Let's get idioms/ slang down pat!

When it comes to learning English, are you gravitating towards prescriptive grammar or somewhat flexible in using descriptive grammar? Prescriptive grammar refers to upholding the established or existing grammar rules or words and “what we SHOULD use”, whereas descriptive grammar focuses on how people casually use the language in real life regardless that it is correct or incorrect grammar-wise.

Today, I would like you to fill out the following blanks with proper idiomatic or slang expressions based on the clue/ meaning of prescriptive grammar rules.

 

1.   You a____________ (*meaning “have not”) seen nothing yet!

2.   Whoa! Check this out! Her dance moves are s__________! (*meaning excellent/ insanely cool/ attractiv)

3.   Oh, c’mon, Miss nerdy! The mid-terms are over. Let’s get ready to party and turn it ______! (*meaning “get wild and have fun”)

4.   So you’re not driving back home after the new year’s eve party, right? Maybe we should cr_________ (*meaning “to stay at someone else’s house”) at Annie’s place tonight.

5.   My mom is not going to allow me to go to Marty’s birthday party. She always worries if it’s becoming an uncontrollable ra__________ (*meaning a wild party that has a lot of people, especially students, and lots of alcohol) full of booze and crazy kids.

6.   “Oh, my gosh! That quiz was so hard, I can’t ___________...!” (*slang phrase implying that something is too amazing, frustrating, surprising, or exciting to handle. It leaves them speechless. They can’t find the words to express how they feel.)

7.   “Dad, I promise I’ll be back home before 10 pm. Le________.” (*meaning to confirm something as being true. Short form of legitimate)

8.   Hey, Mark, just think before you say anything at a meeting! Your boss kept rolling his eyes each time you pitched a crazy idea. He face____________ (*meaning “literally putting your face in the palm of your hand, as an expression of frustration) all along.

9.   You know what! BTS is giving another concert in LA this Summer! I’m super psy_________! (*meaning “very excited/ pumped/ stoked”)

10. All immigrants are expected to have a difficult time when they begin a new chapter of their lives in someone else’s country. It is impossible for them to adapt to the new culture and new people right off the _________.

 

 

ANSWER KEYS

1. ain’t

2. sick

3. turn it up

4. crash

5. rager

6. can’t even

7. Legit

8. facepalmed

9. psyched

10. right off the bat

Time to play the puzzle from this last Sunday Puzzle from NPR! Find the name of a country using the clues!

Every answer today is the name of a country. I'm going to give you some words. For each one, name a country that has exactly the same consonants in the same order but with different vowels.

 

Example: REMAIN  -->  ARMENIA or ROMANIA

 

1. COMBED

2. FURNACE

3. AROUSES

4. U.S. OPEN

5. AL GORE

6. MANGLE

7. SINGLE

8. CLIMB

9. REWIND

10. CLONED

11. ORIGINATION

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Cambodia     

    2.  France

    3.  Russia

    4.  Spain

    5.  Algeria

    6.  Mongolia

    7.  Senegal

    8.  Colombia

    9.  Rwanda

    10. Iceland

    11. Argentina

HOMONYMS

HOMONYMS

Quite a lot of my EFL students had trouble distinguishing sounds and spellings of English words that are pronounced the same. Even native speakers of English often get confused among the words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

Will you try to choose the correct word among the given two homonyms (in parentheses) to make sense of each sentence?

E.g., That (bare, bear) animal in the picture is a grizzly (bare, bear) without fur. => answer: bare, bear

 

     1.   The fields of the (barren, baron) were always (barren, baron), so he built houses on the land.

 

     2.   Even though this pet canary is (cheap, cheep), its (cheap, cheep) is loud.

 

     3.   In the (capitol, capital) city, we must visit the (capital, capitol).

 

     4.   The athlete was (bold, bowled) when he (bold, bowled) against the world champion.

 

5.   She will (ail, ale) if she drinks all that (ail, ale).

 

     6.   Walk down the (isle, aisle, I’ll) on the small (aisle, isle, I’ll) with me, and (isle, aisle, I’ll) marry you.

 

     7.   My sister’s (beau, bow) gave her a beautiful (beau, bow) for her hair.

 

     8.   That large (Cyprus, cypress) comes from (Cyprus, cypress) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

 

     9.   A (course, coarse) person doesn’t make many friends in the (course, coarse) of life.

 

     10. Even in sleet and (hale, hail), my grandfather is a (hale, hail) and hearty soul.

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  baron, barren

    2.  cheap, cheep

    3.  capital, capitol

    4.  bold, bowled

    5.  ail, ale

    6.  aisle, isle, I’ll

    7.  beau, bow

    8.  cypress, Cyprus

    9.  coarse, course

    10. hail, hale   

*   *** Source from Scholastic Guides: Building Your Vocabulary

*

My small thoughts about the current tumultous phase in South Korea

Witnessing the tempestuous days since the president of South Korea declared the unlawful martial law on December 3, 2024, I have thought about what’s behind his insanity. Still trying to figure it out to no avail. Just as we all had expected, his final defense at the Constitutional Court was composed of the same old excuses, gibberish, and baloney. It all came down to “I said what I said and that’s that”.  He was unapologetically sticking to his statement even though it had caused such huge chaos in Korea, turning the country into a painfully divided nation. His words showed that he does not regret or feel ashamed about his stance with no intention to change his mind. Now that all the legal process for his impeachment trial has been wrapped up, it is time for the righteous verdict to come out in the light.

 

In the name of justice and integrity

Move on to the next shiny chapter together

Peaceful days are in store for you

Every voice of yours will be heard

As long as you keep your heads up in your right mind

Celebrate the upcoming blessing

Hail to justice in Korea!

 

February 27, 2025

Time to play the latest NPR WORD PUZZLE!

You'll get three words starting with the letters C, P, and R (as in the life-saving technique). For each set, give a fourth word that can follow to complete compound words or familiar two-word phrases.

Example: Chain, Priority, Registered --> MAIL (chain mail, priority mail, registered mail)

 

1. Cable     Patrol     Race

 

2. Cash     Piano     Roll

 

3. Cannon     Paint     Racquet

 

4. Changing     Powder     Rest

 

5. Card     Periodic     Round

 

6. Coast     Prison     Rear

 

7. Cashier's     Pay     Reality

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Car: Cable Car, Patrol Car, Race Car

    2.  Bar: Piano Bar, Cash Bar, Roll Bar

    3.  Ball: Cannon Ball, Paint Ball, Racquet Ball

    4.  Room: Changing Room, Powder Room, Rest Room

    5.  Table: Card Table, Periodic Table, Round Table

    6.  Guard: Coast Guard, Prison Guard, Rear Guard

    7.  Check: Cashier Check, Pay Check, Reality Check

Play and practice with Vocab!

Today, let me give you some sentences with blanks. Try to fill in the blanks with proper words (using the hints given) so that each one makes sense.

 

1.   I was stunned and devastated at the news about the insane rioters’ breaking into the court building in South Korea. Are they painfully gullible type of people who are so easily ___________winked (*meaning deceived) by the ruling party?

 

    2.   Jack is a whistleblower who decided to do the right thing by telling the world the truth about his corrupted company, but some of his colleagues accused him as a betrayer that r__________ on (*meaning to not be loyal to someone, especially by giving away secret information about them) his own co-workers.

 

    3.   Romeo and Juliet were such star-________________ (*meaning unlucky/ unfortunate) lovers.

 

    4.   Adrien Brody is her favorite actor whose aqui___________ nose (*meaning a nose curved like an eagle's beak) is the most attractive feature in his face.

 

    5.   We’ve seen so many reproductions of Claude Monet paintings, but when we were in Paris, we saw the real Mc__________.

 

    6.   Entrepreneurs, such as Steve Jobs or Craig Newmark, who boot___________ (* to promote or develop by initiative and effort with little or no assistance) their companies started with very little money and no outside investments to build their business.

 

    7.   My friend Choi prefers sta______________ (*dignified; sedate; unadventurous) elegance of the opera to the rambunctious or rowdy pop concert.

 

    8.   Most middle-of-the-pack recreational runners today feel that buying a new pair of running shoes and gear have become a high invol______________ purchase (*meaning buying the items that are not purchased often because of their steep price but are relevant and important to the buyer) because of its skyrocketing price.

 

    9.   When my boss told me to send the chunk of report by the end of the day, I said “____________co" (*confirming they understood and would comply), but inside I was like ‘Are you out of your mind?!!! I told you I’d have to leave office earlier today to pick up my daughter!’

 

    10. We see a lot of homicides left as ___________ cases (*accidents, or crimes that have yet to be solved and have no active leads) as in the case of Jack the Ripper, unsolved because of lack of evidence or eyewitnesses coming forward.

 

 

Answer Keys

1.  hoodwinked

2.  ratted on

3.  star-crossed

4.  aquiline

5.  the real McCoy

6.  bootstrapped

7.  staid

8.  high-involvement

9.  Wilco

10.      cold cases

Let's play yesterday's word puzzle from NPR! Find the 2-word names/ phrases with the initials "P" & "E"!!!

Today's puzzle is called "P.E. Class." Every answer is a familiar two-word phrase or name in which the initials are P.E.

 

Ex. Breakfast item sometimes served on toast —> POACHED EGG

 

1. Medical checkup that's often done annually

 

2. Our place in the solar system

 

3. Person whom the voters have picked to be chief executive but who hasn't yet taken office

 

4. Result in a sudden boom in the number of births

 

5. Detective

 

6. Colorful animals that drunkards are said to see

 

7. Astronomical event in which the moon obscures a portion of the sun

 

8. Mail delivery service in the Old West

 

9. Places to insert studs

 

10. English royal after whom a Canadian province was named

 

11. Team that won the 2025 Super Bowl

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Physical Exam

    2.  Planet Earth

    3.  President Elect

    4.  Population Explosion

    5.  Private Eye

    6.  Pink Elephants

    7.  Partial Eclipse

    8.  Pony Express

    9.  Pierced Ears

    10. Prince Edward

    11. Philadelphia Eagles