What do “truthiness”, “selfie”, and “goblin mode” have in common?

In this episode, we'll see how Words of the Year are chosen, look at some of the most pertinent from history, and explore the winners of this year's prize.

• What "Word of the Year" means
• How dictionaries choose: data and expert judgement
• Sometimes a public vote decides the winner
• Common themes: politics, culture, technology, internet language
• 2005 "truthiness": feels true, not actually true
• 2013 "selfie": rise of phone photos of yourself
• 2016 "post-truth": emotions beat facts in politics
• 2022 "goblin mode": lazy, messy, not sorry attitude
• 2025 "6 7": young people's meme with unclear meaning
• Collins winner "vibe coding": using AI to write code

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Keywords: Learn English, vocabulary, lessons, idioms, aprende inglés, idiomas, aprender inglês, apprendre l'anglais, imparare l’inglese, ingilizce öğren,英語を習う, تعلم الإنجليزية

🎄 It's almost Christmas 🎄

1. Christmas Gift Memberships: https://bit.ly/XmasGiftELFCM
2. Take The 2025 "Christmas Quiz": https://bit.ly/ELFCMXmasQuiz2025

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Is AI really a disaster for the environment, or are the fears exaggerated?

In this episode, we'll discuss the environmental cost of Artificial Intelligence.

From a water controversy in Scotland to the heat of Arizona, we look at how much energy AI really needs, and whether we should be worried.

• BBC report on AI water use in Scotland.
• Scotland's data centres use 0.005% of water supply.
• What data centres are; cooling also uses energy.
• AI requests create answers, needing powerful chips and energy.
• Each query uses tiny energy, CO2, and water.
• Headlines exaggerate AI's impact; context shows minimal effect.
• Data centres use 1.5% of global electricity.
• One burger's water equals millions of AI queries.
• Energy source matters; location and water scarcity change impact.
• AI use growing fast, but efficiency improving a lot.

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Keywords: Learn English, vocabulary, lessons, idioms, aprende inglés, idiomas, aprender inglês, apprendre l'anglais, imparare l’inglese, ingilizce öğren,英語を習う, تعلم الإنجليزية

A deadly bomb. A death in a police station. A secret kept from the public.

In 1969, an explosion in Milan killed 17 people. The police accused a group of anarchists, but the story was not that simple.

In part one of this three-part mini-series on "Gli Anni Di Piombo" (The Years of Lead), we look at how this tragedy started one of the darkest times in Italian history.

• Italy modernising fast, but divided and tense.
• 12 December 1969: bomb at Milan’s Piazza Fontana.
• Seventeen dead, eighty-eight injured; shock across Italy.
• Coordinated Rome bombs; no claim; anarchists blamed.
• Anarchist Giuseppe Pinelli dies after police questioning; controversy.
• Pietro Valpreda arrested; weak evidence; years before acquittal.
• Evidence pointed to far-right group Ordine Nuovo.
• Suspected cover-ups by police and secret services.
• Strategy of tension; suspected Gladio links; extent unclear.
• Impact: fear, ordinary victims, start of the Years of Lead.

Full interactive transcript, subtitles and key vocabulary available on the website: https://www.leonardoenglish.com/podcasts/piazza-fontana

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Keywords: Learn English, vocabulary, lessons, idioms, aprende inglés, idiomas, aprender inglês, apprendre l'anglais, imparare l’inglese, ingilizce öğren,英語を習う, تعلم الإنجليزية