Backed by

Backed by

Today I’m going to show you how to use the English expression “backed by.” We use this when one person or organization is providing support, resources, or expertise to another. The receiver of this support is backed by the giver of this support.

Pickleball is a friendly game to play in the neighborhood . Right? Yes, right. But it’s also big business. The Professional Pickleball Association (PPA) is backed by the billionaire owner of a professional hockey team. Major League Pickleball is backed by a hedge fund investor. New teams in Major League Pickleball are backed by celebrity investors, including sports stars and actors.

In this case, we use “backed by” to mean, the pickleball leagues and teams are financially supported by those celebrity owners. I don’t think this is all profitable yet, so the wealthy owners contribute money to the teams and the leagues.

So while these teams and leagues are getting going, they need financial support; someone needs to make the investment now, hoping that it all makes a profit later. So we can say these teams and leagues are backed by these celebrity investors. “Backed by” means—the celebrity investors—LeBron James, Kevin Durant—they give money, they give expertise, they give publicity, they give support to the pickleball teams and leagues. So we say the teams and leagues are backed by celebrity investors.

Chick-fil-A will be expanding internationally ; you heard that a few weeks ago. Expanding internationally is expensive, so how are they going to do that? The initiative is backed by a $1 billion investment. That means, a billion dollars is going to support Chick-fil-A’s new initiative to expand abroad.

These cases have been about money, but it doesn’t always have to be. Let’s say your town is considering building a new pickleball court—and you are in favor. So you might go to a public meeting and say, “This proposal is backed by a majority of the residents in the town.” That means, “a majority of residents in the town support this proposal.”

I had a delicious lunch the other day, and guess what was in it: activated charcoal . We talked about that in Lesson 561. All the bread at this café was proudly made with activated charcoal. I smiled as I ate it, knowing that many of the supposed benefits are not backed by scientific research. That means, scientific research does not support the marketing claims made about activated charcoal. The sandwich was good, though.

“Backed by experts.” You’ll see that a lot in marketing and online articles. These seven exercises can help you reduce fat—backed by experts. The claim is, they’re supported by experts.

When I worked in business consulting, I had exposure to a lot of investment decisions—companies buying companies or assets. So let’s say an investor is going to buy a portfolio of warehouses, a real estate deal. When you buy warehouses, you want to know: are the warehouses leased to other companies? When you’re the proud new owner of these warehouses, will you be getting a rent check on the first of the next month?

So a lot of times, during the sales process, the seller would say, “This portfolio is backed by long-term leases.” That means, this portfolio of warehouses is supported by long-term leases. You should pay us money because, behind the sticker price, giving support to your investment, is the security of long-term leases.

And individual leases might be backed by big companies. So if Amazon signs a ten-year lease for a warehouse, Amazon promises to pay the rent. That’s pretty good security, pretty good support behind the contract. The lease is backed by a huge company with excellent credit.

Other times, investors would buy companies, not hard assets. In those cases, you might say, a company is backed by an experienced management team. That means, the company’s managers have a lot of experience the industry…and that all supports the company. The company is supported by the experienced management team.

Quote of the Week

Here’s kind of a funny quote. It’s by the famous, famous American attorney Clarence Darrow. He said, “History repeats itself. That’s one of the things wrong with history.”

See you next time!

All right on that note, we will wrap up Plain English for today, Monday, May 8, 2023. Remember, the full lesson, including the transcript, is online at PlainEnglish.com/570.

I wanted to say thanks to all the members who have connected with us on Instagram, @plainenglishpod . I have gotten some good notes, some good feedback, and really nice to see even more of you on there. If you haven’t checked us out on Instagram, please do so now, @plainenglishpod.

Coming up on Thursday: it’s curtains for Broadway’s longest-running musical. We’ll tell you all about it on the next Plain English. See you then.