Live and Learn English with Jean Lee

This is a summertime puzzle. I'm going to give you three words starting with the letters H, O, and T. For each set you give me a word that can precede each of mine to complete a compound word or a familiar two-word phrase.   Example: H eat, O ven, T ank    --> GAS (gas heat, gas oven, gas tank)   1. H ampshire, O rleans, T estament   2. H orse, O tter, T urtle   3. H ydrant, O pal, T ruck   4. H opes, O ctane, T ide   5. H ard, O ut, Torch   6. H ouse, O nion, T humb   7. H eavyweight, O pera, T ouch   8. H and, O rder, T erm   9. H ole, O live, T ie   10. H awk, O wl, T ime   11. H avana, O nes, T oe       Answer Keys     1.   NEW (New Hampshire, New Orleans, New Testament)     2.   SEA (Sea Horse, Sea Otter, Sea Turtle)     3.   FIRE (Fire Hydrant, Fire Opal, Fire Truck)     4. ...

Have you heard Juneteenth Day (also known as the Emancipation Day) which is one of the most important national days to commemorate in the U.S. history? “Juneteenth” is a portmanteau of "June" and "nineteenth", which marks the effective end of slavery in America. Today, let us learn about the history of Juneteenth Day through a fast-facts quiz.          .  1.  Juneteenth commemorates June 19, 1865, the day Union Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger informed slaves of their emancipation from slavery. In which state did this event take place?    _______________          2.    Granger’s announcement came almost three years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the famous executive order abolishing slavery issued by the 16 th U.S. president __________________ .         3.    The _____th Constitutional Amendment officially abolished slavery across the United States.   ...

Every answer today is the name of a famous person or thing in which the last two letters of the first half are the same as the first two letters of the second.   Ex. Star of TV's "Murder, She Wrote"   --   Ange la La nsbury   1. Composer of "Rhapsody in Blue" and "An American in Paris" 2. Spanish opera singer who was one of the Three Tenors 3. Singer nicknamed "Mr. Las Vegas" on account of his long residency there 4. Nickname for Delaware on account of its order in ratifying the Constitution 5. Baseball program for kids 6. Old ___ (large canine breed) 7. Symbol for our neighbor to the north 8. July 1 -- when our neighbor to the north celebrates its independence 9. French composer of "Nocturnes" and "Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun" 10. New York locale where many immigrants arrived in the 19th century           Answer Keys     1.       Geor ge Ge rshwin     2. ...

If I asked you to name two occupations starting with the letters ENG-, you might say Engineer and Engraver. Now try these:   Name two ... starting with ...   1. Parts of the mouth ... TON 2. Chemical elements ... SIL 3. Mammals ... BEA 4. Dances ... CHA 5. Alcoholic drinks ... MAR 6. Units of distance ... MIL 7. Tropical trees ... BAN 8. Brands of candy ... TWI 9. Hand tools ... SCR 10. Spaces in which to hang coats ... CLO 11. Words in "The Star-Spangled Banner" ... PRO     Answer Keys     1.   tongue & tonsil     2.   silicon & silver     3.   beaver & bear     4.   cha cha & charleston     5.   martini & margarita     6.   mile & millimeter     7.   banyan & banana trees     8.   Twizzlers & Twix     9.   Screwdriver & scraper     10. ...

  The Grammar Rules Are Evolving or Becoming Extinct! Are you hairsplitting grammar police based on the existing/ traditional prescriptive grammar or gravitating more towards casual/ colloquial descriptive grammar? As we are living in the era of myriads of fast-paced communication venues such as instant text messages and lots of online conversations, languages and their grammar rules are fast evolving today. English is no the exception. Let us go over some of the English grammar rules that people ignore quite often times and are normally accepted today. Even the following examples might be out of their styles or seem outdated in any time soon. One thing you need to remember is that quite a lot of academic or formal writers are still expected to follow the existing/ old school grammar rules.   1.    Prescriptive Grammar: Don’t end a sentence with a preposition. Vs. Descriptive Grammar: Yes, you can end a sentence with a prepostition.   E.g., Winston C...

If you want to practice another batch of vocabulary/ phrasal expressions in English, come on in and give it a try. Fill in the blanks to make each of the following sentences to make sense, using the clues in parentheses and its context.      1.    The movie was full of a lot of h________y (*meaning “corny or overly sentimental) scenes.       2.   Let’s call it a day now and p_________ back up (*meaning to resume something after you stop) on this point in our next meeting.       3.   I love the way he writes. He has his own z__________y (*meaning amusingly unconventional and idiosyncratic) way with words, which entertains the readers with such eccentrically humorous writing skills.       4.   It was a spooky Halloween night that only a handful of trick-or-treaters were to be seen. They felt scared and cold in a thick po______________ (*meaning a dense icy fog in wint...

Every answer today is a word or name with the syllable "gay" — phonetically (i.e., soundwise, NOT spellingwise) in any spelling — somewhere inside it. Ex. Group of worshippers in a church   —>   CONGREGATION   1. Cousin of a crocodile   2. Big, fancy party   3. Japanese female dancer   4. Small bouquet   5. Person who plays Call of Duty or League of Legends   6. The "I" of F.B.I.   7. Russian composer Rachmaninov   8. River through Pittsburgh   9. Artificial watering of land for agriculture   10. Dance that's the national dance of the Dominican Republic   11. Merrymaking or festiveness   /gei/ Answer Keys 1.   alli ga tor 2.   ga la 3.   gei sha 4.   nose gay 5.   ga mer 6.   investi ga tion 7.   Ser gei 8.   Alle ghe ny 9.   irri ga tion 10.       Merengue 11.   ...

I'm going to read some sentences. In each one find the name of a national capital hidden somewhere in it phonetically (= NOT spellwise but soundwise) .     Ex. On e Bay, rut abagas are seldom seen.   -->   BEIRUT   1. Where is the handbag daddy bought?   2. Throw the anchor away.   3. To an all-round athletic phenom, pentathlon is the ultimate sport.   4. We have tickets to see the Fighting Illini, Row B , seats 1 and 2.   5. During the Civil War sausage was scarce.   6. The gala was attended by many black tie-paying guests.   7. Let the music of Metallica rock us all night.   8. This is the sidewalk we'll be washing tonight.     Answer Keys     1.   Bahgdad (hand bag dad dy)     2.   Ankara ( anchor a way)     3.   Phnom Penh ( phenom, pen tathlon)     4.   Nairobi (Illi ni Row B)     5. ...