LCE3 Debate Vocabulary
Here you will find the vocabulary & expressions which came up during your
discussions. They are a disorganised “grab bag” but I’m sure you can group
synonymous expressions together!
February 28
As a matter of principle
To make your case
I see your point
On the basis of
Safety belt/ seat belt
To buckle up
To wear your safety belt
To play Devil’s advocate
That’s not the issue.
To strike/hit close to home
The pursuit of personal happiness/freedom
To infringe upon/on somebody’s pursuit of …
To bite into/cut into the budget
To raise monthly premiums
To pay a monthly insurance premium
The death doll
Road deaths
March 7
Word stress: pro’tect, psy’chologist, be’come, for’bid, ‘regulated, in’surance, ‘privacy,
‘conduct (noun) / con’duct (verb)
Cultural reference behind an expression: the book Catch-22 by Joseph Heller,
published in 1961, about “mobile army surgical hospitals” during the Korean War. It
was made into a film in 1970: “The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor
and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.” And was seen as a
critic of the Vietnam war. It was also adapted for a television series, which ran for
YEARS and was extremely popular.
There’s no point doing that.
They are not used to ___ing this.
To commit suicide
Can/Do we agree on that point?
Yes, I see your point but …
Do you see what I mean?
On the contrary
Convince me!
Can your prove that?
Come on, you can’t be serious!
Sorry, but I’ve forgotten what I was going to say / I’ve lost my train of thought.
Moral standards
Immoral
Irresponsible
Harmful to yourself/ to others
To seek/get compensation for sthg.
Now I’m starting to have doubts.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
A piece of paper is no guarantee of competence/ability.
The problem is not drugs themselves but the people who use them.
To put aside money / to put money aside
To save for a rainy day
It’s not inherently bad/dangerous/harmful/ …
We shouldn’t differentiate between ….
Don’t everyone volunteer at once.
To ban something
To discriminate against on the basis of gender
In theory … , but in practice/reality ….
To pay a fine
To punish
The pursuit of freedom/happiness
To infringe upon someone else’s freedom/happiness
You can do whatever you like
It’s a question of freedom of choice.
To be aware of the danger
To make a decision
To do a job
It’s a vicious circle. / a Catch-22 situation / a no-win situation
It’s exactly the opposite / the other way around.
A male chauvinist pig
April 18th
To take responsibility for your actions
She’s too young to die.
She’s got so much to live for.
She’s got her whole life in front of her.
To improve s.o.’s quality of life
He got what he deserves.
He got what was coming to him.
To earn a living by ---ing
A serious handicap
To be independent, autonomous
They’re night and day.
A clear-cut case
Without a shadow of a doubt
A short/long life expectancy
It’s worth it.
It’s money well spent.
It’s god value for money.
To be born prematurely
It’s a matter of life or death/ It’s a life or death issue/situation.
A skirt-chaser
If we have some money left/left over
If we do that, then …
If we treat her, then …
The Hippocratic Oath
A minor
Desire, motivation, willpower
There are other lives at stake.
The deciding factor
Non, mais c’est bon. = No, that’s okay, don’t worry about it.
C’est pas sûr. = We don’t know for certain/sure.
Word Stress : tra’dition, appen’dectomy, ‘addict, ‘treatment, ‘cataracts, ‘therapy
‘vegetable (**only 3 syllables), ex’pectancy, a’lleged, be’gin, de’liberately, di’alysis,
obli’gation, ne’gotiate
April 25th
Public/private sector
Insurance coverage
Medicare / Medicaid
To have equal access to health care
Shares, shareholders, profits
To tax
To cut
To top-up, top-up funds
Additional insurance
Social security
To pay a fee
Strong pharmaceutical lobbies, insurance lobbies
To benefit from the health service (= to get treatment)
More difficult to abuse the system
Hypochondriacs
The world is a dangerous place.
Survival of the fittest
Republican ideals
Hippocratic Oath
Sense of community, solidarity
Humane
Worth the money
Good value for money
In the black = not in debt
In the red = in debt
The State will always be in debt/in the red
That’s the nature of the beast.
Bankruptcy, to face bankruptcy, to go bankrupt
To reinvest
Too bad. That’s life.
Patient
Client, customer = consumer mentality
Intensive care
Vaccinations
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Upkeep, maintenance
Innocent bystander
Bombproof = 100%
The Good Samaritan Law
To be liable
To sue someone
The snowball effect, to snowball
A vicious circle
A Catch-22 situation