Beards were all the rage in the 2000s. What does \u201call the rage\u201d mean? It\u2019s a trend <\/span> or a product that\u2019s extremely popular. Not always, but it\u2019s usually something new. Remember that in the 1990s, people were mostly clean-shaven, or they had goatees. But then beards started to be cool again in the early 2000s. It became synonymous with <\/span> Brooklyn hipsters\u2014but then the trend spread and became more mainstream. It\u2019s been all the rage, it\u2019s been extremely popular, to have a beard.<\/p>\n Oh, how can we forget? The Impossible Burger is all the rage these days, especially after Burger King introduced <\/span> the Impossible Whopper. I mentioned Katy Perry dressed up as <\/span> an Impossible Burger. She joins <\/span> tennis star Serena Williams, Jay-Z, and television host <\/span> Trevor Noah as investors in <\/span> the white-hot <\/span> meatless startup. The Impossible Burger is truly all the rage.<\/p>\n I saw a headline, \u201c5G is all the rage.\u201d Is it? I don\u2019t know. Not too many people have a 5G phone and the service is only available in small sections of the largest cities. I see billboards <\/span> advertising it here in Chicago, but I\u2019ve never talked to anyone about it. I don\u2019t quite think 5G is all the rage yet, so I don\u2019t agree with that headline. If something is going to be \u201call the rage,\u201d it needs to be popular and a frequent topic of conversation <\/span>.<\/p>\n Ah, here we go. We are so trendy <\/span> here. If you want to know what\u2019s all the rage, just keep listening to this program. Here, in no particular order <\/span>, are things that are all the rage that you heard about right here. Juul, vaping. Remember? We talked about e-cigarettes in episode 56. Lightweight electric scooters <\/span> like Lime and Bird were our main topic all the way back in episode 47, and they are now popular here, too, by the way. Marie Kondo? I don\u2019t know, what do you think? Is she and her minimalist style <\/span> all the rage? That\u2019s borderline <\/span>, but you can listen all about her in episode 56. Dry January is all the rage. Not now, but, you know, in January. That one: if you\u2019ve listened to that episode, you have delved deep <\/span>, deep into the Plain English archives. That was episode 12. These are examples of things that are all the rage\u2014really popular, topics of conversation.<\/p>\n What lesson can we draw from this <\/span>? I think we can conclude that if you want to know what\u2019s going to be all the rage tomorrow, just listen to Plain English today!<\/p>\n Time for the song of the week, selected by JR, the producer. It is, \u201cSet Fire to the Rain\u201d by Adele. It is from her second album, called 21, and was the third consecutive <\/span> number-one hit from that album. It talks about the contradictions <\/span> of a relationship that was probably not right for her. The key line in the song is this one: \u201cYou and me together, nothing gets better \/ But there\u2019s a side to you that I never knew.\u201d It\u2019s a really good song, powerful, strong vocals <\/span>. She has an amazing voice, and there was a good live version of this song <\/span> too. \u201cSet Fire to the Rain\u201d by Adele is JR\u2019s song of the week. If you\u2019d like to nominate a song, feel free to email JR@plainenglish.com.<\/p>\nJR\u2019s song of the week<\/h3>\n
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