ShmoopTube

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[ musical flourish ]

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And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by talk shows.

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It's where we tune in to feel better about ourselves. [image of a show playing on television]

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[ chuckles ] Yeah.

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First read the following sentence.

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Oprah is famous for her candid discussion of difficult topics.

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And here's our question. [a man talking in the background]

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"Candid" most nearly means, uh, what?

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And here are the potential answers.

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Not like the past tense of "did."

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[ mumbles ]

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All right, Oprah, [image of a pause button on screen]

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the only person in the world who's so famous, she gets her own letter.

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Shmoop's working on trademarking "S," but, well, we've got some competition. [Oprah dressed in a suit dancing]

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So what does it take to get alphabet famous?

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Well, when she's not giving away large [someone having a spoonful of soup from a bowl]

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non-tax-deductible gifts, - Like, "You've got a car. You've got a car."

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That stuff. -

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she's busy doing some candid interviews with some pretty [Oprah watching Tom Cruise dancing on a couch]

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interesting folks.

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So what does "candid" mean?

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Well, we can start by getting rid of A.

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Eloquent means extraordinarily well-spoken.

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Think, uh, frilly 16th century dudes with quill pens. [a man scribbling something on a piece of paper with a quill pen]

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Like that. And Oprah is well-spoken,

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but her interview language isn't exactly frilly and flowery, uh,

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so we can bid A a fond adieu.

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Alas, parting is such sweet sorrow. Yadda yadda yadda. [Oprah dressed like a man from the 16th century]

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All right, what about B? Well, humorous means funny.

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And while Oprah can crack a joke now and then, she ain't John Stewart.

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How about D - dismissive? [a man wearing a yellow hard hat with a rod pierced in it]

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Dismissive means showing a lack of interest or being disdainful.

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[ mumbles ]

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We're pretty sure Oprah can actually feel our pain, [Oprah offering a box of tissue to a woman who is crying]

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so she isn't gonna dismiss our troubles any time soon.

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That's right. Let it all out. Oprah's here.

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All right, that leaves C - straightforward. [Oprah comforting a crying woman]

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Straightforward means open and sincere.

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And Oprah just happens to be the queen of talking openly about difficult subjects

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like war, hunger, homelessness, and Bikram yoga. [Oprah sitting on a couch wearing a crown]

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So C is the correct answer. Aren't you glad we talked about it?

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Maybe we deserve our own show. [a man crying]

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Hey, wait. Don't we have one here, kind of, sort of?

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Nevermind. We ain't Oprah.

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