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Lurch
Word of the Day: (in the) lurch Ok, so earlier today, I explained the idiom ‘leave (somebody) in the lurch,’ but you are probably wondering what the heck a ‘lurch‘ is. If you play the card game cribbage, a ‘lurch‘ is when you defeat your opponent by double their score. YAY! But we are not…
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Leave (somebody) in the lurch
English Idiom: Leave (somebody) in the lurch The Brexit vote is over. The Bremain side lost, and the Brexit team were the victors. Now what? This is how it feels to be left in the lurch. I’m a bit of a politics junky, so I somewhat enjoy being left in the lurch, but it appears…
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Obnoxious
Word of the Day: Obnoxious Obnoxious is a term for people who act unpleasantly and, therefore, cause other people to feel annoyed, disgusted, or offended. Think about it this way: When some people drink alcohol, they are a lot of fun to be around. They tell jokes and can make everyone laugh. Everyone has fun.…
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Toot / blow your own horn
Idiom: Toot/blow your own horn This week, I am trying to stay on the theme of Brexit. I will keep to this theme again today with toot your own horn. To blow your own horn means to boastfully talk about how wonderful your achievements are. I saw Nigel Farage’s performance at the European Parliament, and…
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Lexicon
Word of the Day: Lexicon To keep an eye on Europe and to understand what’s going on, we need to learn a new lexicon. Lexicon refers to the vocabulary of a language, a group of people or the vocabulary of a subject. If we are going to discuss Great Britain leaving the European Union, we…
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Keep an eye on
Idiom: Keep an eye on In my own opinion, we should all be keeping an eye on Europe, or more specifically, Britain, at the moment. To keep an eye on something means that we should be watching or monitoring the situation very carefully. I mean, with all the economic uncertainty surrounding the British decision to leave the…
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Six of one, half a dozen of the other
English Figure of Speech: Six of one, half a dozen of the other It has been a week since a majority of the British people voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. Overseas, particularly in Europe, this is major, earth-shattering news. I have talked to some Japanese over the past few days, and…
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Earth-shattering
Word of the Day: Earth-shattering The people of Great Britain have voted in a referendum to leave the European Union. One word that I have read more than a few times over the past week describing this result is earth-shattering. This is an earth-shattering decision. It’s a term that can be used in English to…
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Kudos
Word of the day: Kudos I want to say Kudos for a job well done to all my students for working so hard and improving so much. You are an inspiration. As many know, my classes do not target basic-level English language learners. My classes are aimed at highly motivated high intermediate and advanced-level English language…
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A dime a dozen
Phrase: A dime a dozen People use the phrase, a dime a dozen when they want to say that something is ubiquitous. For example, in Tokyo, small restaurants are a dime a dozen. You can find a place to eat anywhere. That may be true; restaurants are a dime a dozen, but the hard part…
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