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 opinion, just or unjust, 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
