Pop culture

'Pop culture' is the collection of images, people, and ideas that are popular and well-known

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Pop culture

Now I’m going to teach you about the word “pop culture.” I’m sure you’ve heard this before. “Pop” stands for “popular.” And “pop culture” refers to things that are popular. Ideas, perspectives, attitudes , images, sounds, art, people—anything that’s in the mainstream of culture at any given time.

You might hear the expression , “pop culture references.” And in fact , one of the hardest things about speaking a new language is understanding pop culture references. This is when someone references—or mentions —something that’s part of daily life, part of the mainstream. But if you’re not from the same country or culture, you probably won’t understand some pop culture references .

I try not to make too many pop culture references on Plain English. But here’s one you might recognize. Let’s say someone is eliminated from a competition . Let’s say you’re planning a party with friends or family. And nobody likes your party ideas. They want to plan the party without you. You might jokingly say, “I was kicked off the island .”

Do you get that? That’s a pop culture reference. That’s a reference to the reality TV show “Survivor.” The losing contestants —the people excluded from the rest of the show—were “kicked off the island.”

Pop culture, then, is stuff that many people will understand because it is so popular, these things are part of the mainstream.

It can be hard to nail down exactly what pop culture is. Pop culture can be television shows, it can be movies, celebrity news, music and musicians , true crime , even popular brands , advertising , or technology. TikTok challenges , viral memes , sayings and phrases that people frequently use: these are all pop culture.

Most museums don’t have a lot of pop culture in them. But the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh has a lot of pop culture in it. Why? Because Andy Warhol was an artist who drew his inspiration from pop culture.

One of his most famous paintings is a painting of Campbell’s soup cans. You’ve probably seen Campbell’s soup cans, right? They’re red, with the word Campbell’s in script at the top, and the flavor in the middle of the can. This is a great example of pop culture inspiration in Andy Warhol’s art. Everyone who looks at that painting recognizes Campbell’s soup. That painting, by the way , is in the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

“Pop culture icons” are people. Andy Warhol also painted and drew pop culture icons like Marilyn Monroe (a singer), Elizabeth Taylor (an actress), and Elvis Presley (also a singer). These were pop culture icons. They were popular, they were in the culture. People recognized them . They were pop culture icons.

Who would be the pop culture icons today? How about Taylor Swift or BTS ? The Kardashians. They are pop culture.

If you go to trivia night —this is like when a bar or restaurant hosts a quiz game —at trivia night, there will be question categories . You might have a category called “science.” You might have a category called “politics.” You might have one called “sports” or “art.” And there will probably be one called “pop culture.”

If that category is in your trivia game, you do not want me on your team. I won’t know the answers. But I’ll give you a few trivia questions you might find in the pop culture category. Ready?

Number one: “Joe Exotic is the focus of what Netflix documentary ?” Do you know it? Joe Exotic. Netflix. Documentary. Which one is it? The answer is: “Tiger King.”

Next question: “‘Spare’ is the name of memoir written by which notable public figure ?” A memoir, a non-fiction book . It’s called “Spare.” I would know this one; I just read this book. Got it? Give up? It’s by Prince Harry.

Last question: “What do people call their private Instagram accounts that they share with only their closest friends?” Do you know it? Some people have their main accounts with thousands of followers. And then they have another account, just for their trusted friends . What’s that one called? If you said, “finsta,” you’re right.

So now you know. This is pop culture. Trends, celebrities, brands, advertising, music, movies, documentaries, books, people, ideas—everything in the mainstream , what people are talking about, what they’re used to, what they would recognize, what they encounter every day. This is pop culture.

See you next time!

You don’t want me on your trivia team no matter the category. I really am terrible at it.

Anyway, that is all for Plain English—there’s no category at trivia for things I know about. Like, there’s no category for, “how do you put the fast audio, the slow audio, translations, quizzes, exercises, and practice areas all on the same page”. I could answer that. But I don’t know anything about Tiger King.

Well luckily I—and luckily for me, JR—we both know how to put all the great lesson resources on the same page at PlainEnglish.com, and that page is PlainEnglish.com/691. Like always, you get to that page, there are two parts: the main story and the expression. Click on each to learn everything that’s part of this lesson. PlainEnglish.com/691.

See you right back here on Monday.

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Story: Lesson