Live and Learn English with Jean Lee

Born as a middle child among 9 children to poor parents in a small farming town, my mother had rarely drawn attention or special care at home. Once in her childhood, she was wanted by a Japanese couple with no child living next door as their adopted daughter, but she did not wish to leave her mom, dad, and eight loving siblings even if she had not been viewed as a special kid in the family but rather one of those many children or even a diddly-squat . No more than a shy and quiet girl, but deep down inside, she had a dream of becoming SOMEBODY in the future, although she had no clear idea of what that SOMEBODY might mean. In her mind, “somebody” might refer to someone who at least would not be a swarthy, thewless person with nothing to achieve in a secluded town, but rather the one who tries to hypostatize her amorphous dream. The day came for this almost invisible high school girl to put her first step forward to get closer to become someone special in her family. It is app...

Life can be interesting because there is not exactly the same type of two people on earth. Each has his or her own specific traits and personalities. This week, we would like to go over some idiomatic expressions to describe personality. <i> to not have a nasty bone in one’s body: to be a mean streak <ii> all mouth and no trousers: full of boastful, arrogant, or shallow talk, usually by a male, who then cannot deliver on his claims (=all hat and no cattle) <iii> wouldn’t say boo (to a goose /or to anyone): to be particularly shy, diffident, or timid by nature/ To not say a word (to anyone); to keep quiet/ not to be assertive <iv> to keep himself to himself (or keep herself to herself): to lead a very private and unsociable life, while someone who is always lively and cheerful <v> Someone’s bark is worse than their bite.: One's actions will not be nearly as severe as one's words imply. <vi> a force of nature : a  perso...