Sixteen Tons Posted by Gary Locke on Sep 3, 2020
Songs that tell the stories of workers and laborers seem to have always been a part of American culture. Popular hits include Dolly Parton’s Nine to Five and Billy Joel’s Allentown, to name just two. Bruce Springsteen has made a career out of songs of the American worker. But in the history of American music…
Color idioms in English Posted by carol on Aug 31, 2020
Greetings to all readers! How has life been treating you lately? Well, if you have the blues, cheer up! For today’s post, we’ll have the golden opportunity to learn some color-related idioms. So if you’re looking for a vocabulary boost or a way to expand your cultural knowledge. So let’s paint the town red? to be…
Earning Brownie Points Posted by Gary Locke on Aug 28, 2020
The other day I heard a radio ad in which someone said that he had, “…earned quite a few brownie points” with his girlfriend after sending her a bouquet of flowers. Even if you’ve never heard the expression before, you probably can understand the meaning of the term just from the context of the sentence…
The Curious Case of the Edible Heirloom Posted by Gary Locke on Aug 21, 2020
I ate an heirloom last night. Actually, I ate quite a few heirlooms, and I would have liked to have eaten more. No, I did not somehow eat some of my grandmother’s jewelry, or my father’s old watch. I ate some tomatoes. But they were unusual, somewhat rare, and not perfectly beautiful. We now have…
Setting the Dinner Table Posted by Gary Locke on Aug 13, 2020
One of the things that I miss the most during the pandemic is dinner with friends. There are few things in life that I enjoy more than a formal or semi-formal dinner party. Spending a long afternoon or evening seated among friends, leisurely eating a delicious meal, sipping wine, and talking about whatever is on…
American Jobs Posted by Gary Locke on Aug 6, 2020
You will often hear on television a reference to the American labor force, but do you know what that actually means? The American labor force is the grand total of people who are either employed or actually seeking work. To be counted as part of the American labor force you must be at least 16…
The difference between job and work Posted by carol on Jul 31, 2020
Greetings to all! How have you been lately? Working hard or hardly working? There are many reasons to learn a new language: for leisure, traveling, studies, making new friends. But there is no denying that having a good command of the English language gives you a competitive advantage in the job market. I often ask…