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 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 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 318--The Gravy Train

This expression refers to easy money given for little or no work.  It also refers to perks that some workers get.

examples

The mayor said he would end the gravy train at City Hall.

Bruce liked his job.  He called it riding the gravy train because he mostly got paid for standing around and doing nothing.

Lesson 317--take a toll

Studying has taken its toll on these studens

Great expressing to explain the negative effect something is having on you is "to take a toll" or "to take its toll."

examples

All the work Melanie did in the garden really took a toll on her body.  She was sore for a week.

Abusing alcohol took its toll on Dan.  He looked much older than he was.

The doctor warned all the children that smoking takes a toll on a person's lungs and heart.

The students complained that too much homework was taking a toll on their social lives.

Lesson 313--more insults in English

 

Just in case you didn't have enough insult words in English last week, and because that post was so popular, I decided to give you a few more words to call people when you want to insult their intelligence.

doofus

nimrod

dumbass

dumb bunny.

I think you could use the following structures (please put your choice of words in the blank).

You're such a ______.

Why are you such a ______?

I've never met a bigger ______ than you.

Do your parents know how much of a _______ you are?

Lesson 312--a half-assed job

Doing a half-assed job

 

When people are lazy, or even unskilled the work they produce or do is obviously not going to be any good.  We have several phrases to describe this.  They include;

doing a half-assed job

doing piss-poor job

doing a crappy job

doing a crap job

examples

Jimmy did such a half-assed job on his homework that the teacher sent a letter to his parents.

The painters did such a piss-poor job that Matthew refused to pay them.

Bruno is so lazy that he does everything half-assed.

The boss warned the workers that doing a crappy job was not what the company believed in.

 

Other words to consider:

subpar

 

Lesson 311--Insulting someone in English

An interesting choice

 

In English there a lots of ways to say someone is not smart or unintelligent.  While I don't want you to insult people, you should know them because they are often used on television and I want you to understand what you are watching.  This list is just a small sample of the words we use.  Please use them carefully.

nit wit

dimwit

half wit

moron

dunce

dolt

numbskull

The light is on, but nobody is home.

Lesson 308--UN vs. Dis

The prefixes un and dis have similar meanings, but sometimes they can both be used as a prefix for the same base word, but with different meanings.

unassembled--it is not together

disassemble--take it apart

uninterested--not be interested

disinterested--have no interest (often used in legal cases)

discoloured--wrongly coloured

uncoloured--having no colour

disable--deprive of some ability

unable--not having the ability

disprove--show that it is wrong

unproven--has not been proven, though it might be

Lesson 303--Car vocabulary

Car are one of my passions.  Because of this, I would like to spend the next couple of lessons teaching you some important phrases related to cars.

gun the engine

rev the engine

These phrases mean to speed up.  This can be done when the car is moving, or when it is not moving.  The engine will sound louder and faster.

Vroom!!

 

This is an onomatopoetic word to describe the sound an engine makes.  When we explain the engine working, or when we are playing with toy cars, this is the sound we make.

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 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.

 

Lesson 260--Phrasal Verbs

 

It is time to learn some more phrasal verbs.  Today, we look at entertainment.

come out = released to the public

The new iPhone 6 came out last week.

John likes to see movies the day they come out.

Does anyone know when the next Twilight book comes out?

The Toronto Star comes out every day.

The latest Marvel movie has already come out.

slang for music releases = drop

Katy Perry's new CD drops on Tuesday.

Lesson 255--Using THE

 

 

There seems to be confusion about when to use the

I cannot possibly write down everything, but I will give you some useful information to start with.

We use the for words that relate to our environment.  These include:

the sunshine

the future

the weather

the fog

the night

the rain

the wind

the universe

the mountains

the country

the town

the sea

the seaside

the earth

the stars

the sun

the moon

the world

the planets

Lesson 229--Vocabulary Friday

Today's lesson if just a list of useful vocabulary.  I chose these words because I don't think you will find them anywhere else.  If you want me to do another list, just let me know the topic area.



 hinge



 

knob/dial

 

gauge/dial

 

 

 

latch

hook

 

 

handle

Lesson 193--negative vocabulary

a seedy motel

Even though the weekend is nearly here, I seem to be in a less than excited mood.  As a result, I am going to teach you some less than happy vocabulary

sketchy:  We use this word to describe things that are illegitimate, illegal, slightly illegal, dirty, nasty and unsafe.

e.g.      That neighbourhood is very sketchy.

            Paul's plans were so sketchy that nobody wanted to participate.

            The whole thing was rather sketchy.  I am glad it's over.

 

seedy:  We use this to describe things that are illegal, dirty and less than desirable.

e.g.      The nightclub looked too seedy for Barbara.

            The hotel manager was seedy looking.

            The apartment was seedy and very few people wanted to rent it.

 

lesson 160--Word Options including slang

 

 

Because some words in English aren't polite to use (though this changes over time) we have to be creative.  This is especially true when we think of body parts.  The word ass is one of those words we considered to be not so polite, so I thought today I would give you some alternatives to this word.  Not surprisingly, there are quite a few of them.  There are probably more.....because even I don't know them all.

 

• ass
• butt
• arse
• bum
• behind
• backside
• bottom
• buns
• fanny
• rear
• rump
• can
• tush
• tushy
• caboose
• booty
• moneymaker (as in shake your money maker)
• gluteus maximus (Latin name)

 

 

Lesson 106--Take one for the team

Take one for the team

 

 

This sports related idiom means to sacrifice on behalf of other people.  It isn't just for sports, but can be used in everyday situations as well.

examples

He took one for the team when he volunteered to work the weekend shifts.

To make up for her mistakes, Melissa took one for the team when she took all the blame for her mistakes and the mistakes of her co-workers.

Sometimes you have to take one for the team.

synonyms:  sacrifice

Lesson 95--Word Family Quiz

 

Choose the correct form of the word in brackets to complete the sentence.  Check your answers, and see the complete word family by clicking on the answer link in the top right corner of this blog.

 

It wasn't a problem of ethics, but a _________problem.  (politics)

His house is a mess because he is so _________. (organize)

Despite her hard work, she was a total _______as an artist. (fail)

She ____________ in oil painting. (special)

There was an _______ in the finance departments, so he applied. (open)