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Jackie: The Prime Minister of Australia recently warned her citizens about the dangers of ‘planking’ which threw me completely because 'a’ I have no idea what planking is and ‘b’ I have no idea why it’s dangerous. But for this week’s podcastsinenglish.com I’m talking to a man who does know. Richard, [laughs] what is planking?
Richard: Well, planking is simply lying down, face down with your hands straight against your body and you have to lie as stiffly and straight as possible looking like a plank.
Jackie: A plank of wood?
Richard: [laughs] Yes. Yes, it’s a bit strange and it really took off only very recently, in this year, in March 2011….
Jackie: In Australia.
Richard: In Australia. Um… it was a rugby league player. This guy scored a try and after he scored the try he lay down on the ground, flat, face down, arms beside him…
Jackie: Looking like a plank of wood.
Richard: …looking like a plank of wood. So, he was interviewed on TV and he said, “Yes, I was planking” and then…
Jackie: People wanted to copy it.
Richard: Exactly. And um… there’s now an Australian Facebook page…
Jackie: So, what’s on the Facebook page? Pictures of people planking?
Richard: People take pictures of themselves or their friends planking in various places. It can be lying down in the middle of the road; they can be on a park bench, um… on um… road signs. They do it everywhere.
Jackie: So, why did the Prime Minister of Australia make this announcement that people should be… that it’s dangerous and that people should take care. What’s… what’s happened?
Richard: Well, as I said, they take pictures of each other planking in various places and on 15th May this year, this person was having a picture taken and they were on the balcony of, I think, a seven-storey building and he fell off and died.
Jackie: Oh dear, so someone was actually watching them and taking a photograph and they fell off the balcony.
Richard: Exactly, yes.
Jackie: Oh. So, this is very popular in Australia. Are they doing it in any other countries?
Richard: Well, funny you should say that. When I looked into this, the planking business, it actually started, I think, as a thing called The Lying Down Game.
Jackie: A game?
Richard: [laughs] It’s called… They’ve got their own website as well but they started a few years ago in 1997.
Jackie: In Australia still?
Richard: No, no. This is in the UK, I’m not sure, it’s the UK and Japan. Exactly the same as planking.
Jackie: Same position?
Richard: Same position, same everything. But also they do it in Korea as well.
Jackie: Oh, my goodness.
Richard: There they call it playing dead.
Jackie: Playing dead [laughs]
Richard: And apparently that started in Korea in 2003, and I believe they also have a French version which is à plat ventre [both laugh] which means on one’s belly. Now this started in 2004. So everybody’s doing it throughout the world and it’s not a new thing.
Jackie: How come this is a global phenomenon? What is that about?
Richard: Well, I don’t know. It’s a fad isn’t it?
Jackie: Okay, so thanks a lot Richard. I now know what planking is. I know why it can be dangerous. I’m still not quite sure why people do it. So, if anyone listening can write in and tell us if they do it, and why they do it, I’d love to know.
Richard: And send in some photos, but not in dangerous places.
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