At the behest of
The Conservation International team went to this area at the behest of the Honduran government. At the behest of the Honduran government. Today we’re going to talk about what “at the behest of” means in English. The Honduran government asked, or ordered, the expedition. Therefore, the researchers went at the behest of the Honduran government.
This is a good phrase for our more advanced listeners to use. It’s not very common, but you do definitely hear it, so you should all at least recognize this phrase. I’ll give you a few examples. You know, we have a “National Day” for everything. It’s all marketing gimmicks. Well, we have a National Ice Cream Day, and it falls on the third Sunday of July. That would have been last Sunday. National Ice Cream Day was established by the American President Ronald Reagan, probably at the behest of the dairy farmers in his home state of California. I hate to spoil the innocence of National Ice Cream Day, but it was probably created at the behest of big farmers, and not just from the President’s love of ice cream.
The shoe maker Nike was all set to release a special shoe on the Fourth of July, but one of their big athlete-spokesmen objected to the design. So at their spokesman’s behest, Nike pulled the shoe from retail stores. I’ll spare you the details; it’s the latest cultural controversy here in the US. But at the spokesman’s behest, Nike pulled the shoes from store shelves. Because the spokesman requested it, Nike decided not to sell these shoes.
When you use “at the behest of” you are conferring some power or authority on the person making the request. Nobody does anything at my behest; I don’t have any power or authority. Not like the Honduran government, the dairy farmers of California, or a powerful Nike spokesman. Not even JR does anything at my behest! In the vast, vast majority of cases, you want to use the word “request.” At my request, JR sent me the song of the week early this week. Oh wait, that’s a bad example, that never happens. How about this one: at my request, JR edited a little extra audio for a new page on the web site. That’s a better example. At my request because, I’m just a normal person without any special power or authority.
An important hearing was called at the senator’s behest. That’s how you use “behest.” The senator is in charge. He or she has the power and authority to call a hearing. If this senator wants it, then the senator shall have it, right? The meeting was called at the senator’s behest.
JR’s song of the week
The song of the week today is “Travelin’ Thru” by Dolly Parton. Every so often, JR and I have to balance things out. We love getting nominations from listeners, but we don’t want to always draw on the same type of song. We need to provide a variety. We haven’t had any country songs nominated, so I wanted to nominate my favorite Dolly Parton song. This song, “Travelin’ Thru,” appeared in the 2005 movie called Transamerica. Good movie, and a good song. The first two lines of Travelin’ Thru set the theme for the song and really for the movie. She sings, “I can’t tell you where I’m going; I’m not sure where I’ve been. But I know I must keep travelin’ till my road comes to an end.” Good song, “Travelin’ Thru” by the country singer Dolly Parton. In fact, the rest of the soundtrack has some good country songs on it too. If you can find “Take ’Em Away,” “Lay My Burdens Down,” and “There’s a New Moon Over My Shoulder,” those are all good examples of classic country music. And if you’re looking for a good movie, too, Transamerica. It’s available on Amazon for $4; it’s a good one. If you would like to nominate your favorite song in English, send your song to [email protected].
And before we go, I have to correct myself; a previous song of the week was nominated by Junio, with a hard J, from Brazil. I think I said Junio. Junio’s last name is a famous city in a Spanish-speaking country so maybe I was thrown off by that. Junio from Ft. Lauderdale by way of Brazil nominated American Pie a few weeks ago, and I had to make sure to say it correctly.
That’s all for today. Hey, I haven’t given the WhatsApp number out in a while, so I wanted to remind you guys that I do send out the occasional message on WhatsApp. Not too much, just once every couple of weeks I’ll send a video or a cartoon or something. So here’s the number, +1 312 967 8757 . You can also just go to PlainEnglish.com/WhatsApp from your phone and that should open a new message to me. Whichever is easier for you, PlainEnglish.com/Whatsapp. Say hello, introduce yourself, send me a voice message, tell me who you are, what you’re up to, and why you’re listening to English. I love hearing from listeners that way.
OK, that’s it for today’s episode. Thanks for joining us once again. JR and I will be back on Monday with Episode 176.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
