6 Minute English - Chins

Now hardly a day goes by without hearing someone talking about some aspects about bodies. Do you know what I mean, Neil?

Yes, Rob. Almost every part about anatomies seen to be subject and listen debate. It could be atomic since we eat and it could be our posture and how we stand. It could be our skin and how should we look after it.

Oh yes, I know. It get very tedious, that means boring. So I don't really take any notices as you can see.

But this one part of our body you don't hear much about and that's the chin.

The chin? You mean the small bit of bone under the mouth. That's the most interesting part, isn't it, Rob. I means it doesn't do anything, does it. I must meat I've never even thought about it. What is it for anyway.

More. Some people think it is very useful for folding up chip and towels. You know you hold one end with your chin like that way.

Come on Rob. Not being serious.

Of course not. But seriously the more you think about it, the more interesting the chin becomes.

You still got to convince me, Rob. Chin is just a chin. That's all of the it.

Not so far Neil. The chin may turn out to be an more important part of the body than you think. But before we get into that, let's turn to the quizz. Chin up Neil.

A good phrase. Means stay positive and optimistic.

OK. Will how optimistic are you about getting this question right? How long ago do you think human develop chins? Was it:
a) 150000 years ago.
b) 2000000 years ago.
c) 5000000 years ago.

I have no idea. They all sound far fetched to me. Far fetched means something is difficult to believe. But I think of 2000000 years ago.

b) OK. We'll find out if you are right or wrong later on. But the first thing to say it's the human are the only animals to develop  a chin. Let's listen Dr.XXX from University of Florida. What word does he use to mean it sticks out.

Human are the only animal that had chin. And that mean you have the bony projection underneath your teeth that stick out to teeth. On the low portion of your jaw, and it such a unusual feature that in the way sort of help define what we mean to be human.

So he used the word projection which means something is stick out from the main surface. And the word jaw he used to describe lower part of the face, which the chin is part of. We know exactly what the chin is but why does it develop?

Now, from what I understand Rob has a lot to do is when humans started to cook their food. So the food they ate become much softer and therefore are ancestors that the people related to us from the long time ago. They didn't need powerful jaws or sharp teeth  anymore and strangely that made the jaw drop and produce that old piece of bone we know as chin.

But sometimes later, the chin became associated with sexual attraction in man. May old with prominent that means easy to see, jaws was suppose to be attractive to women.  And men with small chins were thought to be unattractive or weak people. They will even call chinless wander sometimes.

Chinless wander, interesting phrase. So let's have a look at your face, Rob. Your chinless wander. It looks pretty normal to me. How about mine?

Well, your chin is rather pointed. But I am not sure what is that means to be honest. So let's move swiftly on. Let's hear what Dr.XXXX has to say about this.  He uses a word means theory is likely to be true.

In genius talk about chin. Chin you know sometimes about feature and then later were so lucky done to be ...

The word he uses was plausible. Meaning something that is acceptable or believable. The word chin has also given us some interesting expressions. A double for example  describes loose skin hanging beneath the chin which makes people look like they got two chins, is something that people don't like often try to get off.  

And then there is a verb, to chin wager, that means to talk a lot or to chat in a relax way with friends.  Chin wager tends to be a conversation about things are very important. But our conversation about chin is very important.

I get so Neil, OK. So how about the answer to that question I asked you earlier. I asked how long ago did humans develop chins?

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Now Hi there, Neil. Hardly a day goes by without hearing someone talking about some aspect about of our bodies. Do you know what I mean, Neil?

Oh, yes, Rob. Almost every part about anatomies seen of our anatomy seems to be the subject and listen of endless debate. It could be atomic since we eat and our stomachs and what we eat. It could be our posture and how we stand. It could be our skin and how we should we look after it. Oh Yes, I know, It get it gets very tedious – that means boring – so I don't really take any notice, as you can see! But this there’s one part of our body you don't hear much about – and that is the chin.

The chin? You mean the small bit of bone under the mouth? That's It’s not the most interesting part, isn't is it Rob? I mean, it doesn't do anything, does it? I must meat admit I've never even thought about it. What's it for, anyway?More. Well, some people think it it’s very useful for folding up chip large sheets and towels. You know, you hold one end under your chin like that way. with it… Come on, Rob, you're not being serious

Of course not. But seriously, the more you think about it, the more interesting the chin becomes. You You've still got to convince me, Rob. A chin is just a chin. That's all of the there is to it. Not so far fast, Neil. The chin may turn out to be an a more important part of the body than you think. But before we get into that, let's turn to the quiz. Chin up, Neil. A good phrase - it means stay positive and optimistic.

OK Will well how optimistic are you about getting this question right? How long ago do you think humans develop developed chins? Was it... a) 150,000 years ago? b) 2 million years ago? or c) 5 million years ago?

Hmm. I have no idea. They all sound far-fetched to me. Far-fetched means something is difficult to believe. But I think of I’ll go for 2 million years ago. 'B'. Okay, Okay. Well, we'll find out if you're right or wrong later on. But the first thing to say it's the is that humans are the only animals to develop have developed a chin. Let's listen Dr.XXX to Dr James Pampush from the University of Florida. What word does he use to mean it sticks out? Humans are the only animal that had have a chin and that mean by that I mean, you have the this bony projection underneath your teeth that sticks out to past your teeth on the low lower portion of your jaw and it it’s such a an unusual feature, that in thea way it sort of helps define what we it means to be human.

So he used the word projection which means something is that sticks out from the main surface. And the word jaw he is used to describe the lower part of the face, which the chin is part of. We So, we now know exactly what the chin is. But why does did it develop? Now from what I understand, Rob, it has a lot to do is with when humans started to cook their food, so the food they ate became much softer. and Therefore, are our ancestors that – that’s the people related to us from the a long time ago – they didn't need powerful jaws or sharp teeth anymore. And, strangely, that made the jaw drop and produced that old odd piece of bone we know as the chin. But some times later, time laterthe chin became associated with sexual attraction in men. May old Males with prominent – that means easy to see - jaws was were supposed to be attractive to women. And men with small chins were thought to be unattractive or weak people. They will were even call called chinless wander wonders sometimes.

Chinless wander, wonder, an interesting phrase! So, let's let’s have a look at your face, yours, Rob. Your Are you a chinless wander? wonder? Mmm. Looks pretty normal to me. How about mine? Well, Neil, your chin is rather pointed if you don’t mind me saying. But I'm not sure what is that means, to be honest. So, let's move swiftly on. Let's hear what Dr.XXXX Dr Pampush has to say about this. He uses a word that means this theory is likely to be true. 

It seems plausible to me that chins emerged as some kind of feature and then later were selected to be sex ornaments. But not the presence of the chin but, rather, the shape of the chin being some kind of marker for sexual identity.

The word he uses used was plausible meaning something that is acceptable or believable. The word chin has also given us some interesting expressions. A double chin, for example, describes loose skin hanging beneath the chin which makes people look like they they've got two chins! is It’s something that people don't like and often try to get off. rid of. And then there's a the verb to chin wager. chinwag. That means to talk a lot or to chat in a relax relaxedway with friends. Chin wager A chinwag tends to be a conversation about things are that aren't very important – but our conversation about chins is very important! I get guess so Neil, OK – so how about the answer to that question I asked you earlier? I asked you how long ago did humans develop chins?