The Conservation International team went to this area at the behest of the Honduran government. At the behest of the Honduran government. Today we\u2019re going to talk about what \u201cat the behest of\u201d means in English. The Honduran government asked, or ordered <\/span>, the expedition <\/span>. Therefore, the researchers went at the behest of the Honduran government.<\/p>\n This is a good phrase for our more advanced listeners to use. It\u2019s not very common, but you do definitely hear it, so you should all at least recognize this phrase. I\u2019ll give you a few examples. You know, we have a \u201cNational Day\u201d for everything. It\u2019s all marketing gimmicks <\/span>. Well, we have a National Ice Cream Day, and it falls on the third Sunday of July. That would have been last Sunday. National Ice Cream Day was established by <\/span> the American President Ronald Reagan, probably at the behest of the dairy farmers <\/span> in his home state of California. I hate to spoil the innocence <\/span> of National Ice Cream Day, but it was probably created at the behest of big farmers, and not just from the President\u2019s love of ice cream.<\/p>\n The shoe maker Nike was all set to release a special shoe <\/span> on the Fourth of July, but one of their big athlete-spokesmen objected to the design <\/span>. So at their spokesman\u2019s behest, Nike pulled the shoe from retail stores <\/span>. I\u2019ll spare you the details <\/span>; it\u2019s the latest cultural controversy <\/span> here in the US. But at the spokesman\u2019s behest, Nike pulled the shoes from store shelves. Because the spokesman requested it, Nike decided not to sell these shoes.<\/p>\n When you use \u201cat the behest of\u201d you are conferring some power or authority on <\/span> the person making the request. Nobody does anything at my behest; I don\u2019t have any power or authority. Not like the Honduran government, the dairy farmers of California, or a powerful Nike spokesman. Not even JR does anything at my behest! In the vast, vast majority of cases, you want to use the word \u201crequest.\u201d At my request, JR sent me the song of the week early this week. Oh wait, that\u2019s a bad example, that never happens. How about this one: at my request, JR edited a little extra audio <\/span> for a new page on the web site. That\u2019s a better example. At my request because, I\u2019m just a normal person without any special power or authority.<\/p>\n An important hearing was called at the senator\u2019s behest. That\u2019s how you use \u201cbehest.\u201d The senator is in charge <\/span>. He or she has the power and authority to call a hearing <\/span>. If this senator wants it, then the senator shall have it, right? The meeting was called at the senator\u2019s behest.<\/p>\n The song of the week today is \u201cTravelin\u2019 Thru\u201d by Dolly Parton. Every so often, JR and I have to balance things out. We love getting nominations from listeners <\/span>, but we don\u2019t want to always draw on the same type <\/span> of song. We need to provide a variety. We haven\u2019t had any country songs nominated, so I wanted to nominate my favorite Dolly Parton song. This song, \u201cTravelin\u2019 Thru,\u201d appeared in the 2005 movie called Transamerica<\/a>. Good movie, and a good song. The first two lines of Travelin\u2019 Thru set the theme <\/span> for the song and really for the movie. She sings, \u201cI can\u2019t tell you where I\u2019m going; I\u2019m not sure where I\u2019ve been. But I know I must keep travelin\u2019 till my road comes to an end.\u201d Good song, \u201cTravelin\u2019 Thru\u201d by the country singer Dolly Parton. In fact, the rest of the soundtrack has some good country songs on it too. If you can find \u201cTake \u2019Em Away,\u201d \u201cLay My Burdens Down,\u201d and \u201cThere\u2019s a New Moon Over My Shoulder,\u201d those are all good examples of classic country music. And if you\u2019re looking for a good movie, too, Transamerica<\/a>. It\u2019s available on Amazon for $4; it\u2019s a good one. If you would like to nominate your favorite song in English, send your song to jr@plainenglish.com. <\/p>\n And before we go, I have to correct myself; a previous song of the week was nominated by Junio, with a hard J, from Brazil. I think I said Junio. Junio\u2019s last name is a famous city in a Spanish-speaking country so maybe I was thrown off by that. Junio from Ft. Lauderdale by way of Brazil nominated American Pie a few weeks ago, and I had to make sure to say it correctly.<\/p>\nJR\u2019s song of the week<\/h3>\n
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