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 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 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 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 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.

Lesson 314--A Labour of Love

Helping someone fix their bicycle can be a labour of love.

 

 

One of my favourite expressions is "to be a labour of love."  I like it because it is quite fitting for my life.  A lot of the things I do are a labour of love.  What that means is, I do it because I love it, not because I will get some reward.  Things that are labours of love are not cost efficient and usually require more work, time and sometimes money than the person will get out of it.

This blog is a labour of love.  I have spend many hours doing it, but financially the advertising has only accumulated to less than 10 dollars.  That's fine, because I am not doing it for the money.  It is a real labour of love.

examples.

Daniel spends a lot of time trying to fix his 1967 Mustang.  It is a real labour of love.

Philip loves baking, but his family doesn't care.  They just eat his food and hardly ever tell him how delicious it is.  He doesn't complain, though.  For him it is a labour of love.

Every Sunday, Maria washes her car.  It takes hours to wash, wax and polish her car but it is a labour of love and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Raising children is a labour of love.

 

Spelling reminder

labour is also spelled labor.  Choose wisely.

Lesson 306: Splurge!!

 

Today's l  That word is splurge.  It means to spend a lot of money on something.  This can be either buying something or paying for something like a hotel room.  This also means that the person could not usually afford something like this.

esson is about an interesting word.

examples

For his son's graduation, Peter splurged on a limousine.

When Maria and Tom were on their honeymoon they splurged on their hotel room and meals, but saved money on the airfare.

If I had money I would splurge and fly business class everywhere I went.

On his girlfriend's birthday, Mark splurged on dinner at the CN Tower restaurant.

Lesson 300--rhyming adjectives

In Canada (and other English speaking parts of the world) we have some interesting rhyming words that we use to describe things.

plain Jane = not particularly glamorous or gorgeous, or just plane.

examples

I don't like that actress.  She so plain Jane.

Bobby wants a couple of those plain Jane donuts.

artsy-fartsy = artistic, but somewhat negative in meaning.

examples

I don't like going to artsy-fartsy events.

The crowd was too artsy-fartsy for Helena's taste.

humdrum = boring, uninteresting

examples

It was a rather humdrum evening.

The movie was so humdrum that he fell asleep before it ended.

Lesson 298--take apart (surprise meanings included)

 

 

Phrasal verbs are quite important.  We can use other words, but you will probably hear the phrasal verb more often than its Latin based counterpart.  Today we look at a word that means disassemble.

take apart

examples

He took apart the television and now I can't watch the Big Bang Theory.

When Judy was finished the puzzle she took it apart and put it back in the box.

Mathew took apart the Lego building he made so he could do it again.

slang meaning  =  to hurt or beat someone

 

 

Manny Paquiao took apart his opponent in the boxing match.

In complete rage, Martha took apart Janice and put her in the hospital.

Lesson 297--Insist on

 

 

A good verb and preposition collocation is insist on.  Insist means strongly recommend, or strongly need or want.

examples

I insist on having fruit for breakfast.

James insists on being present for all interviews.

The school insists on taking attendance at 9:00.

When I was young, the teacher insisted on regular attendance.

Lesson 295--It Rings A Bell

 

When something sounds familiar, we often use this phrase.  Although it is quite common, it is not considered cliché.

examples

A:  Do you know Jimmy Matthews?

B:  His name rings a bell.

I can't remember Mark Smith, but his name rings a bell.

It doesn't have to be about people.  It can be about things as well.

A:  Have you heard the song "Love is Battlefield"?

B:  The title rings a bell.  How does it go?

Lesson 294--Useful Passives

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One interesting way of expressing popular opinions in English involves a very useful passive sentence:  Something is believed/said/thought to be.

 

Instead of saying:  Everyone (mostly everyone) thinks he died.

We say:                 He is thought/believed to have died.       

This is particularly good, especially if we don't believe these ideas.

The New York Yankees are thought to be the best baseball team, but I think it is the Toronto Blue Jays.

Other examples:

Subway is thought to be Healthier than McDonalds.

Flying is believed to be safer than driving.

Exercise is thought to be as important as dieting.

Anne Hathaway is said to be the most beautiful actress in Hollywood.  I like Winona Ryder more.

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 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.

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 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 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 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.