听播客学英语 269 承办

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　　A person who organises funerals is called an “undertaker” (or a “funeral director” – but the normal word is undertaker). An undertaker will talk to the family of someone who has died about the sort of funeral that they want. He or she will deal with the necessary paperwork and arrange a time for the funeral with the church, cemetery⁴ or crematorium. They also clean and dress the body, and place it in a coffin² – perhaps one of Carol’s painted coffins. They transport the body to the funeral in a hearse – nowdays a hearse is a motor vehicle, but at one time it was a carriage pulled by black horses.

　　Why is this person called an undertaker? No – it is not because he takes you under! It is because he or she undertakes the arrangements for the funeral. The word “undertake” has two meanings that are very close to each other. If I undertake to do something, I promise to do it. If I borrow money from the bank, for example, I have to undertake to repay⁵ it. “Undertake” can also mean to do or carry out a plan or arrangement. So an undertaker agrees to arrange a funeral, makes the necessary arangements and then carries them out. He or she undertakes the funeral arrangements.

　　We have a problem in English about how to refer to someone – like an undertaker – who could be a man, or could be a woman, and we don’t know which. Do we say “he” or “she”? One way is to say “he or she”. But this sounds a bit clumsy. So more and more in modern English people say “they”. I have used both “he or she” and “they” in this podcast. I will find some more examples for a future podcast.

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