Root out
This is a good phrasal verb today: to root out. What does it mean to root something out? It means, fairly simply, to find something bad and remove it. Usually that something is hidden from view. The “root” is the part of a plant that goes all the way down into the earth, into the soil. So if you have weeds or plants you want to get rid of, you need to dig deep and pull them up by the roots. Just cutting off the part you see won’t be enough. You need to dig in to get to the roots, and pull them out.
That is the image I want you to have when you think about this phrasal verb, “root out.” To find something bad and remove it—but remember that image. So here’s how you heard it right at the end of the episode. The US government is using data analytics to root out clinics that were overprescribing drugs. The investigators are using analytics to find the bad clinics and remove them. This is a great example of root out. If they just waited for complaints to come in, and if they only investigated the clinics that were the subject of complaints, then they wouldn’t be rooting anything out. That would be like just cutting out the visible part of a weed, or an unwanted plant. Instead, they’re analyzing big data sets to see which doctors are prescribing much more than average; how many prescriptions are being issued per patient or per visit; if there are areas in which the same patient gets prescriptions from multiple doctors. I’m sure they’re looking at many more things than that, but you get the idea. Only by digging deeper, really searching, really investigating, can they root out the problem. Otherwise they would just be dealing with it on the surface.
A very common way to use “root out” is with the word “corruption.” Corruption is like, dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by powerful people. A new mayor may take office and declare he or she wants to root out corruption in city government. I was looking for a good example online, and came across this one. The ex-administrator of FIFA pledged to root out any wrongdoing in the international football association. Of course, that ex-administrator is now under investigation himself and is banned from football. So, far from rooting out the problem, he was part of it.
In episode 140, we talked about a huge cheating scandal in university admissions. Government investigators, and now prosecutors, are trying to root out the culture of cheating in college admissions.
Related: Episode 140: Lying, cheating and bribing: how some wealthy parents got their kids into top universities
You can root out corruption, root out cheating, root out illegal activity, root out a bad culture: you can use “root out” with something intangible, like that, something you can’t touch. You can also root out tangible things, like illegal doctors. Authorities in Mexico are trying to root out the police that aided El Chapo for so many years. That’s another example.
Related: Episode 132: El Chapo is convicted, but will anything change with drug cartels?
JR’s song of the week
The song of the week is “Gone gone gone” by Phillip Phillips. It’s an upbeat song, rather easy to understand, I think. Phillip Phillips won the eleventh season of American Idol and has sung the National Anthem at American sporting events, including the World Series back in 2012. The song of the week is “Gone gone gone” by Phillip Phillips. If that’s not on your Spotify or Deezer playlist, then check it out today. And thanks to JR for that nomination.
That’s all for today. Thanks as always for being with us. JR and I will be back on Monday.
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