EFE learning modules / News & Media

News & Media @ Discussing current events from the news and identifying different types of media sources and their reliability.

Common Expressions Back to Catalog

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Off the record

/ኦፍ ዘ ሪኮርድ/

በምስጢር የሚነገር

Information shared with a journalist that cannot be published or attributed to the source.

ለህትመት ወይም ለህዝብ ይፋ እንዲሆን የማይፈለግ መረጃ።

In Practice

"The politician gave some details off the record."
"Please keep this comment off the record."
Fluent Tip

Used in journalistic contexts to protect sources.

Break the news

/ብሬክ ዘ ኒውስ/

አዲስ ዜና ማብሰር

To be the first to report or tell someone about a specific event.

አንድን አዲስ ክስተት ለመጀመሪያ ጊዜ ሪፖርት ማድረግ ወይም መናገር።

In Practice

"Our station was the first to break the news about the election."
"I hate to be the one to break the news to you."
Fluent Tip

Commonly used for both personal news and media reporting.

Hot off the press

/ሆት ኦፍ ዘ ፕሬስ/

ትኩስ ዜና

Newly printed or just released information.

ገና አሁን የታተመ ወይም የወጣ አዲስ መረጃ።

In Practice

"Here is the evening edition, hot off the press."
"I have the latest statistics hot off the press."
Fluent Tip

Often used for newspapers or late-breaking reports.

Read between the lines

/ሪድ ቢትዊን ዘ ላይንስ/

ውስጠ ወይራውን መረዳት

To understand the hidden meaning in a text or speech.

በአንድ ጽሁፍ ወይም ንግግር ውስጥ የተደበቀውን ትርጉም መረዳት።

In Practice

"If you read between the lines, the report suggests a crisis."
"The official statement was vague, so we had to read between the lines."
Fluent Tip

Used when analyzing media messages that aren't explicit.

Spread like wildfire

/ስፕሬድ ላይክ ዋይልድ ፋየር/

እንደ ሰደድ እሳት መሰራጨት

To circulate very quickly, often referring to news or rumors.

ዜና ወይም ወሬ በጣም በፍጥነት መሰራጨት።

In Practice

"The news of the scandal spread like wildfire on social media."
"False reports can spread like wildfire online."
Fluent Tip

Used for both positive and negative viral content.

Take it with a grain of salt

/ቴክ ኢት ዊዝ ኤ ግሬይን ኦፍ ሶልት/

በጥርጣሬ ማየት

To view information with skepticism and not believe it entirely.

አንድን መረጃ ሙሉ በሙሉ ሳያምኑ በጥርጣሬ መመልከት።

In Practice

"You should take those tabloid stories with a grain of salt."
"I take everything that site publishes with a grain of salt."
Fluent Tip

Important for discussing media literacy and reliability.

Hit the headlines

/ሂት ዘ ሄድላይንስ/

የዜና አርዕስት መሆን

To become a major news story across many outlets.

በተለያዩ ሚዲያዎች ላይ ዋና የዜና ታሪክ መሆን።

In Practice

"The scientific discovery hit the headlines yesterday."
"The celebrity's divorce hit the headlines immediately."
Fluent Tip

Used for stories that gain widespread public attention.

To get wind of something

/ቱ ጌት ዊንድ ኦፍ ሰምቲንግ/

ፍንጭ ማግኘት

To hear a rumor or get a hint about something happening.

ስለሚከናወን ነገር ወሬ መስማት ወይም ፍንጭ ማግኘት።

In Practice

"The reporter got wind of the merger before it was announced."
"The public got wind of the secret project."
Fluent Tip

Often used for investigative journalism or leaks.

In the limelight

/ኢን ዘ ላይም ላይት/

በሰዎች ትኩረት መሀል መሆን

To be the focus of public attention.

በህዝብ ትኩረት መሃል መሆን።

In Practice

"The activist has been in the limelight since the protest."
"Being in the limelight can be difficult for a private person."
Fluent Tip

Used when discussing public figures in the media.

Behind the scenes

/ቢሃይንድ ዘ ሲንስ/

ከመጋረጃ ጀርባ

Happening out of public view; the internal workings of an organization.

ከህዝብ እይታ ውጭ የሚከናወን፤ የአንድ ድርጅት የውስጥ ስራ።

In Practice

"A lot of work goes on behind the scenes at a news station."
"The documentary shows what happened behind the scenes."
Fluent Tip

Used to describe how media content is produced.

Cover all the bases

/ከቨር ኦል ዘ ቤሰስ/

ሁሉንም ጎኖች መሸፈን

To ensure every aspect of a story is reported or considered.

የአንድን ታሪክ እያንዳንዱን ገጽታ መዘገብ ወይም ግምት ውስጥ ማስገባት።

In Practice

"The journalist tried to cover all the bases in the investigation."
"Make sure your report covers all the bases."
Fluent Tip

Common in professional reporting and analysis.

Under the radar

/አንደር ዘ ራዳር/

ሳይስተዋል ማለፍ

Going unnoticed by the general public or media.

በህዝብ ወይም በሚዲያ ሳይታወቅ ማለፍ።

In Practice

"The new law passed under the radar without much debate."
"Some important stories stay under the radar."
Fluent Tip

Used for significant news that isn't getting enough attention.