Let’s Practice English Idioms VI

What’s the biggest obstacle in your journey of exploring English? It could be grammar, pronunciation, or huge amount of vocabulary that seems to be endless. Above all, idiomatic expressions that have hidden, figurative meanings. Without understanding the cultural background or conventional usage of idioms, one can hardly imagine what those words are supposed to mean.

Using the given list of idioms and your imagination, try to choose a proper expression to fill in the blank of each sentence below.

a.      mind one’s p’s and q’s

b.      in the gutter

c.      have a familiar ring

d.      monkey business

e.      Easy does it

f.       know something inside out

g.      final fling

h.      give someone tit for tat

i.       drag one’s feet

j.       (to) add insult to injury

1. You had better pull yourself together and straighten out your life, or you’ll ____________________________________.

2.  Jamie studied hard for his driver’s test until he knew the rules ____________________________.

3. Be careful with that porcelain doll when you touch it. __________________________ please.

4. Jane messed up with me, and I did the same thing to her. Each time she throws shadow at me like that, I become ready to do the same to her. Yes, I am ______________ her ______________________.

5. The city council and planning department seem to ____________________________. Otherwise, the local roads would have been revamped by now.

6. This term paper has _______________________________________. I can tell it’s been definitely copied.

7. First, our basement got flooded in the three-day-long icy rains, and then to ____________________________________, the water heater started act up! UGH!!! Just my luck!

8. Joe’s friends offered him a bachelor’s party as the __________________________ before his marriage, but Joe did not want to join the party.

9. You’d better mind ___________________________________ before you make the same mistake at the presentation again.

10. Stop trying to deceive me with such a cheap skullduggery! I just cannot put up with your ___________________________ anymore!     

Clues to Solve:

mind one’s p’s and q’s: (verb) to mind one’s manners; to pay attention to small details of behavior. This expression orginates from an old caution to children learning the alphabet or typists to watch carefully for the difference between p and q

in/into the gutter: (adjective phrase) (for somebody to be) in a low state or depraved

have a familiar ring: (verb) to sound familiar

monkey business: (noun) peculiar or out-of-the-ordinary activities, especially illegal or mischievous

Easy does it! : (sentence) to act with care. You can also say “Nice and easy does it.”

(*You can get this expression from your workout/ yoga instructor while doing some posture. “Easy does it, everybody! )

know something inside out: (verb) to know something thoroughly; to know about something completely

final fling: (noun) the last act or period of enjoyment before a change in one’s circumstances or lifestyle

give someone tit for tat: (verb) to give someone something equal to what that person has given one; to exchange a series of things, one by one, with someone

drag one’s feet: (verb) to act very slowly, often deliberately/ intentionally

(to) add insult to injury: (verb) to make a bad situation worse; to hurt the feelings of a person who has already been hurt

Answer Keys:

1.  b. in the gutter

2.  f. inside out  

3.   e. Easy does it

4.   h. giving tit for tat 

5.   i. drag their feet   

6.  c. has a familiar ring

7.   j. to add insult to injury

8.  g. final fling

9.  a. your p’s and q’s

10.  d. monkey business       

Let’s Talk Money In Terms of Its Various Names, Not the Value.

What makes people recalcitrant enough to stand up to the power or superior authority? Is it their intransigent characteristic in personality they were born with? Is it their amaranthine determination and bravery to go against people who deny others justice? Well, quite often times, it is “money” that that makes people confident and square no matter what others tell them to do. To wit, as long as one has enough money to carry on his/her life with, they don’t need to be reluctantly amenable to others.  However, it could be quite the opposite. If they are deprived of money, they are apt to get spiteful in the state of insufficiency and seek after money that seems to miche all the time.  Yes, “pecuniary matter” is such a necessary evil that could make us happy or miserable and end up showing turpitude that often goes with money.  

Today, let me give you a variety of English names for money.

buck: derived from “buckskin” (=deer skin or sheep skin) back in the mid 19^th century in America. Native American Indians and frontiersmen used buckskin as a unit of exchange in their trading.

cabbage: green paper money

clam: slang for dollar bill. (In ancient times, it is thought that various shells were used as units of exchange.)

ducat: derived from the Latin word for “Duke”. The Duke of Sicily first issued the currency and it was called ducat.

greenback: In 1862, the U.S. President Lincoln signed the first Act to print paper currency using green ink. Since then on, the dollar bill has been called as the greenback.

shekel: a slang term for “cash” used in English since the first half of the 19^th century. It is also the national currency of Israel.

cheddar: This name would firstly remind you of cheese, but the expression is related to the cheese distributed to welfare recipients by the US government (i.e., Government Cheese)

dough: This expression derives from “doughface”, the notorious nickname given to Northern Democrats working for the South for financial purpose preceding the Civil War.  

*mammon: the word from the Bible meaning  wealth and riches that imply the connotation of  "unrighteous," because the abuse of riches is more frequent than their right use.

Expressions

recalcitrant: (adjective) resisting authority or control/ not obedient or compliant/ hard to manage or operate

intransigent: (adjective) refusing to agree or compromise/ inflexible or uncompromising

amaranthine: (adjective) unfading/ everlasting

to deny somebody justice: (verb) to not treat somebody in a fair or equal way as with others

to wit: (idiomatic phrase) that is to say, in other words

amenable: (adjective) obedientdeny

miche: (verb) to lurk out of sight

pecuniary matter: (noun) financial matter/ things related to money

turpitude: a vile or depraved act/ shameful character/ depravity

Thoughts on Code-switching in Conversations

As stated by Gal (1988, as cited in Wardaugh, 2002), code-switching is used as a very useful conversational skill through which people can build, break, or make changes on their relationships with one another on the basis of their rights, obligations, or purposes. Since bilingualism or multilingualism prevails throughout the world, code-switching is viewed as a natural phenomenon which has attracted a great deal of research attention.

According to Blom and Gumperz’ study (1972, as cited in Sridhar, 2002), there are two different kinds of code-switching: One is called a situational code-switching which occurs with the change of situation without altering the topic, and the other is a metaphorical code-switching which takes place for signaling a quotation, giving a laughing marks in a joke, or putting emphasis on a particular point in lectures of conversations. In this respect, code-switching happens in a fairly systematic and functionally motivated way but quite subconsciously, not in an arbitrary or random fashion. These notions of code-switching were well developed and presented in Adendorff’s study in a highschool classroom in South Africa which is a multilingual society. As shown in his study, teachers switched their code from English to Zulu for two broad purposes: social and educational objectives. In other words, the teachers used Zulu language when they needed to provide the students with scaffoldings to establish better understanding of his lecture (i.e., conveying or introducing technical terms for the first time, repetition or reinforcement of the key concepts), check the students’ comprehension, and give the class some clues as to what comes next in the teacher’s lecture. I have always believed that some senses of predictability in sequence would promote feelings of security among students in class.

Regarding social functions or purposes, the teachers in the study code-switched when they are to provide compliments on the students’ achievement or to make special bonds between the teacher and students.

Based on my understanding of code-switching as well as the experiments and results from Adendorff’s study in South Africa, if I had an opportunity to teach grammar in an English as a Second Language (ESL) class for newly immigrated or international Korean students here in the U.S., I would be highly sensitive to the situations where code-switching or mixing is required. For example, in such a classroom where the students and I share the common first language (L1) and use English as the formal medium of learning and teaching, sporadic use or switch into our common language during the lecture would establish solidarity as Korean, thereby promoting the students’ confidence and comprehension in class. Although subconsciously occurring, when it comes to introducing the culture-bound expressions or subtle semantic meanings in nuance that English expressions have, the students would better figure them out when code-switching takes place into their L1. This way, the cultural gap between two languages in this multilingual community would be reduced by means of code-switching or mixing. However, this code-switching or mixing would not occur as the lexical gap-filler for one or two words, but take place in any forms such as words, phrases, clauses or sentences. In other words, it would not be an involuntary code-mixing, but rather be the stylistic switching.

I know for sure that if teachers are well aware of the effects that code-switching have in their classrooms, students and the teacher can be united around solidarity which would lower the affective filter within each ESL student, and thereby improving their language learning in the end.

Expressions

code-switching/ mixing: (noun) the term identified in 1977 by Carol Myers-Scotton and William Ury as the “use of two or more linguistic varieties in the same conversation or interaction.”   Code-switching is the practice of moving between variations of languages in different contexts.

arbitrary: (adjective) based on random choice or personal whim, rather than any reason or system

scaffolding: (noun) contextual supports for meaning that are provided through the use of simplified language, teacher modeling, visuals and graphics, cooperative learning and hands-on learning

solidarity: (noun) unity or agreement of feeling or action, especially among individuals with a common interest; mutual support within a group.

semantic: (adjective) relating to meaning in language or logic

lexical: (adjective) relating to the words or vocabulary of a language

gap-filling: (noun) conscious of subconscious vocabulary compensatory strategies used in solving a vocabulary problem or deficiency

e.g., circumlocution

References

       Kachru, B., & Nelson, L. (1996). World Englishes, In N.H. Hornberger, & S. L. McKay (eds.), Sociolinguistics and language teaching (pp. 71-102). NY: Cambridge University Press.

       Wardaugh, R. (2002). An introduction to sociolinguistics. MA: Blackwell Publishing.

Life is filled with a lot of Curveballs, but ……

Are you a firm believer of “living to the fullest of your potential“ reassured by Joel Osteen? Otherwise, you might be a constant grumbler who is sold on the idea of the adage of Murphy’s law that goes “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong!”  

No matter how we define or look at “the journey called life we are going through” (as the pop icon Prince had put it), there is no way we can avoid all different kinds of life’s challenges and obstacles. Yes, life can be filled with a fusillade of curveballs and grueling upslopes to overcome. Quite often times, crocodilian niceties given to us by two-faced fellas leave mortal wounds in life. Some other times, promises would turn into an empty talk or an illusion of a lotus-eater. The harsh reality that life is filled with a lot of curveballs can make us bitterly listless or hopeless.

I know some of you out there are in the middlescence, going through so called ‘midlife crisis’ when nothing in the world quite makes you impressed or enamored. But wait a second before you dig yourself into a hole by self-pity. We’ve got another day named “tomorrow” that gives a possibility for us to make things better and feel better! As long as we are determined to get up and move on, nothing in the world can defeat us. It might not because we are invincible, but rather that we are reconcilable and flexible. Got tired of connecting the dots in life each time you face hardships? Let us just live here and now instead of trying to reach for a big “tried-and-true” picture of our entire life through processing bits of difficulties at every corner. It is simply because YOU are the owner and leader of your life, NOT the vice versa. If it feels like “life” is taking the wind out of your sails, drop the thought that “life sucks” and say “BRING IT ON! I’ve got another day!”

Expressions

adage: (noun) a proverb or short statement expressing a general truth.

Murphy’s Law: (noun) an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong

a fusillade of something: (phrase) a simultaneous or continuous discharge of/ a series of…..

curveballs: (noun; figurative meaning) something which is unexpected, surprising, or disruptive.

crocodilian: (adjective; figurative meaning) hypocritical; insincere.

mortal wound: (noun) severe and serious injury (almost always a form of penetration or laceration) whether accidental or inflicted intentionally (by either suicide or homicide), which leads directly to the death of the victim.

lotus-eater: (noun) a lazy person devoted to pleasure and luxury

middlescence: (noun) a portmanteau of middle-aged and adolescence/senescence used to describe restless, middle-aged baby boomers (ranging from age 35-60) who deal with the negatives of frustration, burnout, boredom, confusion and alienation

to connect the dots: (idiomatic expression; figurative meaning) a metaphor to illustrate an ability (or inability) to associate one idea with another, to find the "big picture", or salient feature, in a mass of data.

tried-and-true: (adjective) trustworthy/ dependable

to take the wind out of somebody’s sail: (idiomatic expression) to rob …. of an advantage; deflate

Addictions in Life

My beautiful friend Roxy used to be a gym rat that always puts the morning workout on top of her daily priority list back in California. She believed in the sublime beauty of toned arms and abs, flaunting strong Beyoncé-like hamstrings as well. In her viewpoints, “embonpoint” body means giving up on life, sloth, and subversion of beauty just like a flivver in life. Her skimpy-but-riveting workout clothes had turned every guy’s head in the gym, which had made her feel so proud and all smiles. All the praise and admiration towards her body that seems like the one from the “Sports Illustrated” magazine had made her happy throughout grueling sessions of weight lifting and over-the-hour nonstop running on the treadmill every day. 

One day, she pointed to a woman at the gym who was rail thin just like a walking stick figure. Roxy said “you know what, Jean, she must be anorexic. Other than that, she can’t look that way.” I asked how she was so certain of that, and she went on to say “I just know that because I’ve been there and done that.” OMG….little had I ever expected to hear that Roxy was even close to being anorexic at any point in her life! She always looked like a poster child of healthy diet and exercise! She said “when I was in my twenties, I skipped meals so many days just to look like a Hollywood bombshell or a fashion model on runways. Then, one day one of my friends got me a diet pill (which is banned by the FDA now) telling me that it is a magic pill for weight loss. Yes, it seemed to work magic for me ….at least for the first week. Then I started to feel weird. I couldn’t sleep at night, feeling my own heartbeats fast palpitating. But I faithfully kept on taking the pills every day just for the purpose of looking fancy. Weeks have passed and I came to the point of losing all my energy due to dangerous dehydration. I even passed out one day.” Holy mother of God! I couldn’t believe my ears while she was elaborating on how the so-called magic diet pill – which turned out to be a life-killing medicine – took a deadly toll on her body. Roxy wished to urge the anorexic-looking lady at the gym to eschew bad eating habits and taking any pill to lose weight. I thank God for keeping my friend Roxy at my side away from all the evil thoughts and temptation from the world to be abnormally thin.  Yes, she has no addiction to drugs at all, but is still a hard-core workout junkie at the 24 Hour fitness in California.

As I witness so many pop stars, film actors, and celebrities demising in their battles with drug addictions, I wonder what exactly has pushed them all to the limit or kept them in fetters of spiteful world of illusion. They must be shivering from utter loneliness or sense of betrayal in life. Taking drugs must have been one of their easiest ways of autoschediasm to snap out of the bad mood. Sigh…. I have a firm belief that any kind of addiction should not be detrimental to our body and soul. I hope that our own quick fix for loneliness or depression needs to be found in the addiction that does not require a special therapy. Let us watch one another with love and affection. Let us not let go of our hands. Bad addictions would have no room in our lives.

Expressions

gym rat: (noun) synonym to workout junkie. This expression can be used both in positive or negative way. In terms of sports, if someone is called a gym rat it is to be taken positively. Someone who puts in the work more than anyone else to become a better player, is considered a gym rat. If used with somewhat negative connotation, it refers to the people that are always in a gym. They work out more than any person and more than the healthy limit.

embonpoint: (both noun and adjective) “embonpoint” is a French-borrowed word that is generally a compliment meaning “wonderfully/ beautifully plump or curvy”, not a criticism that means overweight or fat.

subversion: (noun) the act of trying to destroy or damage an established system/ rules/ or government

flivver: (noun) 1. a small cheap usually old automobile    2. a failure or something of inferior grade or less-than-perfect quality

                  

skimpy: (adjective) inadequate or too small. "a skimpy dress" is a dress that is too revealing or showing off too much skin

riveting: (adjective) attractive

Been there and done that: (idiomatic phrase) One has been in the situation or experienced something that is being discussed. Something is not new to someone.

poster child: (noun) someone who is the perfect example or fit for a stereotype

Hollywood bombshell: (noun) outrageously gorgeous and exotically beautiful female that looks like a Hollywood actress

palpitate: (verb) beat rapidly/ irregularly

eschew: (verb) to deliberately avoid…/ to abstain from ….

workout junkie: (noun) synonym to gym rat. Somebody that seems to be obsessed, addicted or mentally dependable, or just really enjoys always being and working at the gym.

fetters: (noun) a chain or shackle for the feet/ something that confines  or restraint

autoschediasm: (noun) something that is improvised or extemporized without forethought or plans

How Effectively Can You Explain Your Health Problems?

It is a known fact that health matters the most in our lives. When you feel ill or under the weather while traveling (or living) in a country where English is spoken as their mother language, you might feel frustrated or panicky with your lack of English expressions. Here’s a list of how you would express your feelings or physical symptoms in English. Hope that helps!

Head

두통 (깨질듯한 두통)이 있다: I have a (splitting) headache.

편두통이 있다: I have a migraine.

머리가 계속 욱신욱신 쑤시고 아프다: My head won’t stop pounding.

머리가 어질어질하다 (현기증): I feel lightheaded/ I feel dizzy/ woozy.

Allergies/ Flu Symptoms(for nose/ear and more)

열이 높다: I have a high fever./ I’m running a fever (of 103 degrees).

(꽃가루 등으로 인해) 알러지 증세가 있다.: I have hay fever./ I have sinus symptoms.

콧물이 난다: I have a runny nose.

코가 막힌다.: I have a stuffy nose.

목이 아프다 (인후염): I have a sore throat./ I guess my tonsils are swollen./ I have a strep throat (which is caused by bacteria called streptococcus.)

목이 쉬었다: I have a frog in my throat./ I have hoarseness.

계속 재채기를 한다: I keep sneezing.

기침할 때 쌔액 쌔액 소리가 난다: I have a wheezing cough.

귀가 울린다/ 욱신 욱신 쑤신다.: My ears are popping/ throbbing.

귀가 잘 안들린다: I can hardly hear well.

Eyes

눈이 따갑다: I have a stinging/ burning/ scratchy sensation in my eyes.

눈이 건조해서 눈물이 고인다: My eyes get watery due to dryness.

눈이 잘 안보인다: My vision gets blurred.

눈 주변에 눈꼽이 낀다:  I have stringy mucus in or around my eyes./  My eyes get gooey.

눈이 부시다: I have sensitivity to light.

렌즈를 착용하면 눈이 충혈된다: My eyes get red when I wear contacts.

Muscles & Joints

온몸이 쑤시고 저리다: My body aches all over.

운동으로 인해서 허벅지 뒤 근육이 아프다: My hamstrings are pulled/ tight/ sore.

발목을 삐어서 부었다: I sprained my ankles, and they got swollen.

목과 어깨가 뻣뻣하고 아프다: I have stiff neck and shoulders.

관절염 증세가 또 시작되는 것 같다: My arthritis is acting up. 

허리에 극심하게 찌르는 듯한 통증이 있다: I have a sharp pain (or jolt) in my low back.

근육에 경련이 있다/ 쥐가 난다: I have a spasm or cramps in my muscles/ I feel a kink in my muscles.

손/발이 부었다.: My hands/ feet are swollen.

달리기를 너무 많이 해서 발톱이 빠졌다: My toenails have fallen off due to running too much.

(오른) 팔이 부러져 깁스를 해야한다: I broke my right arm and it needs to be in plasters/ plaster cast.

Inside mouth/ teeth

구내염이 생겼다: I got a canker sore.

충치 땜질한 것이 빠졌다:My cavity filling has fallen out.

잇몸에서 피가 난다: My gums are bleeding.

부분/전체 틀니가 잘 안맞는다: My partial/ whole denture does not fit in.

치아가 세로로/ 가로로 쪼개졌거나 금이 갔다: There is a horizontal/ vertical crack in my tooth.

자면서 이를 계속 간다: I keep grinding my teeth while sleeping.

밤에 치아 보호대를 착용하고 잔다: I wear a night guard at night.

Stomach & Bowel Movement

배가 아프다/ 소화가 안된다: I have an upset stomach. /I have dyspepsia.

변비가 생겼다: I’ve been getting constipated.

설사를 한다: I have diarrhea because of what I ate last night.

속이 메슥거린다: I feel nauseated./ nauseous.

구토를 할 것 같다: I feel like vomiting or throwing up.

속이 쓰리다: I have a heartburn.

속이 더부룩하다 (복부 팽만감): I feel bloated.

배에 가스가 차고 계속 방귀가 나온다: I feel gassy  in my stomach and keep passing gas.

Chest/ Lungs/Heart

숨이 차다/ 호흡하기가 힘들다: I am short of breath./ I have trouble breathing./ My breathing has become labored.

흉통이 있다: I have chest pain.

심장 박동이 크게 느껴진다: I feel and hear my own palpitation.

기침할 때 가래가 나온다: I cough up phlegm.

Skin

피부가 가렵다: My skin itches.

피부가 (옷등에) 쓸려서 쓰라리다: My skin hurts because of the chafe.

피부 각질이 일어난다: My skin gets flaky.

피부 탄력이 떨어졌다: My skin has lost its elasticity and firmness.

두드러기가 났다: I have a rash.

(아기가 피부에 발진이나 염증이 난 경우) : The baby has  diaper rash.

피부 여기 저기에 멍이 들다: I have bruises.

햇볕에 그을려 따갑다: I got sunburnt.

피부에 큰 점이 생겼다: I’ve gotten a big mole on my skin.

(*malignant melanoma: 악성 흑색종)

손가락을 크게 베었다/ 살짝 베었다: I cut my finger. It’s a major cut/ minor cut.

손가락에 가시가 박혔다: I got a sliver in my finger.

Bladder

소변이 자주 마렵다: I go pee a hundred times. / too frequently

소변이 탁하다: My urine color is cloudy or murky.

소변에 거품이 있다: My urine is foamy.

요도염에 걸렸다: I have UTI (Urinary Tract Infection).

Sleeping Problems & Fatigue

밤에 두세번은 잠에서 깬다: I wake up a couple of times throughout the night.

최근에 잠을 제대로 잘 못자고 있다: I haven’t been sleeping well lately.

최근에 너무 과로를 해서 몸상태가 좋지 않다: I have been working too hard and feeling run-down/ under the weather.

Film-making Jargons

People walking on the red carpet are aliens from another planets? They are also humans, but lay people like us view them as mysterious and unfathomable existence in our dreams. It is probably because they are the ones who make dreams on the huge screen. This week, we are going to go over film-making terminology.

(source from https://www.videomaker.com/article/c18/15653-the-language-of-making-movies)

Action

Just about everybody knows what this one means. This is what the director yells out after the set is quieted and the events of the shot need to take place. It signals the talent to start acting and for everyone else on the set to be completely quiet except those doing roles that support the actor’s performance.

Best Boy

The best boy is usually the gaffer’s main assistant, in charge of scheduling the crew and equipment needed for each day’s work. Gender and age don’t make any difference here - it’s a title from the old days that has stuck.

Call time

Call time simply refers to the when film talent and film crew pros are to report to the set of a film.

Check the Gate

When a scene is shot through to the end and it is believed to be a good one and to be kept, a crew member, usually the first assistant camera operator, will remove the lens from the camera used to shoot the scene. Then he or she will open the aperture so that they can see down to where the film is exposed.

The first assistant camera op will then check for debris and such. If there a speck of debris or dust, this means that everything that was filmed has been compromised and is unusable. Such scenes will then need to be reshot.

However, with the insurgence of high definition cameras, the term Check the Gate is becoming a thing of the past. The reason is that high definition cameras are very tightly sealed, thereby keeping their inner workings free from dust and debris. There usually is no need to check the "gate" when shooting with a digital camera.

Cheat

Cheat or cheat-cut refers to a cut in the editing process that shows continuity from shot to shot, when in reality the shots being edited together come from different sources. Sometimes a shot is "borrowed" from one scene and edited into another. This provides a flow to the scene giving the audience the feeling of continuity.

The second meaning of this word cheat is a blocking term one might hear on the set when a person is facing a camera, a prop or another actor and is told to cheat to the camera, prop or fellow actor. It means to orient a bit towards the camera. Cheat to the chair or cheat to Sally might mean to face that prop or person.

Coverage

This term refers to the shooting of a particular scene from different angles. This way, extra footage will be available during the editing process. When a variety of angles are available, the scene can be edited in a way that will provide depth and even vérité meaning or emotion to it.

Cut

This is another common movie-making term that most people are familiar with. It actually has several meanings. One is to stop the talent’s acting then is followed by stopping the camera’s recording. It does not, however, always mean that the scene was a good one and a keeper. Another meaning for Cut is to change from one scene to another. And yet another way it is used is when referring to the editing process, when scenes are cut in a way that will tell a story.

Dailies

Dailies, or "rushes," as they are also called, are the pictures and sound that are shot each day which can be viewed by the director and film crew pros. This allows for the opportunity to select the best takes. Dailies are usually viewed before the next day’s shooting.

  

Dressing

A set dressing is an object on the set that is not a prop. Film talent can talk about and touch set dressings. A telephone can be a dressing. However, once an actor uses the dressing in a scene, such as picking up the phone and talking on it, the dressing then becomes a prop and shouldn’t be moved again.

From the Top

This term refers to starting again from the very beginning. Sometimes a scene might be re-shot from the last line or a mid-way point. From the top refers to shooting a scene again, from the very beginning of the scene.

Gaffer

The gaffer on a film crew is the head of the electrical unit. He or she is responsible for overseeing the lighting plans on a film.

Hot Set

A hot set refers to when crew members have completed preparing a set for the filming of a scene. All furniture and props in the scene have been set into place and the set should not be disturbed or altered in any way.

Martini Shot

This is considered the last shot of the day - the next shot should be served in a glass since it was a long day’s shoot!

Print

When the director yells print after the shooting of a particular scene, this means that the scene is good and it is to be kept. Another word for the term print is "Hold."

Pickup

Pickup shots may be shots that are pre-planned. They are shot after the main shooting has ended. For example, a scene with principal actors is shot one day. Then the next day is dedicated to shooting pickup shots, quick shots to fill in detail for a scene. Closeups of props and cutaway shots can be pickups.

Striking

Striking refers to removing an object from the set or scene, as in striking equipment from the set at the end of a day or striking a lamp from a particular scene.

Talking the Talk

The above terminology is so important when directing film talent and film crew pros that it is taught in video production schools. Knowing your film crew roles is just as important. Cinematography, like any other industry, has its own language and it is important for directors to know how to speak it. Clear communication in directing film talent and film crew pros can make the difference between a good film and one that is spectacular.