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.