Nowadays, we sometimes read and hear the word op-ed more than once a day in the news. It sounds important, at least in the tone of voice that we hear it mentioned, but what is it?
It’s pretty easy to understand. Op-ed originally meant “opposite editorial page” – you know, those interesting opinions that are published by newspapers but that do not necessarily express the opinion of the publication. And as you have already guessed, they are published on the page that is opposite the editorial page. Nowadays, however, op-ed might simply mean a commentary that is an “opinion editorial”.
Donald Trump reacted angrily to an op-ed published by the New York Times on September 5, 2018. The op-ed in question was an essay written by a senior official who works inside the Trump government, but the newspaper published it anonymously. The unknown author described Trump as “erratic, impulsive, unstable, misguided, petty, and anti-democratic, just to mention a few of the descriptive adjectives used.
Trump called the author gutless and has asked the Attorney General to investigate the source of the op-ed. He posted a message on Twitter that said simply, “Treason?” Treason is punishable by death in the U.S.A.
Critics of the New York Times think it was unfair to publish such a controversial criticism anonymously. They think that whoever the mole is, he or she should step forward and resign. Other people are saying that it was a selfish justification on the author’s behalf.
The New York Times asserts that they published a significant first-person perspective from a conservative who thinks that he or she is serving the country by helping this particular president resist some of his worst impulses.
We are introducing the category, Self-Study, to our content as a way to broaden the challenges in this blog. Self-study is generally about learning to motivate yourself and taking responsibility for your own education, much needed skills in any walk of life. As for learning and improving on a second language, self-study is a perfect way to further develop your reading comprehension and vocabulary, which will naturally add to any associated language abilities. As our subject material is usually an eclectic mix of topics, we hope that Self-Study will enrich and empower you with new language skills. Please feel free to make any comments or contributions in the spaces below the topics.
Betsy and I worked together as teachers in an English School many years ago. The need of keeping my English fluent and updated inspired me to have classes with her, so, 3 other teachers and I formed a group for these classes. Betsy’s classes were always fun, full of new, challenging and interesting vocabulary, focusing on what was happening in the world and many times, with suggestions for our own classes. I still keep the material she prepared for us at that time and, surprisingly they are still fitted for my students. The environment where she teaches is so cozy that we believed we were abroad; this also contributed to the charm of the classes. Apart from that, Betsy and I have developed a strong friendship that has been kept alive up to now. I still turn to her whenever I need something and she never lets me down.
Taking English classes with Betsy is a great pleasure.
She enriches her classes with her wonderful life story, which she happily shares with her students.
Classes are carefully and diligently prepared by Betsy according to the individual needs of each of her students, and always accompany reading material on fresh, new subjects.
She is a very enthusiastic and up-beat teacher, who imparts knowledge to her students through engaging and interesting discussions.
All in all, taking classes with Betsy is a very pleasant, enriching and memorable experience.
A melhor novidade para 2017 será, sem duvida, o BLOG da Betsy. Excelente professora da Língua Inglesa, Betsy tem com seus alunos uma relação de amizade espontânea, acolhendo sugestões de temas atuais, abrindo caminho para que suas aulas sejam proficientemente dinâmicas e divertidas. Para mim, sua aluna e amiga, para todos os seus alunos, tenho certeza, serão de grande valia as consultas que faremos em busca de novos esclarecimentos.
Betsy is my little sister, and I am very proud of her for her amazing language capabilities. When she was just a small girl, she would sometimes make up new words when she needed to, to avoid being slowed down by not knowing the “mainstream” word. Example: her word, “benext”, a combination of “beside” and “next to”, which simple meant “do lado” (but long before she ever encountered Portuguese, of course).
Thank you for this article.
Thank you, Jane. Did you know the term before?
Difícil ter um presidente temperamental ou “destemperado” como Trump, mas acredito q um op-ed publicado com tais críticas, partido de alguém de dentro do governo ,deveria sim ser assinado! Se houve coragem para escrever, tem q haver a mesma coragem para assinar!
Adorei aprender sobre “op-ed” neste matéria tão bem escrita por você, como sempre!
Obrigada! Parabéns!
Thank you, Enilda. But you do realize that if the person had signed his or her name, he or she would have had to resign from their government job, and then the person would no longer be close to the President to save us from what the author called Trump’s impetuous, petty and misguided actions.