  • Almost; nearly
  • Exactly at the time of
  • Exactly (the same as, like)

buddy

Copy vocabulary

US / 'bʌdɪ /

UK / ˈbʌdi /

B2
  • noun
  • Friend, usually male

cute

Copy vocabulary

US / kju:t /

UK / kjut /

B2
  • adjecitve
  • Attractive in a pretty or endearing way

baby

Copy vocabulary

US / ˈbeɪbi /

UK / ˈbeɪbi /

A2
  • adjecitve
  • Small in size; smaller than usual
  • noun
  • A very young child, who cannot yet speak
  • verb
  • To treat someone as if they were newly born

what

Copy vocabulary

US / wɒt /

UK / hwɑt, hwʌt, wɔt, wʌt,hwət, wət /

A1
  • pronoun
  • Thing or things that; the same kind as
  • Used to emphasize something you are about to say
  • adjecitve
  • Used to refer to a particular amount, or number
  • Used to place emphasis on a particular quality
  • adverb
  • To a certain degree
  • determiner
  • Question words used for asking for information
  • exclamation
  • Used to express excitement, shock, or surprise
  • Used to ask people to repeat something they said

down

Copy vocabulary

US / daʊn /

UK / daʊn /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Being sad, sick, or unhappy
  • Not operating, working, or functioning as expected
  • adverb
  • In a sitting or lying position
  • Towards or on the ground, floor, or bottom
  • Written or copied onto a piece of paper or book
  • noun
  • A period of play in American Football
  • The soft, smooth hairs that cover a bird's body
  • preposition
  • Along something's path, course, or direction
  • Going from a higher position to a lower position
  • verb
  • To eat or drink very quickly and without stopping

that

Copy vocabulary

US / ðæt /

UK / ðæt, ðət /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • The person or thing being talked about
  • Used to identify something both the speakers know
  • adverb
  • Used to reinforce adjectives and adverbs
  • To such a degree
  • conjunction
  • Used to connect a noun clause
  • Used to introduce an adverbial clause
  • Used to introduce a noun clause
  • determiner
  • Used as a noun to refer to something
  • pronoun
  • Referring an object far away
  • Used to refer to the relative pronoun ‘which’

good

Copy vocabulary

US / ɡʊd /

UK / ɡʊd /

A1
  • adjecitve
  • Proper, appropriate or right
  • (Of an amount) enough; plenty
  • Excellent; high quality
  • Acting well or properly; of moral character
  • In a positive or happy emotional state
  • noun
  • Advantage or benefit

tape

Copy vocabulary

US / teɪp /

UK / tep /

A2
  • noun
  • Narrow strip of magnetic material for recording on
  • Thin material used to mark an area or seal things
  • verb
  • To record some sounds using an electric device
  • To stick things together using an adhesive strip

tiny

Copy vocabulary

US / 'taɪnɪ /

UK / ˈtaɪni /

A2
  • adjecitve
  • Very, very small
  • Subtitles section
  • Good morning Hank, it's Tuesday.
  • So when I was a tiny little newborn baby back in January of 2023, do you know what I said was my big goal for the year?
  • Do you know?
  • Let's play the tape.
  • Sometimes, Hank, sometimes you need to take it down a notch.
  • And that's my only goal for 2023.
  • Just take it down a notch.
  • Oh buddy, that's cute.
  • Breaking news from the real world.
  • You do not get to decide the notch situation.
  • Welcome to 2023.
  • Your brother is going to get a little bit of cancer, so that's going to take it up a notch.
  • Also, you're going to be unexpectedly promoted to reluctant and temporary CEO of two companies with a total of 115 employees.
  • Up a notch.
  • Hank's going to have to get chemo and radiation, taking it up yet a further notch.
  • Also, he's going to continue to come up with millions of business ideas.
  • Up a notch.
  • Also, you're going to have a somewhat dramatic confrontation with one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies over the price of a tuberculosis drug, or possibly two of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies if the other one doesn't get their act together and stop price gouging the world's poorest countries.
  • Things will not be taken down a notch.
  • If anything, the notch is like a helium balloon that slips out of your fingers sometime in late February and you just watch as the notch situation rises and rises.
  • Now, of course, the notch situation will probably descend at some point, but it's not for you to know how or when or where, because you, little buddy, are, as Robert Penn Warren memorably put it, a bubble on the tide of empire.
  • Now look, it can be a helpful delusion to imagine that we have more control over our fate than we actually do, right?
  • Like, if I felt all the time the way I feel walking onto an airplane, I have absolutely no say in whether I survive this journey.
  • I wouldn't be able to function.
  • And also, I wouldn't be giving myself any agency when, of course, I do have a little bit, right?
  • Like, I might be a bubble on the tide of empire, but I am nonetheless some small part of the tide and the choices I make do matter.
  • But the great risk of imagining that I decide the notch situation is then extrapolating and imagining that other people decide their notch situation.
  • And that can lead to all kinds of stigma and dehumanization, right?
  • Like, Hank, we've both seen comments that are like, Hank got a vaccination, so he got cancer.
  • Or Hank worked too hard, so he got cancer.
  • Or Hank has ulcerative colitis, so he got cancer, etc.
  • And all those comments are designed to make the person commenting feel better.
  • Like, I'm not gonna get cancer because I don't have colitis.
  • Or I'm not gonna get cancer because I didn't get vaccinated.
  • It's not about Hank.
  • It's about them.
  • And furthermore, trying to find the cause when you're not, like, Hank's physicians is obviously not about Hank or his well-being.
  • It's obviously about, you know, wanting to feel better yourself.
  • Wanting to feel like you're never gonna have to take it up a notch.
  • Now, I want to emphasize that for Hank, these comments have been super, super rare and almost everyone has been extraordinarily supportive.
  • But Hank's experience is, just to state the obvious, not typical.
  • And I do think that whether you're living with HIV or cancer or tuberculosis or another highly stigmatized disease, the social response to the illness is part of what makes the illness so difficult.
  • Which, come to think of it, was not the original point of this video.
  • The point of the video was that you don't get to decide the notch situation.
  • But if and when the opportunity to take it down a notch emerges, Hank, I want to take that opportunity, which brings me very belatedly to the question at the center of this video.
  • Since 2007, with a few notable exceptions, our videos have been required to be under four minutes in length.
  • We started this rule to force us to be concise and to make appropriate and intentional use of people's attention.
  • And I like the four minute rule.
  • Like, I think it's helped me become a better writer.
  • Without the four minute rule, I think The Fault in Our Stars would have been like a hundred pages longer and not nearly as good.
  • But it's often a lot of work to take a video idea and somehow get it under four minutes.
  • Like, there really is something to that old line, I would have written you a shorter letter if only I had more time.
  • Anyway, since Hank's diagnosis, we've suspended the four minute rule to be able to make videos with a little more flexibility, and I kind of love it.
  • Like, I think this video's gonna be over four minutes, and to get it under four minutes, I would have had to cut all that stuff about stigmatization and notches, which I like.
  • On the other hand, I understand that it's an important and long-standing rule, and one of the reasons we've been able to make stuff for so many people for so long?
  • So I'm a little conflicted, and basically I'm gonna trust y'all to decide whether we should continue doing the four minute rule via a poll in the doobly-doo.
  • Let us know what you think.
  • Listen, you do not decide the notch level, but I will tell you something from experience.
  • Feeling accompanied and unalone as the notches go up?
  • Helps.
  • Does it help as much as the notch is coming down?
  • No, but it helps.
  • So thank you for being here with us.
  • Really.
  • Now more than ever.
  • Hank, I'll see you on Friday.