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.