Is It Real or Bogus?
2024-04-07
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1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English.
2You can trust that we are actually Voice of America Learning English.
3We are the real deal. We are authentic.
4In other words, we are not bogus.
5Bogus is an adjective that means fake or phony.
6Something bogus is not genuine. It is a fraud. It's fraudulent.
7For example, the man's huge diamond ring was bogus.
8He told everyone it was a real diamond.
9But actually, it was just a piece of glass.
10Bogus can describe something that is a lie.
11If something like an explanation or reason is bogus, it's not true.
12For example, an employee might call her employer to say she needs a sick day off from work.
13But during the call, her boss hears loud, live music in the background.
14The employee was clearly at a music show.
15Her reason for not being at work was bogus.
16We could also say the employee's excuse did not hold water.
17Her excuse for missing work sounded bogus.
18It was not believable.
19It didn't hold water.
20Experts at the online dictionary Merriam-Webster explain that bogus began as a noun.
21In the early 19th century in the U.S., a bogus was a machine that made counterfeit, or fake, money.
22Here's a fun fact: You can call bogus, counterfeit money funny money.
23Here is another word related to bogus - sham.
24Sham, a noun, describes a fake, made-up situation. We use shams to cover up the truth.
25Let's hear some of these terms used in a short story.
26Two roommates work together at a bank.
27One day, they decide to steal all the gold and jewelry held in the bank's safe.
28So, they plot.
29They plan it out.
30First, they need an alibi.
31Where can they be while the robbery is actually happening?
32They create a bogus alibi.
33They tell police that at the time of the robbery, they were together at a volunteer event, cleaning up a local park by the town's river.
34But after checking out their alibi, police brought the two in for questioning.
35Then detectives searched their shared apartment and found all the gold and jewels from the bank robbery.
36What made the police suspect them?
37Can you guess what detectives found at the river park that proved their alibi was a sham? A dirty park and river!
38They both had a huge amount of trash! Clearly, no clean-up event had ever taken place.
39And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo.
1And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning English. 2You can trust that we are actually Voice of America Learning English. We are the real deal. We are authentic. 3In other words, we are not bogus. 4Bogus is an adjective that means fake or phony. Something bogus is not genuine. It is a fraud. It's fraudulent. 5For example, the man's huge diamond ring was bogus. He told everyone it was a real diamond. But actually, it was just a piece of glass. 6Bogus can describe something that is a lie. 7If something like an explanation or reason is bogus, it's not true. For example, an employee might call her employer to say she needs a sick day off from work. But during the call, her boss hears loud, live music in the background. The employee was clearly at a music show. Her reason for not being at work was bogus. 8We could also say the employee's excuse did not hold water. Her excuse for missing work sounded bogus. It was not believable. It didn't hold water. 9Experts at the online dictionary Merriam-Webster explain that bogus began as a noun. In the early 19th century in the U.S., a bogus was a machine that made counterfeit, or fake, money. 10Here's a fun fact: You can call bogus, counterfeit money funny money. 11Here is another word related to bogus - sham. Sham, a noun, describes a fake, made-up situation. We use shams to cover up the truth. 12Let's hear some of these terms used in a short story. 13Two roommates work together at a bank. One day, they decide to steal all the gold and jewelry held in the bank's safe. So, they plot. They plan it out. First, they need an alibi. Where can they be while the robbery is actually happening? They create a bogus alibi. They tell police that at the time of the robbery, they were together at a volunteer event, cleaning up a local park by the town's river. 14But after checking out their alibi, police brought the two in for questioning. Then detectives searched their shared apartment and found all the gold and jewels from the bank robbery. 15What made the police suspect them? Can you guess what detectives found at the river park that proved their alibi was a sham? A dirty park and river! They both had a huge amount of trash! Clearly, no clean-up event had ever taken place. 16And that's all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories. Until next time ... I'm Anna Matteo. 17Anna Matteo wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English. 18______________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20authentic - adj. not false or imitation : real, actual 21bogus - adj. not genuine 22phony - adj. not genuine or real : intended to deceive or mislead 23genuine - adj. not pretended : sincere, honest 24fraud - n. an act of deceiving or misrepresenting : trick 25did not hold water - idiom : to not be or not appear to be true, verifiable, or able to be supported by facts 26counterfeit - adj. made in imitation of something else with intent to deceive 27We want to hear from you. Do you have a similar expression in your language? In the Comments section, you can also practice using any of the expressions from the story. Our comment policy is here.