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Fiji Mermaid
Fiji Mermaid

Learn English meaning of ‘Fiji mermaid’

Date: Jul 20 2018

Themes: Celebrity, Hobbies, News

Grammar: Tag Questions

Intro

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“Come one, come all, to the greatest show on earth!” This was the famous call from P.T. Barnum’s circus during the 19th century. Barnum loved showing the world amazing and grotesque discoveries. He had a big circus show, but he also had a huge sideshow business. In his sideshows, he had many exhibits, and the most famous was probably his Fiji Mermaid.

Barnum wanted people to believe that he had a real mermaid. He said that he found her mummified body near the ocean. Many people came to see this amazing creature, who was half-human and half-fish. However, people later learned that Barnum created the Fiji Mermaid. It was, perhaps, his greatest hoax.

Andy tells Marni that he is a truther. Listen to what he thinks about the Fiji Mermaid in today’s English lesson.

Dialog

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2. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Andy_H

Andy_H

Marni

Marni

Andy_H:  I was doing a little bit of research, and there’s a couple of societies out there… truthers, as they’re called… and they were discussing the Fiji Mermaid. You know what I’m talking about, right?

Marni:  Uhhh… No. What is the Fiji Mermaid?

Andy_H:  OK. You know P.T. Barnum…. He had the circus’s world of wonders and all that…

Marni:  Like, the circus, like, sideshow kinds of things? Circus freaks… Is that where we’re going?

Andy_H:  Yeah, sideshows…

Marni:  OK.

Andy_H:  And he made a… a taxidermy half-mummified man… or woman… half-fish… the Fiji Mermaid. So, essentially, he took a corpse… like, you know, some thousand-year-old corpse… and sewed it onto the back of a fish… or some other big, you know, water creature. And he started to show it around his exhibits and say that it was real. People actually bought the legend!

Marni:  Oh, interesting!

Andy_H:  Yeah. And I mean, take a look at this thing. I mean, it’s pretty grotesque.

Marni:  Oh! Eww! Yeah! Eww!

Andy_H:  Yeah! Mythical creature status.

Marni:  Yeah… woo! Yeah… I wouldn’t want to see that in a dark alley.

Andy_H:  But the thing is… there are some of us that believe the legend is no hoax.

Marni:  Oh!

 

Grammar Point

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Discussion

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Andy tells Marni that he was researching the Fiji Mermaid online by talking to truthers. Marni has no idea what he is talking about. Andy explains that the Fiji Mermaid was created by P.T. Barnum. Marni does know who Barnum was. She remembers that he had a sideshow with lots of circus freaks.

Andy explains that the Fiji Mermaid was a famous hoax by Barnum. Basically, Barnum sewed the tail of a mummified fish onto the corpse of a monkey. Then, he showed the dead creature in his exhibits. He told people it was a real discovery, and many people believed him. Andy shows Marni a picture of the Fiji Mermaid, and she agrees that it is very ugly.

Have you seen a Fiji Mermaid before? What is your favorite famous hoax?

 

Comments

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ahmadnadri

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

This is the first time I see Fiji Mermaid.and this is my famous hoax.

06:37 PM Jul 23 2018 |

CLgirl

CLgirl

Russian Federation

In all the time people were curious about something magical, that´s why appeared such men who could make hoaxes and tricks just to get famous and earn racks on racks on racks

06:16 AM Jul 22 2018 |

hermitlady

China

   No. I haven’t known what is a Fiji mermaid .  but my daughter loves the mermaid on TV.  She is interested in something about mermaid for instance mermaid Cartoon.


 


   I don’t like any hoax including magic.


 



 

03:32 AM Jul 20 2018 |

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