#40- 18 Words for Conspiracies & Government Secrets

Hi there! Welcome to episode #40 of The Real Life English with Gabby Podcast!

In this episode, you'll be learning 18 popular slang words, phrasal verbs, and idioms all about conspiracies. In American culture, conspiracies and conspiracy theories are a very popular topic of conversation. There's always speculation about government secrets and cover ups. For this reason, it’s very important that you learn how to talk about conspiracies and government secrets in English. After listening to this episode, you’ll be able to speak about conspiracies with CONFIDENCE and be one step closer to speaking English like a native speaker.

Get your FREE Study Guide >> HERE <<

The Study Guide includes: 

• All words and definitions
• Example sentences
• Practice Activities
• Transcript

Get more English Lessons here:
Visit me on Instagram
Visit me on TikTok
Visit me on YouTube

Transcript

[00:00:00] On this episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you 18 phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms all about conspiracies. You'll be learning awesome vocabulary like "dig up," "rabbit hole," "in cahoots," "smoke and mirrors," and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there, welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in. Let's go.

Hey, hey, hey, welcome to episode number 40. Greetings from a very crazy and busy USA. [00:01:00] We're not going to touch on that this episode, but I'm sure you've been watching the news, and you know all the political chaos that's happening here. Maybe I'll touch on it in a future episode if I hear that that's what you guys want me to talk about.

Well, back to this episode. I'm so excited for this episode because I love talking about conspiracy theories and actual conspiracies that used to be theories. It's a fun topic. There are a ton of conspiracy theories and conspiracies here in the USA, and there are a ton of international ones as well.

I decided to look up the most popular international conspiracy theories, and here's what I found. Firstly, we have the legend of the Loch Ness Monster in Scotland. The Loch Ness [00:02:00] Monster—this is the legend of a creature living in Scotland's Loch Ness, and this is a story that's been going on for decades now. Many believe that Nessie, as we call her, is a prehistoric dinosaur. Some think that she's a giant sea creature, but there is no concrete evidence.

But a lot of people travel to Loch Ness because they want to try and see the Loch Ness Monster.

Next up, a really popular one from the Americas is Bigfoot. Bigfoot is a type of Sasquatch, which is a large, ape-like creature, and it roams the forests in North America, Canada, and the USA. And, you know, a lot of people claim to have seen Bigfoot. There's been [00:03:00] no set evidence. There are also people who dress up in costume like Bigfoot in order to scare other people. But, you know, this is kind of a fun conspiracy theory here.

The next one is a big one—the Malaysia Flight 370 disappearance. I don't know if you remember this, but back in 2014, a Malaysian Air flight just completely disappeared. Many conspiracy theories came out—that it was shot down in the ocean, that it was hijacked, meaning it was taken over and flown somewhere. Some people even think that it was abducted by aliens.

But despite all these conspiracy theories, it remains one of the biggest aviation mysteries out there.

Testing, testing, one, two, three.

Okay, next—this is a funny one. There are some famous international musicians who are claimed to be dead, but people think they're still alive. Famous ones like Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, members of The Beatles, Tupac Shakur—many people claim that they are together, living on an island, living happily because they wanted to get away from fame. This is an interesting one.

The next one—whoa, this is a big one—the Illuminati. Have you heard of the Illuminati? This is a famed secret society that supposedly controls the world, and it does so from behind the scenes, meaning secretly. The theory of the Illuminati suggests that it has all of the powerful elites in the world—politicians, celebrities, business leaders—and that they are all working together in cahoots, one of our words for [00:05:00] today, and that they manipulate the economies of the world, governments, and that they want to establish a new world order where they have total control. Do you believe in the Illuminati?

Another one is Princess Diana's death. Some of you know her as Lady Diana, former princess, former wife of Prince Charles. Her death in August 1997 was claimed to be an accident, but many people think that it was a cover-up and that she was killed intentionally.

On this same note, famous political figures like Martin Luther King Jr. and President JFK are also on the list of deaths that people believe were done by their country's government. Many people believe that Princess Diana was killed by the government or the royal family, and many people—I would say most [00:06:00] Americans—believe that JFK and Martin Luther King Jr.'s deaths were done by our own government.

And the last one we'll talk about—super, super famous—is Area 51. This is a military base in Nevada, not far from Las Vegas, and it is believed that they have evidence of extraterrestrial life or aliens here. Many people believe that the government hid some alien spacecraft—what we call UFOs (unidentified flying objects)—from a crash in 1947.

This has long, long, long been a theory. The United States used to say that Area 51 wasn't even real. But because of technology like Google Earth and things like that, we can see Area 51, and so, a few years ago, they said, "Okay, yeah, Area 51 is real, [00:07:00] but not with alien technology." But I would say most Americans believe that they're doing some shady, secretive, suspicious things in there. There are a lot of other ones—too many to talk about in such a short time.

Alright, are there any other conspiracy theories that you have heard? I would love to hear about it, so let me know. I have this discussion in my class—it's a good way to practice reported speech. And there are tons and tons of cool vocabulary words that can be taught with this topic, which is why I chose it for a podcast episode.

Before I tell you the vocabulary words that I'll be teaching you in this episode, I just want to remind you that there's a free study guide waiting for you that has practice activities and everything that you heard in the episode so that you can practice more on your own time. To [00:08:00] get the study guide, just click the link in the episode description.

Alright, so let me tell you about the 18 phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms that you'll be learning in this episode:

Cover-up, turn up, dig up, behind the scenes, deep state, rabbit hole, play along, piece together, in cahoots, cover story, smoke and mirrors, come out, a plant, open up a can of worms, the powers that be, the tip of the iceberg, tinfoil hat, and a leak.

So now, let's go to the story. As usual, I created a story that has all of the words you just heard in real-life context. Listen to the words as I read [00:09:00] and see if you can understand the story. Afterwards, we'll review all of the words and definitions. Here we go.

Ethan was just an ordinary journalist until he got some information that changed everything. A source told him that the government was trying to cover up something big. At first, he wasn't sure if he should believe it. But when a classified document mysteriously turned up at his office, he knew he had to dig up the truth. The document hinted at a secret group working behind the scenes, a deep state controlling important decisions without the public knowing. The more Ethan investigated, the deeper he fell into the rabbit hole. Strange things started happening.

His emails [00:10:00] disappeared, his phone made weird noises, and one night he noticed a black car following him home. One day at work, he got a phone call promising him one million dollars if he dropped the story and just played along. He considered it, but ultimately, Ethan decided not to give up on the story. He pieced together lots of clues and found that a high-ranking politician was working in cahoots with a powerful, secret corporation.

The politician's cover story was that he was helping the economy, but it was all smoke and mirrors. The real goal was money and power. Then something unexpected happened. A witness decided to come out and share shocking evidence. But when the media tried to report it, [00:11:00] the government called it a conspiracy theory.

They even planted fake witnesses to spread lies. Ethan realized that one of his own sources was actually a plant, feeding him false information to make him look crazy.

"If I publish this, it will open up a can of worms," Ethan told his editor. "But people need to know the truth."

"The truth is dangerous," his editor warned him. "You're messing with the powers that be. Be careful."

Ethan took a deep breath. He knew he was risking everything, but he also knew that what he found was just the tip of the iceberg.

Someone had to stand up to the lies. The next morning, his article was published, and it was everywhere.

But instead of admitting anything, the government called him a tinfoil hat conspiracy [00:12:00] theorist. Some people believed him, but others thought it was just another leak of misinformation.

Ethan had uncovered the truth, but so many people just didn't believe him. The end.

Well, I wish I could say that there is no truth to this story, but this was inspired by real-life situations where people uncover the truth, but most citizens don't want to know or don't want to accept it.

Alright, let's review the vocabulary that you just heard. First up, you heard the phrasal verb cover up. Cover up can also be a noun, a cover-up, but in this context, it's used as a phrasal verb. As a verb, a cover-up is a secret attempt to hide the truth, especially by people in power. A cover-up can happen within a corporation or within the government, just when something bad happens or there's secret information, and people in power try to cover it or hide it. For example, the government tried to organize a cover-up to keep the scandal out of the news.

Next up, we have another phrasal verb, turn up. Turn up has a few different definitions that we have mentioned before on the podcast, but in this context, it's when something unexpectedly appears or is discovered, often after it's hidden. For example, new classified or secret documents turned up last night in an office [00:14:00] building. By the way, classified means that it is secret to most people, and only a select group of people have access. So, you hear this a lot if you're watching Mission Impossible, James Bond, or Jason Bourne, or other spy thrillers where there are documents that only certain people have access to.

Next up, we have another phrasal verb, dig up. Now, the word dig alone usually means when you move dirt or break it apart with your hands, like when you plant a seed. You have to dig in the dirt, make a little hole, and then put the seed in. So, dig up is to search for and uncover or find hidden or secret information. For example, the New York Times journalist managed to dig up [00:15:00] proof of corruption. So you're literally digging, but specifically to uncover secret information.

Next up, we have behind the scenes. Behind the scenes means in secret, where things are controlled or decided without public knowledge. So, you may say, "Well, what's happening behind the scenes?" What's happening where we can't see it, where we don't have access to it? For example, decisions were being made behind the scenes that we never knew about.

Next up, we have a term: the deep state. You will hear this very often when talking about government politics and secrets. The deep state is a secret and powerful group [00:16:00] that influences government policies from the shadows, in secret. You'll hear us talking a lot about, "Who made that decision?" "It was the deep state." Some secret group behind the scenes that's making the decisions. For example, some believe the deep state controls major world events without anyone realizing it.

Next up, we have a rabbit hole. Okay, this is a very, very important expression. We use this all the time. We can use it for social media, and I'll give you some examples after I tell you what it is. A rabbit hole is a complex or confusing situation that leads to more and more and more secret discoveries.

Now, in some contexts, a rabbit hole does not mean secretive. So, if I'm on [00:17:00] Instagram or TikTok or YouTube, we sometimes say the YouTube rabbit hole. You're watching a YouTube video. What happens when it's done? They recommend another YouTube video. And so, you go down the YouTube rabbit hole. You just keep discovering more and more and more and more.

So, in the context of conspiracies and secrets, it's when you find out one thing, and that leads to more and more and more secretive discoveries and information. For example, once he started researching the conspiracy, he fell down a rabbit hole of hidden information. So, we typically say go down or fall down a rabbit hole because it's like a hole that a rabbit digs. It just keeps going deeper and deeper and deeper.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb, to play along. To play along with something means to pretend or agree to follow or go along with something, often to avoid getting in trouble or to avoid suspicion. So, if I'm playing a joke on my friend and I tell my other friends, "Okay, guys, play along," you're pretending that something is true. You're going along with it, and in many cases, it's because you don't want people to see you as suspicious. So, if I play a joke on my friend and my other friends don't know, it's not going to be as believable. For example, he decided to play along with the officials until he could expose the truth.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb piece together. This is to put clues or information together to understand the full story. So, look at it like a puzzle. You have different pieces, and as you put the pieces together, you see the full picture. So, that's what it means to piece something together. You're taking clues and information, and you're putting them together to understand the full story or the full picture. For example, investigators slowly pieced together the real reason for the cover-up.

Next up, we have the expression to be in cahoots. This is to be secretly working together with someone or something, some organization, often for dishonest or illegal purposes. So, they're in cahoots, meaning they're working together, and they're doing something illegal. For example, the company was in cahoots with the government to keep the scandal quiet.

Next up, we have the expression a cover story. This is a false explanation, a false story that's used to hide the truth. Again, notice that word [00:20:00] cover. Like cover-up, this is a cover story. It's a fake story that covers or hides the truth. For example, they created a cover story to explain why the files had gone missing.

Next up, we have the expression smoke and mirrors. This is an explanation that is misleading or leads people in the wrong direction in order to distract people from the truth. So, there was a mysterious object that crashed in Roswell. Many people believe that it was a UFO, an alien ship. But the government said, "Oh, it was new military technology." That is smoke and mirrors. It's just a story that's used to distract people from the truth.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb come out. Come out means to reveal secret or hidden information. Did you hear the news that just came out? For example, a witness decided to come out with shocking evidence.

Next up, we have a plant. Okay, this is an interesting one because most of you think of plants as vegetation, flowers, greenery. But in this case, a plant is a person who's placed in a group to secretly gather information or spread misinformation. So, in the story, you hear that one of Ethan's sources was actually a plant, meaning that they had been put there intentionally to spread misinformation, to give the wrong type of information. And so, if I'm hired by a company to go in and secretly gather information, I'm a plant. For example, one of the [00:22:00] employees turned out to be a plant working for the police.

Next up, we have a really, really cool idiom, and that is to open up a can of worms. To open up a can of worms means to expose a situation that leads to more complicated problems. Okay, so imagine you're talking to your manager and you want to fix a problem. But talking about this problem is going to lead to many other problems. This is what we call opening up a can of worms. Opening up a can of worms is just the start of many other problems that are going to be more complicated. For example, publishing that paper would open up a can of worms for the government.

Next up, we have the powers that be. This is people or groups that secretly [00:23:00] hold authority and make major decisions. The powers that be means we know that it's a group that has power, but we don't really know who they are. The powers that be. For example, the powers that be didn't want the truth to get out.

Next up, we have the tip of the iceberg. This is an extremely popular idiom, and we may have touched on it before. I mentioned this in my book Real American Idioms, but the tip of the iceberg is a small part of a much bigger hidden problem. So, if you look at an iceberg, you can see the iceberg above the water, but it's small. Under the water is the much bigger piece of the iceberg that you can't see. So, when you say, "Oh, this is just the tip of the iceberg," it means this is only a small part of the [00:24:00] problem. There's much more that we don't even know about. For example, the leaked report was just the tip of the iceberg. There was so much more that was being covered up.

Next up, we have a funny one, and that is a tinfoil hat. It's kind of weird, but it's a term that's used to mock or make fun of someone who believes in conspiracy theories. I think we all have that friend or family member that always thinks everything is a conspiracy. Everything is a conspiracy. Everything is the government, all that stuff. There was a hurricane. "Oh my gosh, the government did it." They think that everything is from the government. Everything is a conspiracy. Now, the reason why we say tinfoil hat is because in the past, when reports first came out that the government could control your mind, that microwaves and other electromagnetic fields could [00:25:00] damage your brain, people believed that aluminum foil, or some kind of headgear with aluminum foil, could protect your brain. And so, people would start wearing these tinfoil hats to protect their brains. And it was like a huge conspiracy. And so, if we call someone a tinfoil hat conspiracy theorist, it's like we're making fun of someone who thinks that everything is a conspiracy theory. And maybe it's saying that they think that person's a little crazy. For example, they told him to go wear his tinfoil hat when he started talking about the conspiracy theory.

And lastly, we have a leak. Okay, now a leak or to leak usually is if you close your water faucet in the bathroom, but a little bit of water still comes out. It's not fully closed. So, in the context of secrets and conspiracies, a leak is a release of secret [00:26:00] information to the public, and it happens without permission. So, we might say, "Oh my gosh, did you see the information that leaked?" Or, "There was a leak. Who did it? I want to know." For example, a major government leak exposed confidential files from the military.

There you have it. You just learned 18 awesome new phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms that you can use to talk about conspiracy theories in English. This is one of those topics that Americans love to discuss because there's just so much to talk about. So, if you ever don't have something to talk about with an American, go ahead and talk about conspiracy theories. I'm sure that they will love talking about it.

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be [00:27:00] sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in.