Archive for 'English Language'
End of the year vocab Posted by carol on Dec 31, 2018
Good evening, dear readers! How was everybody’s Christmas? And what about you plans for New Year’s Eve? With all of these December festivities, how about we cover some end-of-the-year related words so you can practice while you celebrate? december Christmas is celebrated on December 25th january People say that January 1rst is international hangover day!…
Top English Blog Posts of 2018 Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 27, 2018
We have arrived at the end of another year. It is traditional to look back and reflect on what was on our minds over the preceding 12 months and to see which blogs got your attention. After all, we write these pieces for you, to help you understand our language and the culture in which…
Should English Idioms be Modernized? Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 6, 2018
PETA, the animal rights organization, has proposed that we should reimagine some common English phrases to be more respectful of other species. They argue that phrases such as “I killed two birds with one stone” are as cruel as any hate speech. Similarly, a British researcher believes that, eventually, meat-based metaphors and sayings will be…
Phrasal verbs for phone calls Posted by carol on Nov 30, 2018
Hello! Who am I speaking to? Last month, we covered here on the blog some words related to using your phone in English. Today, we are moving one step further to take a look at some phrasal verbs that refer to phone calls. Although it is undeniable that text messaging has become one of the…
When English Offers Choices Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 29, 2018
This past week I witnessed a customer at a store point to something and say, “I’ll have two of those.” Before placing the items in a bag and finalizing the sale, the clerk said, “These ones?” That response by the clerk was a redundancy, the use of an extra word which wasn’t needed. Because the…
The English Word of the Year, 2018 Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 21, 2018
The editors of The Oxford Dictionaries, published by the Oxford University Press, have selected toxic as the 2018 English word of the year. It is a brilliant, if somewhat controversial, selection. In a year of intense divisiveness in the English-speaking world, it is easy to see why this word, and its association with all that…
Using your phone in English Posted by carol on Oct 31, 2018
Hello, dear readers! Question for you: are you reading this on your computer or your phone? Either way, it is undeniable that we use our phones all the time for a variety of purposes, be it for reading work-related e-mails, chatting with friends, reading the news, using social media, playing games, getting informed and many more…