Lesson 292--Talking About Winter

 

For many of my students, experiencing winter in Canada was one interesting experience that they will probably never forget.  I would just like to give them some phrases they can use when talking about the cold weather and winter in general.

When you enter a house or apartment and you want to explain it was snowing outside,  use this phrase.

It's really coming down out here/there!

If you want to make friends at the bus stop, use this phrase.

It's so cold I can see my breath.

My feet are freezing!

I can't wait for summer.

I wish I were on a beach somewhere.....anywhere but here.

I can't feel my toes.

Lesson 291--two expressions using speak

Are they speaking ill or highly of someone?

I hope everyone did well on the quiz from Monday's lesson.  Don't be shy about posting your scores.  Remember to check your answers (The stats show that nobody did) because there were some tricks.

Today's lesson involves the word speak and two useful, though very different uses of the word.

1.  Speak ill of = talk badly about someone.

examples

Even though it was quite rude, John spoke ill of his former roommate.

It is impolite to speak ill of the dead.

Whenever she had the chance Margaret spoke ill of her ex-boyfriend.

 

2. Speak highly of = to speak positively about someone/something.

                               = to praise someone/something.

examples

Dennis was hired because his ex-boss spoke so highly of him.

The hotel was very popular and all the guests spoke very highly of it.

If her father hadn't spoken so highly of the doctor, Maria wouldn't have made an appointment to see her.

Lesson 290--December 2014 Quiz

For today's post, I have decided that a test would be a good thing.  The test will have two parts.  The first part will be a fix the mistake section and the second part will be a fill in the preposition part.

Part A

In this part of the test, please correct the mistakes in the sentences.  Please check your answers (there is at least one tricky one) by clicking on the test answer link in the top right corner.

1. I haven't been to the mall yesterday.
2. Greg is married with Maria.
3. If I were being taller, I would be a basketball player.
4. It's time I buy a new television.
5. It was too cold that I decided to stay home.
6. Daniel lives near to the library that has the biggest book collection.
7. Being the tallest building in Toronto, I went there.
8. Janine was very exhausted and fell asleep immediately after getting home.

Part B

In this part of the test, please choose the correct preposition to fit in the blank.  Please check your answers (there is at least one tricky one) by clicking on the test answer link in the top right corner.

1. Timothy is looking forward ___ the movie.
2. Matthew is very protective___ his sister.
3. Alonso's father was very disappointed ___ him.
4. The teacher was very pleased ___ her student's work.
5. Brad Pitt is divorced ___ Jennifer Aniston.
6. All of the workers were too engaged ___ their work to notice the argument in the office.
7. Julia was fond ___ writing long letters to her friends and family.
8. John and Cindy rescued several dogs ___ the fire at the farmhouse.
9. The Smiths do not approve ___ their son's choice for a bride.
10. Let's discuss ___ the problem.

Check your answers here

http://englishchunksquizanswers.blogspot.ca/2014/12/december-2014-quiz-answers.html

 

Lesson 289--Dealing with salesclerks

 

One experience everyone has in English is dealing with a salesclerk.  They always appear in front of you (or behind you) and ask "Can I help you?" or "May I help you?"  Sometimes they modify that with, "Can I help you find something?" I would like to give you some expressions to deal with them.  I have put them in two categories:  expressions for when you don't want any help and expressions for when you would like some help.

When you don't want help.

No thanks.  I'm just looking.

I'm good right now, thanks.

Not right now, thank you.

I'm okay right now.  I'll call you if I need anything.

Not at this moment, thank you.

I'm okay for now.

When you want help.

Yes, I'm looking for a PS4.

Do you have the iPhone6S?

Have you got an electronic dictionary?

I was wondering if you have the Galaxy Note?

Could you show me some digital cameras?

I want a nice outfit for a party.

I'm interested in a new car.

Lesson 288--to conk out

She conked out while eating

Learning useful idioms is an important thing for all of my students.  Today we will look at the idiom to conk out.  It is special because it has a different meaning for people and machines.

The car conked out...obviously

for machines: to stop working

for people: to fall asleep

examples

The car seemed to be working well, but conked out while Peter was driving.

Mary hated her motorcycle because it conked out whenever it rained.

The city had to send a repair crew when all the traffic lights downtown conked out.

Jim was so tired that he conked out while watching TV.

Alana wanted to stay awake, but she conked out anyway.

Philip drank seven cups of coffee so he wouldn't conk out while working the night shift.

Thank You

 

The blog has hit 30,000 page views.  Thanks everyone for taking a look at it.  I hope it is helping you learn English and giving you confidence when dealing with English speakers.

Here are the statistics that blogger has compiled.

United States  8063

Canada           7235

Brazil              1877

Japan             1840

South Korea   1549

Germany        1513

Switzerland    1074

Poland             547

Mexico             489

Turkey              309

Thanks again everyone for your support.  See you again when we reach 50,000 (hopefully tomorrow)

Lesson 287--Pull Your Socks Up

The English language is full of interesting idioms.  This is one of my favourites.  I think it is because my parents and teachers often used this phrase when urging me to study more or do more homework.

meaning

To put more effort into doing something.  Usually this meant studying or doing your work.  If you are a teacher or a boss (or a parent) you should be able to use this one a lot.

examples

Jim's grades were slipping.  His teacher told him to pull up his socks.

If he pulls his socks up, maybe they can win.

If she wanted to graduate early, Martina would really need to pull up her socks.

With the deadline approaching, Theresa and her team pulled their socks up and got the job done.

Lesson 286--New Words with the Prefix "less"

 

Most students get exposed to words like worthless and priceless, but there are other words that end in  "less" that are not as well known, but are equally useful.  I would like to introduce a handful of them.

speechless--it is used to describe someone who cannot speak, usually through shock, or the presence of beauty.

When Dan saw his wife in her new dress he was speechless.

After watching his son make a fantastic play, Carl was completely speechless.

timeless--it is used to describe something that is a classic.  Things like designs, music and movies can be described this way.

 

The movie Miracle on 34th Street is timeless. 

ageless--it is often used to describe people who do not seem to age.

Dick Clark has hardly changed in fifty years.  He appears ageless.

painless--it is used to describe something without pain.

The doctor assured Kelly that the procedure would be painless.

Lesson 285--some more eating related vocabulary

 

When thinking about food, I would like to teach people some useful vocabulary

eating out:  going out to eat in a restaurant.  This includes fast food as well as elegant dining.

eating in:  staying home and eating.

takeout: this describes food bought at a restaurant and taken home, or taken some other place to eat.

takeout menu: some restaurants have a different menu for takeout items than they do for sit down menus.  Sometimes this includes specials, or discount meals meant for more than one person.

refills: some restaurants offer free drink refills, meaning you can drink as much or as many of the drinks you ordered.  This does not usually include alcohol.

Lesson 284--Idioms about co-ordination

 

English has some great idioms.  Today, I want to teach you some that describe people as uncoordinated or clumsy.

two left feet

If a person cannot dance well, or has trouble running or doing set motions with their feet we use this idiom.

examples

Johnny wanted to learn to tango, but everyone said he had two left feet and he should give up this dream.

Pablo gave up trying to teach Isabella how to dance.  He didn't want to insult her, but he had to tell her that she had two left feet.

all thumbs

If a person doesn't use their hands well, drops things, or just has trouble coordinating their hand movements we use this idiom.

examples

Daniel tried to assemble the game, but he was all thumbs.

Everyone could paint well except for Marvin, who was all thumbs.

 

Lesson 283--To Mock Someone

Charlie Sheen is mocking Sylvester Stallone's Rambo character.

definition:  To make fun of, to ridicule, to satirize.

We can do this by making a joke about them, imitating them in an impolite way or making them seem less serious.

examples

Jennifer got angry when she thought her staff was mocking her.

Every time Dennis talked about his hobby of collecting comic books, his friends started mocking him.

Martha didn't know she was being mocked when the whole office wore sweaters similar to hers.  They called it "Ugly Sweater Day", but didn't tell her that.

Beth's parents scolded her for mocking her teacher.

Lesson 282--Ouch!

Ouch!

Besides using bad words (or four letter words as we sometimes call them) we have some useful expressions for when something hurts.  Here is a list of things you can say when something hurts.

It hurts!

It's painful!
Ouch!

Ow!

That smarts!

That hurts the dickens (really old expression, I suggest that you don't use it)

Yowza!

In some Hollywood movies, when a man sees a very attractive girl, he might also say "ouch".  I guess the woman is so beautiful that it hurts.

Lesson 281--Possibilities and Impossibilities

 

When we look at a situation and must make a conclusion about what happened, we can use could have/may have and might have + past participle for possibilities.  On the other hand, when we use couldn't have + past participle , we are saying that it is impossible.

examples

Julia is not here.  She might have gone home.

There are only two stores open, so she may have gone to the closest one.

Paul has a car, so he could have gone anywhere.

Check you phone because she might have tried to call you.

Gwen doesn't have keys, so she couldn't have taken the car.

Victor forgot his phone, so he couldn't have called you.

You couldn't have seen Pablo at the mall because he is on vacation in Miami.

Lesson 280--make do with/without



If it's good enough for the Bolt

 

 

If you can make do with something, it means that it is sufficient enough to survive.  If you can make do without something, it means that it really isn't necessary.

examples

After checking the fridge, John said that they could make do with the food they had.

Jonathon's salary was small, but he could make do with it.  His life wouldn't be luxurious, but it would be fine.

Dennis was going to store and asked if they needed more milk or if they could make do with what they had.

Although she wanted a PS4, Theresa said she could make do without one.

There were no batteries for the flashlight, so they would have to made do without it.

Philip's phone plan was out of minutes and he didn't know how he was going to make do without his phone.

Lesson 279--a house of cards

 

 

This idioms describes something or a situation that is very delicate.  A false move or miscalculation and everything will be destroyed.

examples

The company finances were a house of cards.  One false move and the company would be finished.

They didn't know their relationship was a house of cards, but Bobby's return proved that.

Maria wept because her marriage was a house of cards and Diana had already started knocking it down.

Lesson 278--pull something off

They mean Tiger Woods.

 

 

This phrasal verbs is quite useful.  When you pull something off you accomplish something.  Usually this seems difficult, and when you accomplish it, people are quite surprised.

examples

The Toronto Maple Leafs pulled off an unexpected win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Nobody know how, but Denise pulled off a fantastic presentation.

Matt and his company pulled off an incredible deal with the Brazilian Petrochemical Company.

Everyone was worried that the company wouldn't be able to pull of the deal and that all of their jobs would be in jeopardy.

That he pulled it off was a miracle.

Lesson 277--just a tad

Most people who study English focus on adverbs such as very.  However, there is another important word when modifying adjectives.  That word is tad.  Tad is a noun.  It can modify adjectives.

meaning: a small amount, a bit

examples

How much would you like?  Just a tad.

He is a tad quiet.

The price was a tad high.

it can be used with too

He works a tad too much.

Helen is a tad too nervous.

Marcus has been late a tad too often.

Lesson 276--Playing Phone Tag

 

A fantastic children's game is called tag.  When you're "it" your job is to touch someone else and make them "it".  One great idiom is

Playing Phone Tag

This means that you call someone, leave a message.  They call you back and leave a message for you.  You call them back and leave a message...... you get the idea.

examples

Max played phone tag with his son all day.  He finally got in touch before he went to sleep.

The boss got tired of playing phone tag with his staff and called a meeting.

After several days of playing phone tag, Megan decided to go to her boyfriend's house and confront him.

Lesson 275--Rush into something

Today's phrasal verb means to do something without thinking.

examples

Jim and Mary rushed into marriage and divorced in less than a year.

Theresa did a lot of research because she refused to rush into anything.

Paul always regretted rushing into university without knowing what he wanted to study.

Lesson 274--Colourful Language

 

 

Colourful ( American spelling colorful)

Obviously this word means full of colour, but it can have another, entirely different meaning.  When we use it with language, it means crude, dirty, foul and inappropriate.

Examples

Martha always used colourful language to describer her ex-husband.

The school principal punished any student caught using colourful language.

Recently, television has allowed more and more colourful language.

Lesson 273-- Regroup

 

Everyday English uses a lot of expressions that were probably originally used in the military.  Today's word is one of those.

Regroup

Meaning:  to step back, to reassess a plan, the make a new strategy

Examples

After missing the bus, Marvin had to regroup.  He decided to take a taxi.

Things weren't going well for the team, so they decided to regroup at halftime.

Once they regrouped, things went better.

John took a few minutes to regroup before going back to the project.

Lesson 272--suit

 

Today's lesson is related to Monday's lesson.  Please go back and look at that one before you do this one.

Today's word is suit.

suit: verb

meaning 1: to match your style or co-ordinate your fashion

The jacket doesn't suit you.

The blouse doesn't suit your eyes.

It would be better to pick colours that suit you better.

meaning 2:  to match your needs.

Tuesday doesn't suit me.  We will have to meet on Wednesday.

The flight departure time didn't suit Melanie at all, and she decided to cancel it.

 

suitable/unsuitable: adjective

The colours were unsuitable for the promotion.

What day is the most suitable to meet?

 suitability:  noun

 

The report on the suitability of the product is due on Monday.

Lesson 271--fit

It fits together like a jigsaw puzzle

Both Monday and Wednesday's lessons are somewhat related.  Make sure to check both of them.

 
 

Today's word is fit

fit: verb

The bike fits in the car (A Honda Fit)

meaning 1: to match your size.

The jacket fits you perfectly.

The shoes don't fit.  I need a bigger size.

The key doesn't fit in the hole.

meaning 2: to match plans or open space in a schedule (with into)

The movie debut doesn't fit into my plans.

Gracie couldn't fit another appointment into her busy schedule.

fit: adjective

meaning: to be in good shape

She is fit

Jackie is very fit because she goes to the gym and she jogs regularly.

Dennis isn't fit enough to run the marathon.

Lesson 270--Speak Up versus Speak Out

speak up = speak louder

examples

The teacher asked the student to speak up.

She spoke up when it was clear no one could hear her.

speak out = criticize someone or something, take an opposite position to something

 

examples

Kelly spoke out against the new government policy.

When they found out the truth, all the students spoke out against the teacher.

Matthew spoke out against the multinational company's exploitation of the workers.

Lesson 269--Drinking Vocabulary

Since I know some of my students like to drink, I decided to teach them some key alcohol vocabulary

 

mixed drinks = cocktails

 

These words are used interchangeably.

 

 

 

 

a twenty-sixer and a Texas Mickey

twenty-sixer (26 ounces, or 750 mL of alcohol)

 

mickey (13 ounces or 375 mL of alcohol)

Texas mickey (3 Litres of some kind of alcohol--These bottles are huge, and they look pretty impressive in your liquor cabinet--only sold in Canada)

 

 

 

shot--2 ounces of one kind of alcohol

shooter--one ounce of one or more alcohols or liqueurs.

 

In Canada, beer is sold in many different package sizes.  The following are the most popular.

six-pack (six bottles or cans)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

twelver (12 bottles or cans)

two-four (24 bottles or cans)

 

 

 

 

 

 

a couple of kegs

tall boy (a 500mL can)

                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                        Keg (a lot of beer....look it up)

Lesson 268--make room, time and space

one of these cats needs to make room

 

The word make causes a lot of problems for my students.  I wish it weren't so difficult.  The problem is that make means create, but it also means a lot of other things depending on the collocation.  In today's lesson, I will teach you some collocations where the idea of make means to create something.

 

make room/space  =  create room/space

examples

Jim cleaned out the spare bedroom to make room for the new baby.

Timothy asked his parents to move over and make more space on the couch for him.

If you clean out the fridge you can make more room for food.

 

make time  =  set aside time to do something/ free up time to do something

examples

Pamela drove fast enough that she made time for a long lunch.

My boss asked me to make time for more meetings.

Most doctors recommend making time for breakfast.

Thank you for making time for this blog.

Lesson 267--buzzkills and killjoys

It is odd what you find when you do a google search.  She's a buzzkill, but...

 

Thinking back to Wednesday's lesson (Lesson 266), I realized I should have taught you some names for people who take the fun out of things.  The following is a short list, and most of them are slang expressions, but you will find them useful.  By the way, these nouns are all countable.

 

Buzzkill                           Killjoy

Wet blanket                    Downer

examples

Don't invite Craig!  He's such a buzzkill.

Timothy was such a wet blanket than nobody invited him to parties.

Being an absolute downer made Gwen very unpopular.  She was such a killjoy that even her parents found her annoying.

Lesson 266--taking the fun out of something.

taking the fun out of something

meaning:  when someone or something turns a fun thing into something boring or terrible. 

examples

James took the fun out of the game when he insisted that everyone follow his rules.

The bad news about the car accident took the fun out of the party.

Maria felt that keeping score took the fun out of playing golf.

Teenagers think their parents take the fun out of everything.

Email has taken the fun out of writing and receiving letters.

The bill took the fun out of eating dinner at the restaurant.

Lesson 265--bail out

There are many reasons why learning English is difficult.  The one that really seems to frustrate my students is when a word or phrase has more than one meaning.  This is especially difficult when an English word or phrase has two meanings which are almost the opposite.  In this lesson, I will feature such a phrase.

Bail out/Bale out

 

1  to quit, escape, jump out of

examples

We had a plan, but Philip bailed out at the last second.

The boat was sinking, so everyone bailed out.

Maria and her friends wanted to take a trip to Paris, but once they figured out the cost, half of them bailed out.

 

 

 

2  to help someone (this comes from the idea of someone providing money so you can stay out of jail)

examples

Martha's mother bailed her out when she couldn't find anyone to look after her children.

After being stuck at the airport for more than 3 hours, John's friends picked him up.  He thanked them for bailing him out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3  to scoop water out of a boat so it doesn't sink.

examples

In the storm, everyone had to bail out water so that the boat wouldn't sink.