Jean's New Year Greetings to You All with a piece of Poem

 Ode to 2024

by Jean J. Lee

 

I pray 2024 will see no more pernicious fighting

   and no more suffering of death en masse.

Those who have taken others’ lives that were crying

   should face the moment they regret their past as bold as brass.

 

I hope 2024 will offer us all a cromulent life that is bright

   so we could smile at least once a day

   or crack up friends with a coruscating wit on a chilly night

   and find a way to keep all our worries at bay.

 

I want 2024 to help us realize, as long as we are on guard for one another,

  holding tight and never let go,

No one would feel abandoned in the dark but discover

  the light that shines and hides their pentimento.

 

I wish 2024 a year of a modicum of happiness that feels like a post-run shower orange, a hot bowl of soup on a snowy day, and a jolly discussion among funny and disparate group of friends. Happy, healthy, peaceful, and prosperous new year to you all.

Here's another batch of NPR on-air challenge puzzle! Give it a try!

Would you like to tease your brain on a long boring Christmas holiday? Here’s our latest word puzzle. You are given five-letter words as follows. For each one, change one letter to name part of the human body.

 

Ex. HEARD --> HEART

 

1. CHECK

 

2. ANGLE

 

3. THUMP

 

4. BRUIN

 

5. MONTH

 

6. JELLY

 

7. OPINE

 

8. TENTH

 

9. SINGS

 

10. LOVER

 

11. EMBOW

 

12. WHIST (two answers)

 

Answer Keys  

    1.  cheek

    2.  ankle

    3.  thumb

    4.  brain

    5.  mouth

    6.  belly

    7.  spine

    8.  teeth

    9.  sinus

   10. liver

   11.  elbow

12.              wrist or waist

Christmas Trivia Quiz!!!

Although the world is not in festive mood today, Christmas is still coming along.  Even unkempt front yards could be transmogrified into an eye-catching spot of jollification at this time of year. Here are some Christmas trivia questions. Let’s just see how much we know about Christmas.

 

    1.   Which country had the first Christmas tree as a tradition?

 

    2.   In which James Bond film is there a character called Dr. Christmas Jones?

 

    3.   Christmas Island is the external territory of which country?

 

    4.   Which former president of the United States has a cameo in the film “Home Alone 2?”

 

    5.   The tradition of sending Christmas cards began in _________.

 A) 1800 B) 1843 C) 1900 D) 1919

 

    6.   True or false: Mince pies, in their original form, contained meat?

 

    7.   Elton John headlined Glastonbury this year. What is the name of his most famous Christmas song?

 

    8.   What is the name of the family dog in The Simpsons - adopted on Christmas Eve?

 

    9.   In Charles Dicken’s “A Christmas Carol,” what was Mr. Scrooge’s first name?

 

    10. The oldies but goodies movie “Miracle on the 34^th Street” (in which 8-year-old Natalie Wood co-starred) centers on what real-life department store?

 

    11.  “Mele Kalikimaka” means “Merry Christmas” in what language?

 

    12. What word for “Christmas” or “a Christmas Carol” was borrowed from French?

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Germany

    2.  “The World Is Not Enough” (1999)

    3.  Australia

    4.  Donald Trump (the scene was in Trump Tower)

    5.  B. 1843

    6.  True

    7.  “Step Into Christmas”

    8.  Santa’s Little Helper

    9.  Ebenezer

    10. Macy’s

    11. Hawaiian

    12.  Noel

 

 

*source from https://www.whiteelephantrules.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/christmas-trivia-questions-intermediate.pdf   & https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/christmas-quiz-questions-answers-fun-easy-festive-b1127884.html 

Let's give the latest Sunday Puzzle a try!

I'm going to give you clues for two words. The first one has six letters, in which the middle letter is doubled. Drop one of the doubled letters and read the result backward to get the answer to the second clue.

 

Ex. Drooped / French Impressionist Edgar --> SAGGED, DEGAS

 

1. Texas home to the Cowboys / Dieter's lunch

 

2. Soldiers / Basketball or football

 

3. Sort of music for Bob Marley / Impatient

 

4. Faints from extreme emotion / Blizzards

 

5. Did one better than / Train station

 

6. Candies / Goulash and gumbo dishes

 

7. One who works the soil / Ignited again, as a candle

 

8. Move unsteadily from side to side / Joint in the arm

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Dallas/ Salad

    2.  Troops/ Sport

    3.  Reggae/ Eager

    4.  Swoon/ Snow

    5.  Topped/ Depot

    6.  Sweets/ Stews

    7.  Tiller/ Relit

    8.  Wobble/ Elbow

Let's dig into an easy word with a lot of different meanings.

Quite often time, English learners get confused with a variety of usage and definitions of a simple word. Today, let’s dig into the word “TENDER”.

 

Definition #1.

soft and chewable/ easily cuttable

A: Do you use this hammer-like tool to make beef more tender?

B: Yes, that’s why we call the tool “tenderizer”.

 

Definition #2.

compassionate/ kind/ warm/ gentle

When her six-month-old baby smiled at her, Janet’s heart melted away and gave back a tender, loving smile to him.

 

Definition# 3.

physically sensitive/ hurting/ sore/ uncomfortable/ painful spot of a body

My pilates instructor tells me to stop moving my arm if I ever feel tender around my shoulder.

 

Definition #4.

young and immature

Liz started her acting career since her tender age of twelve. She used to say she missed out on a lot of things in her childhood.

 

Definition#5.

to express/ announce/ indicate/ state one's intention to do …

Joseph is planning to tender resignation at work this year. He thinks that it’s time to depart from the company.

Definition #6.

tender offer is a public solicitation to all shareholders requesting that they tender their stock for sale at a specific price during a certain time

Dell announced it closed a tender offer to repurchase shares of the company's securities.

 

Definition #7.

fragile, sensitive, easily bruised or gentle

I guess Peter is too tender to face up to such a tough trial process.

Let's go over some new slang expressions added to English in 2023

We are living in a fast-paced world where a ton of newly coined words or slangy expressions are added to the )day-to-day colloquial expressions in English. Want to test yourself to see how ‘slang savvy’ you are? The following sentences have some new expressions added to English this past year or two. Try to fill in the blanks with those expressions.

 

    1.  Are you seriously wearing that tacky shirt to the party, Wes? Hey, try on this oversized sweatshirt that’d zh___________ up your style instantly! (*expression meaning “to jazz up/ improve something”)

 

    2.   That guy might think he got the ______zz, but every single lady at the ice cream social must have thought that he was in the middle of his mid-life crisis. (*expression meaning “charisma/style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic partner)

 

 

    3.   Jeff is a _______fluencer whose doggo became the star in the world of social media. (*expression meaning a person who gains a large following on social media by posting entertaining images or videos of their cat, dog, or other pet

 

 

    4.   The arctic blast here in Texas a couple of years ago was one for the book. Such an unimaginable winter disaster was not on our ___________ card. (*expression meaning a list of possible, expected, or likely scenarios)

 

 

    5.   When the huge homemade ice cream Sundae was served, all the kids shouted “Bu_______!!!” (*expression meaning awesome/ tasty/ super)

 

 

    6.   Cory is too naïve to catch the hidden agenda of these politicians’, and that is why his fellow partisans call him a young pad___________. (*expression meaning a youthful, naive, or untrained person)

 

7.   Have you seen this Japanese horror flick? My brother says it’s just m_____ and a waste of time. (*expression meaning lower than average/ boring/    mediocre)

 

8.   This new pair of racing shoes are GOA_____! It just gave me the whole new underfoot experience! (*expression meaning ‘being the Greatest of All Time”)

 

9.   Don’t be such a si_______, bro. She doesn’t deserve your time and money! (*expression meaning an insult for men who are seen as too attentive and submissive to women, especially out of a failed hope of winning some entitled sexual attention or activity from them)

 

    10. We thought things would get better in every way after the pandemic is officially over, but the effect it had on the economy put us in a perma_________. (*expression meaning a long period of great difficulty, confusion, or suffering that seems to have no end)

 

 

Answer Keys  

   1.  zhuzh up 

   2.  rizz

   3.  petfluencer

   4.  bingo card 

   5.  Bussin’

   6.  Padawan

   7.  mid

   8.  GOATED

   9.  simp

   10. permacrisis

 

 

Find the words beginning with letters TA- !!! (from the latest NPR Sunday Puzzle)

Every answer today is a word that starts with the letters TA-, as in "teaching assistant." Get them from their anagrams.

 

Ex. BLEAT --> TABLE

1. STATE

 

2. PRATE

 

3. TITAN

 

4. TONAL

 

5. ATTIC

 

6. LATTICE

 

7. ALPINIST

 

 

Answer Keys

1.  TASTE

2.  TAPER

3.  TAINT

4.  TALON

5.  TACIT

6.  TACTILE

7.  TAILSPIN

Find two words in each given sentence that sound like to other words of synonyms! (The Latest NPR Word Puzzle)

Here are some sentences. In each one, find two words that sound like to other words that are synonyms.

 

Example: I can pare an apple, too. => "pair & two"

 

1. My dog's paws got stuck under the cars break.

 

2. Today's spelling lesson is about words with silence "e's".

 

3. In India, several lower castes are in the throes of change.

 

4. The wild hare has a hankering for bagels and lox.

 

5. After his shift ended, the worker hied to the bank to cash his paycheck.

 

6. The seamstress would vary the way she'd sewed.

 

 

 

Answer Keys

1.  “paws & break” (sound like “pause and brake”)

2.  “lesson & e’s” (sound like “lesson and ease”)

3.  “throes & castes”)

4.  “hare & lox” (sound like “hair and locks”)

5.  “hied and cash” (sound like “hide and cache”)

6.  “vary and sew” (sound like “very and so”)

Find the hidden names of the U.S. cities in the sentences!

I am going to give a sentence for each question. Each sentence conceals the name of a well-known U.S. city PHONETICALLY.  

Ex. The lumberjacks unlaced their boots. --> JACKSON (Miss.)

(*For those who are not able to read the following sentences at normal native speakers' speed, I underlined the parts of each sentence you need to focus on in terms of phonetic sounds.)

1. I'd like you to meet my amiable sister. (Fla.)

 

2. The CPR pro gave Diane a Heimlich maneuver. (Calif.)

 

3. Did anyone who's sincere accuse me of doing that? (N.Y.)

 

4. The hockey player got semipro vocational training. (Utah)

 

5. A neighbor gave Thoreau an oak tree. (Va.)

 

6. The emcee led the chanteuse onto the stage. (Ariz.)

 

7. The pet owner would on tiptoe lead obedient dogs downstairs. (Ohio)

 

8. In the end it was the whole shebang Gorbachev lost. (Me.)

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Miami (Florida)

    2.  Anaheim (California)

    3.  Syracuse (New York)

    4.  Provo (Utah)

    5.  Roanoke (Virginia)

    6.  Tucson (Arizona)

    7.  Toledo (Ohio)

    8.  Bangor (Maine)