Episode 196

EPISODE 196
LEVEL A2

READING COMPREHENSION

Sexist tissues

One of the world’s biggest makers of tissues is changing the name of one of its products. The company called Kimberly-Clark is putting an end to its Kleenex „Mansize” brand of tissues. This comes after many people complained to the company that the name „Mansize” was sexist. That name has been on the boxes of Kleenex tissues for over 60 years. Kleenex „For Men” tissues were first launched in 1956. They were advertised as an alternative to cotton handkerchiefs. Adverts said the tissues „stayed strong when wet”. The company said that from now, the tissues will be renamed „Extra Large”. Many companies around the world are looking at the name of their products to make sure they are not gender stereotyping. Kimberly-Clark said it was changing the name of its tissues because its consumer service department had many complaints about the Mansize name. It said: „Kimberly-Clark in no way suggests that being both soft and strong is… exclusively masculine…” The name change has started an online debate on brand names, company names and sexism. A radio presenter suggested it was time to rename the store Mothercare as many fathers also look after babies.
(adapted from breakingnewsenglish.com)

 

 

Ex. 1 Match the words in the list with their English equivalents from the text:

1. położyć kres
2. skarżyć się
3. wypuścić (na rynek)
4. reklamować
5. zmienić nazwę
6. zapewnić

 

• to advertise
• to complain
• to launch
• to make sure
• to put an end
• to rename

 

 

Ex. 2 What collocations can you make with the words in these two rows?

brand / consumer / cotton / exclusively / extra / gender
+
handkerchief / large / masculine / name / service / stereotyping

 

1. _______________________________
2. _______________________________
3. _______________________________
4. _______________________________
5. _______________________________
6. _______________________________

 

 

Ex. 3 Translate these sentences using words from the exercises above:

1. Ich marka jest reklamowana jako wyłącznie dla mężczyzn.
2. Nasi klienci nigdy się nie skarżą na obsługę.
3. Staramy się (try) położyć kres takim praktykom (practices).

 

Phrasals, phrasals…

In this lesson’s text we can read about a “sexist” name of a product. Let’s see then how the word “sex” acts as a phrasal verb:
• to sex sth up = to make something seem more exciting or interesting (uatrakcyjnić coś)
➢ How can we sex up business writing?

 

I know English idioms:

The same word (“sex”) may also be part of an idiomatic phrase:
• to be better than sex = to be extremely enjoyable or exciting (być lepszym niż seks)
➢ For me, nothing compares with the excitement of gambling – it’s better than sex.

 

Grammar corner…

Let’s analyze this sentence from the reading text: “One of the world’s biggest makers of tissues is changing the name of one of its products.” The sentence uses (twice) the structure “one of… (jeden z)”. There wouldn’t be anything special about it, if not the fact that many speakers of English forget that after this structure we have to use a PLURAL noun: “one of biggest makers”, “one of its products”. Please, remember about it, as it is one of the most common mistakes!

 

 

GLOSSARY

sexist – seksistowski
tissues – chusteczki higieniczne
maker – wytwórca
called – zwany
to put an end to – kłaść kres
brand (name) – marka
to complain – skarżyć się
box -pudełko
to be launched – zostać wypuszczonym (na rynek)
to advertise – reklamować
alternative – alternatywa
cotton handerchief – chusteczka bawełniana
advert – reklama
to stay – pozostać
strong – mocny
wet – wilgotny, mokry
to rename -zmienić nazwę
extra large – super wielki
to make sure – zapewnić
gender stereotyping – powielanie stereotypów pod względem płci
consumer service – obsługa klienta
department – dział
complaint – skarga
in no way – w żaden sposób
to suggest – sugerować
soft – miękki
exclusively – wyłącznie
masculine – męski
debate – debata
company name – nazwa firmy
store – sklep
to look after – opiekować się

 

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