Make a difference

Make a difference

Today’s expression is to “make a difference.” To “make a difference” is to have a significant impact on a situation, on a person, or on the world. And this is always used with something positive: the person or the action has caused positive, good change to the world.

This expression is often used with people or organizations that are doing charitable things . You might say that the local food pantry is making a difference by providing meals to people who need them. You can say that the people who volunteer there—they pack the food, they serve the meals , they sign people in—the volunteers are making a difference. So you can see—a person can make a difference and so can an organization.

Sometimes it’s hard to see how small actions can make a difference—but they can. The world faces a big challenge now: climate change . It can be hard to imagine how individual effort can make a difference on a problem so large . But if you’re my age or older, you might remember the ozone layer . The ozone layer is a layer of the atmosphere that protects us from the sun’s harmful rays . And the ozone layer had been thinning , in large part because of chemicals from air conditioning and consumer products .

But consumers, governments, and industry grouped together to reduce those harmful chemicals. And now the ozone layer is on track to be fully repaired . All those actions made a difference. Government regulation made a difference. Businesses’ commitment to finding substitute products made a difference.

Scientists studying that problem made a difference. Consumers who advocated for change made a difference. They all made a positive change on this one topic. (And if you want to hear more, check out PlainEnglish.com/564 ; we did a full episode on the ozone layer.)

So you can see “make a difference” is not just about volunteering , not just about charity . You can make a difference at your job, too. What does it mean to have a “good job”? For some people, it means doing something they enjoy. Other people want to get rich , make a lot of money. Still others want to have a good life balance . But some people want to make a difference in their jobs. That means, they want to be able to see how their jobs have a positive effect on society.

Now, if you’ve been listening long enough, you may have gleaned that I’m a believer in markets . And any true believer in markets will tell you that every job makes a difference. Well, almost any job. If you save lives as a surgeon , you make a difference by saving lives and improving health. That’s easy to see. But if you collect trash , you also make a difference: you keep the neighborhood clean and sanitary . That, too, probably saves lives, right?

If you invent high-tech computer programs, that makes a difference: it makes the world better because now we have something new. But if you repair cracked smartphone screens , that also makes a difference: it helps people enjoy their lives, be their best, and save their money.

So I think that most jobs do make a difference. It’s just that at some jobs, the difference is easier to see than at others.

What can you say if your effort—something you do, something that happens—will not make a positive change? You can say, “That won’t make a difference” or “That won’t make much difference.”

Donald Trump was convicted of felony charges . And it looks right now like that won’t make much difference in the upcoming election . It won’t change people’s minds. It won’t have a positive or negative effect on public opinion.

Why not? Why would this not make a difference? Why would people’s opinions not change? Well, the charges were very minor . Almost everyone has an opinion of Trump. This case offered no new information about him as a candidate. So, yes, he was convicted. He’ll be punished . But the case won’t make much difference in the minds of American voters.

See you next time!

That’s all for today, July 8, 2024. Remember this was lesson 690, so you can find the full lesson at PlainEnglish.com/690.

We’ll be back on Thursday, when we’ll take a look at some great smaller museums that you might not have seen in any of the big guidebooks. See you then.