Live and Learn English with Jean Lee

Every answer today is a word or phrase that comes from French but is also commonly used in English. See if you can get them from their given anagrams.   Example: TOPED / Train station    -->    DEPOT   1.    BRIDES / Scattered pieces of waste     2.    ROSE UP / One who pretends to be something he's not     3.    BEARCAT / Nightclub     4.    EURONET / On the way (2 words)     5.    CONTOUR / Bit of toasted bread in soup or a salad     6.    IT'S CHEAP / Artistic work that imitates another     7.    BEARS OUT / One who deliberately wrecks something for military gain     8.    QUITE SOUR / Bluish green     9.    RUNESTONE / Confidentially (2 words)     10.   HOTEL SUITE / Dark outline of something against a light background     11.  ...

Every once in a while, you might want to check with your vocabulary while studying English. Here I am giving you sentences with blanks so that you can complete by filling in with proper words to make sense of each, using the given hints.   1.    After a long nap, he found himself wake___________ (*meaning wide awake) deep into the night.   2.    Joe always follows the weather forecast to learn about the air quality day in and day out. He’s worried about his asthma since there will be a huge ha____________ (*meaning sandstorm) throughout the next couple of weeks in his neck of the woods.   3.    Gabrielle Zevin is one of my favorite authors who makes the profundity of _________cape (*meaning essence or inner nature of someone/ something) in life easy to understand.   4.    People in South Korea are fed up with the Constitutional Court’s long-__________-out (*meaning protracted; lasting a very long time) proc...

I'm going to name some things that are in categories -- like days of the week or U.S. states. Each one I name is second alphabetically in its category. You name the one that's first.   Ex. F ive   -->   E ight   (alphabetically the first two digits)   1. August   2. Sight   3. British Columbia   4. Astros   5. Columbia   6. "Antony and Cleopatra"   7. Huron   8. Brooklyn   Answer Keys     1.   April (category: month of the year)     2.   hearing (category: 5 senses)     3.   Alberta (category: Canada)     4.   Angels (category: Major League Baseball)     5.   Brown (category: Ivy League Schools)     6.   All’s Well that Ends Well (category: plays by Shakespeare)     7.   Erie (category: lakes)     8.   Bronx (Category: Boroughs of NYC)

It is natural to become physically weaker as one ages. However, it is possible to stay younger and healthier than your physical age by what you eat at your table every day. More and more medical research and studies have shown the medicinal properties and benefits of herbs and healthy diet. As of the year of 2024, we have been looking into a variety of herbs one by one, their nutrition facts, and healthy diet so that we are able to lead a life with more aplomb even if we happen to deviate from the optimal state of health.   # 30. Lentils Are you a big fan of legumes? Lentils are high in 1. pr____________, which helps build and maintain your muscles, bones and skin. Because of this nutrient, it has also been reported that lentils help you manage your appetite and support weight loss because it makes you feel fuller than other nutrients.   Eating lentils along with whole grains would be a perfect equivalent of 2.__________, which is especially helpful if you eat a vege...

I'm going to give you clues to some famous people past or present. The first two letters of each clue are the initials of the answer's name.   Ex. Ma ster boxer   -->   M uhammed A li   1. Aw ard-winning pop artist   2. Ap peared in "Scarface" and "Dog Day Afternoon"   3. Em inent French president   4. In ventor of calculus   5. Br ought fame to the Yankees   6. Ma rried to Louis XVI   7. Sh e was a 10-time world figure-skating champion   8. Jo cular host of HBO's "Last Week Tonight"   9. Ba cked the British traitorously in the Revolutionary War   10. Ar tful NPR host   Answer Keys      1.   A ndy W arhol     2.   A l P acino     3.   E mmanuel M acron     4.   I saac N ewton     5.   B abe R uth     6.   M arie A ntoinette     7.   S onja H enie ...

March 17 th is St. Patrick’s Day, which commemorates Saint Patrick and the beginning of Christianity in Ireland. It is also the celebration of Irish heritage. If you celebrate St. Patrick’s day, you must be wearing green not to get pinched by a leprechaun on this day! Here’s some fun jokes and riddles to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. Think of an answer for each.   1.    How can you spot a jealous shamrock? It might be they are ________________ with envy.     2.    Why do leprechauns prefer dollar bills to coins?     3.    Why did the leprechaun turn down a bowl of soup? It is because he already had a pot of _____________!     4.    Why do leprechauns hate running? It is because they’d rather jig than ___________!     5.    Why are so many leprechauns florists? It is because they have green ________________!     6.    Why do leprechauns recycle? It is because they li...

Today's puzzle is called "Eye-Oh." Every answer is a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase in which the first part has a long-I vowel sound, and the second part has a long-O one.   Ex. Marker every 5,280 feet on a road   -->   M I LEP O ST   1. Emergency craft for when a ship sinks 2. Eastern, Central, Mountain or Pacific 3. It's used to put out a conflagration 4. Rock material used in making the Great Pyramid of Giza 5. Something a daredevil circus acrobat walks 6. Pajamas 7. Femur 8. Sound you hear when you pick up a phone 9. Presentation of photos on a large screen for people to see 10. Very chilled, as the way beer might be served 11. Flower that symbolizes purity and innocence 12. Method of swimming 13. Decoration from a fir tree 14. What the Seven Dwarfs sing as they go   Answer Keys       1.   l i feb oa t     2.   t i me z o ne     3.   f i reh o se ...

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? M...