What does ‘spoil’ mean? Learn 3 different meanings here!
Hi, I’m Joel from WorldEnglishTeacher.com. In this video,
I want to teach you about the word “spoil.”
It has a few different meanings and a few different ways to use it.
So, number one, spoil can simply mean that food,
food or a drink has gone bad and is no longer edible or you can no longer consume it.
For example, meat can spoil or milk can spoil if it is not in the refrigerator.
If you leave it out of the refrigerator for a couple of days it will spoil,
it will be disgusting. So the meat is spoiled; the milk is spoiled.
It means the meat or the milk has gone bad.
Another meaning of “spoil” is when you have a child, and you give that child everything they want.
Okay, so let’s say you have a five year old boy.
He wants candy, so you give him the candy.
He wants to watch TV, you let him watch TV.
Everything he wants, you give to him.
So, you are spoiling him. You are making him accustomed to receiving everything he wants.
And in general, this will create, kind of like a poor character in the child.
He will not develop strong character, if he is spoiled.
And the third meaning that I want to talk about, is if there is a book,
or a movie and you “spoil” the book or movie for somebody else.
For example, let’s say that there’s a new movie
and the main character dies at the end of the movie.
So, I’m talking to my friend, and I say, “I saw that new movie last night.
It’s really good except for John dies at the end. I was so upset.”
Then my friend, could be upset, “ah, you spoiled the movie!”
So, that means I ruined the movie for him.
Now when he goes to see the movie, he will not enjoy it so much
because he knows what’s going to happen.
There will be no surprise for him when he watches the movie.
So, that’s why sometimes you see “spoiler alert.”
If you are reading an article, or hearing someone talk, they say,
“Spoiler Alert!” because they are going to tell you what happens in the book or in the movie.
And they are warning you, in case you decide you don’t want to read or listen anymore.
All right, so I hope that was helpful. Basically “spoil” is the same as ruin.
The food is ruined when it’s spoiled. If you spoil a child, you are ruining the child’s character.
And if you spoil a movie, you are ruining the movie or you’re ruining the surprise of the movie.
So, thanks for watching and good luck practicing your English.
Meaning of ‘Spoil ’- #1 A food or drink has gone bad and cannot be consumed
Meaning of ‘Spoil’ – #2 Giving someone (usually a child) everything he/she wants
Meaning of ‘Spoil’ – #3 To ruin the surprise or plot of a book, movie, etc.
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