Lesson 351--talking about rain

I am sorry that this post is a little late  For many reasons, I just didn't get it done in time.  I had planned to do a lesson on  interesting science words, but then I looked out my window and realized how hard it was raining.

So probably some rain expressions would be useful.
Everyone know the old classic
"It's raining cats and dogs."

However, we really don't use that one any more.  Here are some more useful expressions that you are likely to hear.

1. It's really coming down out there.
2. It's raining heavily.
3. I've never seen so much rain.
4. It's just like the days of Noah's Ark.
5. I might need to take a boat to work.
6. It's really raining.
7. It's pouring.
8. You'll get soaked to the bone.

Lesson 350--A great expression for crazy.

Out to Lunch

 

 

I have already taught you some expressions for crazy, but I think you need another one.  One of my favourites is the phrase "out to lunch".  This is great because the in a different context, this would mean exactly what it says.

example

A:  Where's Mr. Johnson?

B:  Oh!  He's out to lunch.

A: Please let him know I stopped by.

B:  Absolutely.

Mr.  Johnson is out to lunch and after he has eaten he will return.  However, if we use the phrase in a slightly different context, a person or a plan is described as being crazy or sheer lunacy.

examples

I can't believe we are following that person.  She is completely out to lunch.

There is no way that plan will work.  His idea is so far out to lunch I don't know what to say.

Everyone though Gregory was out to lunch when he spent all that money on a car.

Lesson 349--talking about schedules

 

English has lots of ways to say that we are late.  My two favourite are behind schedule and playing catch-up.  Both of these expressions can be used when we are not on schedule.

examples

I was late for work this morning and have been playing catch-up all day.

Greg was two weeks behind schedule and his boss was very unhappy.

The product launch was way behind schedule and there was a lot of tension in the office.

Because Marion was always playing catch-up with her projects, she was fired.

Lesson 348--an expression with lead

 

Monday's lesson (347) was an interesting one.  It got me thinking about related expressions that I should teach you.

one thing led to another

This expression is used when we want to explain that a bunch of things happened to lead to some conclusion, but that we are not going to explain all of them.  We are going to edit the chain of events and just tell you what happened in the end.

*remember lead is an irregular verb
lead-led-led

examples

Johnny met Irene at a party and one thing led to another and now he and Mary have broken up.

We started talking and one thing led to another and now we are seeing each other.

I wasn't planning on going out last night but I met a friend for coffee and one thing led to another....and now I have a massive hangover.

Lesson 347--Chain of Events

The goal of English Chunks is to teach you chunks of English that you can go out and use immediately.  Hopefully, you find these phrases useful.  Today's phrase is no exception.  Today's phrase is:

Chain of events

The meaning of this phrase is that a bunch of events are linked together.  One event causes the next one, and that event causes the next one after that.

examples

I told one lie and that chain of events got me fired from my job.

His actions started a chain of events that led to the start of a war.

If we examine the chain of events, we will find who is responsible.

 

Question

 

What is the chain of events in the following crash?  Feel free to write your answer in the comment section.

Lesson 346--Important Expressions

 

There are times when you aren't paying attention.  Usually, like my students, you are paying attention to your phone or your computer.  Other times you aren't really paying attention to anything in particular.  We have some great expressions in English to explain that.  They include:

staring into space

daydreaming

zoning out

Examples using the phrases

Daren's parents yelled to get his attention when he started daydreaming.

"I'm sorry.  I zoned out for a moment.  What did you say?"

Mellissa thought her boyfriend was listening to her but actually he was just staring into space.

"Stop daydreaming and focus!" the teacher yelled.

Lesson 345--Canadian Vocabulary

 

 

Being a patriotic, I sometimes feel it is important to teach you words or phrases that are uniquely Canadian.  I don't know if this word is only used in Canada, but I am sure it fits in with our culture of hockey.

rink rat = a person who spends a lot of time at the hockey arena.  They could be watching games, playing games, even working there.  If you are looking for them, the first place you would look is the arena.

examples

Jimmy is such a rink rat.  He's always at the arena even when he isn't playing.

Those rink rats never go home.

Lesson 344--When talking about movies

 

When talking about movies, we have lots of words that you will find useful.

premiere/debut (verb and noun) :  This indicates when the movie will start being shown to the public.

Avengers 2 premieres on Thursday. (verb)

Ant-man debuts on Friday. (verb)

The Avengers 2 premiere is on Thursday. (noun)

The Antman debut is on Friday. (noun)

We also use some more casual language for this.

come out

The movie comes out on Friday.

Lesson 343--working out the kinks

 

work out the kinks (after running into some kinks)***

 

Another great English phrase is "work out the kinks."

This can mean, straighten something like a chain, or your spine.

examples

The chain was tangled and took Andrew almost an hour to work out all the kinks.

Debbie went to a massage specialist to work out all the kinks in her neck.

This can also mean to fix the problems in a plan or process.

examples

 

While planning their vacation Mary and Scott ran into a few kinks.  Fortunately, they were able to work them out before the departure date.

Everything was set for Jim and Dorothy's second honeymoon when they ran into a few kinks.  Their flight was cancelled unexpectedly and the hotel they had booked went bankrupt.  They couldn't work out the kinks and had to postpone the whole thing.

***I have heard people say iron out the kinks.

Lesson 342--Words With More Than One Meaning

One meaning, but not the only one.

English is great because one word or group of words can have more than one meaning.  I think this is great, but I know some of my students don't.  It would be much easier if English words or phrases had only one meaning.  Easier isn't always better.

Today's phrase is "recharge my batteries."

This could me put more energy into my rechargeable batteries.  However, it could mean to rest, recover and generally feel better.

examples

Paul worked overtime for six months until he decided to take an island getaway vacation to recharge his batteries.

Needing to recharge her batteries, Veronica went to an all-inclusive resort in Mexico for a week.

Work and life were boring for Maurice.  His friends suggested taking a few weeks off work to recharge his batteries.

Lesson 341--Fussy



a fussy eater

 

One of my favourite English words is fussy.

It means to be particular or demanding about something.  Often these demands are very detail oriented.  People who are fussy are hard to please.

While it is negative, it isn't extremely negative.

Examples

He is very fussy about his kitchen.  He cleans it three times a day.

Mary is very fussy about her salads.  If she finds even the wrong lettuce, she gets angry.

Daniel is a fussy eater.  He doesn't eat any red or yellow vegetables.

I am very fussy about my beer.  It has to come from glass bottles and it must be cold!  Don't even try and serve me beer from a can!

Lesson 340--Modern English Vocabulary

Every year English adds new words to its vocabulary.  For most of you, the ones related to computers and cell phones are easily learned--you probably know more than you think.  However there are some new words that are not related to electronic devices that you should know.  These include

staycation:  taking a vacation from work, but not traveling to an interesting destination.

blook:  a book written by a blogger (this one seems important to me).

cyberchondriac:  a person who imagines they are sick or have caught a disease after reading about the symptoms on an internet health site.



He seems to be enjoying his staycation.
 

funemployed:  someone who doesn't have a job, but enjoys not working

netizen:  a citizen of the internet--that means any of you reading this blog.

Lesson 339--Burst into something emotional

English has some great ways to describe things.  Today we are going to look at spontaneous emotional things.  When we want to describe this we often use the following phrases:

burst out

break out into

burst into

examples

Jonathan burst into tears when he saw the scene of the car accident.

Daniel burst into laughter when he saw his sister's bridesmaid's dress.

 

The whole stadium broke out into a huge cheer when the goal was scored.

The audience burst out shouting for an encore.

Lesson 338--Car Vocabulary: Round Things

I like cars and I am sure some of you who follow these lessons do too.  I would like to take the time to help you improve your car vocabulary.  There are several round things in cars that we need to have the right vocabulary for.  These include:

wheels

tires/tyres

wheels with tires (tyres)

I don't want to forget the most important "wheel" in the car
the steering wheel

Lesson 337--subscriptions

In this day of Netflix and Spotify, subscriptions are an important piece of vocabulary.  It is also important that we use the word correctly.

verbs: subscribe to

Jane subscribes to 10 weekly magazines.   She has barely enough time to read them.

Malcolm subscribes to Rogers most expensive cable package.

Some of you subscribe to this blog.  (Thanks)

noun (thing): subscription

Jane has a subscription to 10 weekly magazines.  She has quite a busy reading schedule.

Malcolm has a subscription to Rogers most expensive cable package.

noun (person): subscriber

Jane is a subscriber to 10 weekly magazines.  She is personally responsible for the death of many trees.

Magazines are losing paper subscribers but gaining lots of online ones.

Lesson 336

There are two really good expressions to explain that you have gotten yourself into trouble.  This can be done physically or mentally.  Both of these expressions can be used when you want to explain this.

Paint myself into a corner

Dug myself into a hole

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

examples:

I really dug myself into a hole when I told my teacher I would do my essay early.

Tim painted himself into a corner when he lied about knowing how to fix televisions.  His girlfriend expects him to come and fix her TV.

Grace told her boss that she spoke French fluently and now they are sending her to Paris to negotiate an important contract.  When she tells them she exaggerated, they might fire her.  She really dug herself into a hole.

Lesson 335--Bicycle Trick Vocabulary

As a kid, we did lots of fun stuff on bikes.  We jumped over small rivers, we raced around the streets and forests.  We  had so much fun.  Today, I want to teach you some cool phrases to describe bicycle actions.

 

pop a wheelie:  to put your front tire up in the air while the bike is still moving.  (this can also be done on a motorcycle)

 

skid:  to brake hard and leave a mark on the pavement from your tire. (this can also be done in a car or on a motorcycle)

 

 

biking with no hands:  this one is pretty easy to understand.

 

 

Lesson 334--Blaze a Trail

 

 

Blaze a Trail (verb)

trailblazer (noun)

 

This verb is used to describe an action that is being done for the first time.

This noun is used to describe the person doing this unique action.

examples

Martha blazed a trail for all women when she became Mayor of the city.

Martha was a real trailblazer.  She became the first female Mayor of the city.

By being the first person to sign up for the new program, Jimmy was considered to be a trailblazer.

Melissa was blazing trails when she became the first one in her family to go to university.

Lesson 333--Stick to Your Guns

She liked it so much she got it tattooed on herself permanently

 

This expression in English sounds a little military, but don't think it really is.  This expressions means stick with your opinion, or don't give up easily.  We often use it when we want to encourage people when they are facing a tough situation.  We want them to know we believe in them and their opinion and beliefs are correct.

examples

Don't give up!  Stick to your guns!

I know he is putting pressure on you, but stick to your guns and this will all work out in the end.

My boss wants me to work on Saturday, but I don't want to.  If I stick to my guns, I might get fired.  However, I feel strongly about this.

You've got to stick to your guns or people will walk all over you.

Lesson 332--expressions used for guests

 

Today, thanks to the fact that I had guests over, I used two important phrases you can use when dealing with guests.  These phrases are used to make the guests feel welcome, and to make them feel at home.  Both of them give permission for them to treat your house/apartment like they're home.

Be my guest

Help yourself

examples

If you want something to drink, just help yourself.

Can I have some of that?  Be my guest.

If you need something, be my guest.

Treat this like your home and help yourself to whatever you want.

Lesson 331--An incredibly useful phrase

 

First off, sorry this blog is late.  I was rushing around a bit this week and didn't get it prepared on time.  I wasn't particularly worried because it seems that most people check these lessons on Saturday or Sunday.  Additionally, it gave me a good idea for today's post.

The phrase I want to teach today is "better late than never".  The meaning of this phrase is pretty simple, but it is a good one to know.   This blog is one day late, but better late than never.

examples

Anthony scolded his students for being late.  They replied, "better late than never."

People criticized Blackberry for taking so long to update their design.  The company responded that it was better late than never.

Since I haven't got a cell phone yet, I am pretty late in joining the trend.  However, better late than never--unless cell phones go out of fashion.

Notes

Now, for all my students, please don't start using this phrase with me.  However, you might want to try it at the office once or twice.  Who knows, it might work.

Lesson 330--Another way to use Even

Even Spock cried once.

One similar use of even comes with the same idea of surprised behaviour is when we include someone else in the group.

examples

Even Jimmy likes her and he hates everyone.

All of the students got the answer right--Even Kevin!

Even the weakest person can complete the task.

Even the slowest runner could finish the course in the time allotted.

Lesson 329--Using Not Even

 

One interesting word in English is even.  The previous lesson and this lesson focus on using it both positively and negatively.  This lesson will be on the negative.

We use not even when we want to explain that someone doesn't do as much as we expected, especially if that thing is easy and should require no effort.

examples

He's so useless that he can't even comb his hair.

Wanda was so tired that she couldn't even take off her shoes before falling asleep.

Samantha wanted to leave but her girlfriend hadn't even started packing yet.

position

a) between the auxiliary verb and the main verb

b) after the verb be

c) before other verbs.

Happy Easter everyone.

 

Thanks for reading this blog.  I hope it continues to help everyone improve their English.

 

Lesson 328--Using Even

 

One interesting word in English is even.  This lesson and the next two lessons will focus on using it both positively and negatively.  This lesson will be on the positive.

We use even when we want to explain that someone has done more than we expected or that they have done too much.

examples

Maggie has eaten all the food.  She has even eaten the stale bread.

Garth annoys everyone.  He even annoys his wife.

Dennis is never on time.  He will even be late for his funeral.

Charles wakes up early.  He even wakes up early on his vacation.

position

a) between the auxiliary verb and the main verb

b) after the verb be

c) before other verbs.

Please click below to see a past lesson on how to use get even.
How to use "get even"

Lesson 327--One Hit Wonders

 

As most of my students like music, today's lesson contains an important piece of vocabulary for talking about music, musicians and song writers.  I hope you find it useful and use it in conversation in the near future.

One hit wonder = a band, singer, or song writer who has one great song but then never makes another great one.  Songs like "unbelievable" by EMF or whomever wrote "who let the dogs out" come to mind.

examples

Even though I love the song, I am pretty sure the artist is going to be a one hit wonder.

I heard that song every day, all summer long, but then I never heard another song by that band again.  They were such a one hit wonder.

Every year MTV does a whole show on one hit wonders.  Last year, I knew every song.

Lesson 326--tread carefully and tread lightly

 

Today's expression is one you will often hear in movies or on television.  You will hear this in scenes between a judge and a lawyer and you will hear it during very intense scenes between people.

Tread carefully/Tread lightly

The exact meaning is to "walk carefully", but when we use it, we usually mean that the person is talking about something personal and upsetting, or that they are talking about an area which they shouldn't.

examples

The judge warned the lawyer to tread carefully with her line of questioning.

Margot had to tread carefully when talking about her boyfriend with her father.

Daniel couldn't tread carefully and often got into trouble with his coworkers.

Lesson 325--go for a stroll

Two celebrities go for a stroll.

Sometimes we need time to think, or at least get away from everyone and take some time to think.  The following expressions include this idea.  Sometimes they are just meant to explain physical exercise, but sometimes they are meant to explain needing time to think.

go for a stroll

take a walk

go get some air

clear my head

examples

I can't think straight.  I am going to go out and get some air.

I have a lot of decisions to make so I am going to take a walk and sort things out.

Whenever I have a lot on my mind, I go for a stroll.  It helps clear my head.

Lesson 324--Leave!

 

 

If you want someone to leave, you could just ask them to leave.  However, English has lots of other more interesting ways to say the same thing.  Some of them are colourful and some of them are just interesting.  For today's lesson, I would like to share a few with you.

                          

Get lost!

Take a hike!

Hit the bricks!

Scram!

Get out of here!

Amscray (this one is not popular anymore, but is "pig Latin" for scram.

Take off! (very Canadian)

Be gone!

Lesson 323--Describing Mistakes

 

 

crossing the line

gone too far

 

These two expressions are really good for describing a situation in which you have

a)      said something you shouldn't have.

b)      done something you shouldn't have.

c)      said or done something that cause a person so much pain that they will never forget it.

examples

Paul crossed the line when he insulted Julia's weight.

Megan was okay when Philip got drunk, but when he kissed her sister he crossed the line.

Theresa didn't think she had crossed the line by disagreeing with her boss, but she got fired anyway.

Everyone stopped laughing when Daniela went too far with her joke.

Lesson 322--tight schedule

 

In our last lesson, we looked at the phrase "money is tight".  Today, we will look at two related phrases: time is tight, schedule is tight (tight schedule).

definition

We use this phrase to indicate that we do not have a lot of time, or that we have planned things to fit the schedule exactly and there is no extra time.

examples

John couldn't go out to lunch because his schedule was tight.

The schedule was too tight, so they had to cancel several events.

Because time was tight, the teacher decided to skip some activities.

Lesson 321--Money is tight

 

"money is tight"
 

Phrases that deal with money are always useful.  Today and Friday, I will present some useful ones dealing with your financial picture.

money is tight = you are worried about how much money you have and you are worried about spending it.

examples

When money was tight, Chris brought his lunch to work.

Paul wanted to go to the concert, but money was tight.

Money was always tight growing up, so Martha made sure to be generous to her daughter.

Lesson 320--Reflexive Verbs

One of my students said the sentence

"We met ourselves yesterday." (wrong)

I had to explain that such a thing was quite impossible.  We would probably say, "We met one another yesterday."  or "We ran into one another yesterday."

This got me thinking about reflexive verbs.  There aren't so many in English because not all verbs are reflexive.

Here is a partial list

1. taught
2. introduce
3. kill
4. talk to
5. proud of
6. be angry at
7. enjoy
8. laugh at
9. promise
10. be proud of
11. entertain
12. feel sorry for

Examples

I was angry at myself for making such a silly mistake.

Jimmy nearly killed himself when he was playing with his father's gun.

I promised my self that I would lose weight by Christmas.

Melissa introduced herself to everyone.