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  • Neil: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.

  • I'm Neil and joining me today is

  • Feifei: Argh! Ouch!

  • Neil: …Feifeiwho's just walked right into

  • a door.

  • Feifei: Hi. I was just catching up on some

  • messages on my phone and I sort of lost

  • track of where I was.

  • Neil: Hmm yes, you were walking around

  • like a zombie

  • – a smartphone zombie.

  • A smombie is a person who walks around with

  • their head bowed down, writing messages or

  • playing games on their phone and not paying

  • any attention to the world around them!

  • Feifei: Even if they're in a situation which might

  • be dangerouslike crossing a road.

  • Neil: Or walking into a radio studio door!

  • How's your nose?

  • Feifei: OK, OK, Neil. You've made your point.

  • Let's hear some examples.

  • I'm too terrified to drive past the college

  • these days. You never know when a smombie's

  • going step out into the road in front of the car!

  • I was knocked flying the other day by a smombie

  • as I was trying to get a bus. I don't even

  • think she knew she'd bumped into me!

  • People don't know how to communicate with

  • each other face-to-face any more. They are

  • such smombies!

  • Feifei: This is The English We Speak from

  • BBC Learning English

  • and in this programme we're learning

  • a really new word which is made up of two

  • wordssmartphone and zombie.

  • Neil: The word is smombie. It's actually

  • from German and has won

  • Germany's 'Youth Word of the Year' competition.

  • Feifei: But people are now starting to use

  • it in English too.

  • It describes people who walk around totally

  • absorbed by their smartphones.

  • Neil: You know, the kind of people who

  • walk into

  • the road without looking at the traffic

  • Or into studio doors.

  • Feifei: Enough now Neil!

  • Neil: Goodbye!

  • Feifei: Bye.

Neil: Hello and welcome to The English We Speak.

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