St. Patrick's Day Jokes/Riddle

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 like to go _________________!

    7.   What’s a leprechaun’s favorite cereal?

    8.   What happens if you cross poison ivy with a four-leaf clover? Well, you might get a ____________of good luck!

    9.   A leprechaun who gets sent to jail is a lepre-_____________!

    10.  How are good friends like four-leaf clovers?

 

(*source from imom.com)

 

Answer Keys

    1.  green

    2.  Because they are green

    3.  gold

    4.  jog

    5.  thumbs

    6.  green

    7.  Lucky Charm

    8.  rash

    9.  con

    10.  Both good friends and four-leaf clovers are hard to find.

Find compound words or 2-word-phrases that have long "I" and long "o" sounds!

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  -->  MILEPOST

 

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.  lifeboat

    2.  time zone

    3.  firehose

    4.  limestone 

    5.  tightrope

    6.  nightclothes

    7.  thigh bone

    8.  dial tone

    9.  slideshow

    10. ice-cold

    11. white rose

    12. sidestroke

    13. pine cone

    14. heigh-ho

Let's get idioms/ slang down pat!

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? Maybe we should cr_________ (*meaning “to stay at someone else’s house”) at Annie’s place tonight.

5.   My mom is not going to allow me to go to Marty’s birthday party. She always worries if it’s becoming an uncontrollable ra__________ (*meaning a wild party that has a lot of people, especially students, and lots of alcohol) full of booze and crazy kids.

6.   “Oh, my gosh! That quiz was so hard, I can’t ___________...!” (*slang phrase implying that something is too amazing, frustrating, surprising, or exciting to handle. It leaves them speechless. They can’t find the words to express how they feel.)

7.   “Dad, I promise I’ll be back home before 10 pm. Le________.” (*meaning to confirm something as being true. Short form of legitimate)

8.   Hey, Mark, just think before you say anything at a meeting! Your boss kept rolling his eyes each time you pitched a crazy idea. He face____________ (*meaning “literally putting your face in the palm of your hand, as an expression of frustration) all along.

9.   You know what! BTS is giving another concert in LA this Summer! I’m super psy_________! (*meaning “very excited/ pumped/ stoked”)

10. All immigrants are expected to have a difficult time when they begin a new chapter of their lives in someone else’s country. It is impossible for them to adapt to the new culture and new people right off the _________.

 

 

ANSWER KEYS

1. ain’t

2. sick

3. turn it up

4. crash

5. rager

6. can’t even

7. Legit

8. facepalmed

9. psyched

10. right off the bat

Time to play the puzzle from this last Sunday Puzzle from NPR! Find the name of a country using the clues!

Every answer today is the name of a country. I'm going to give you some words. For each one, name a country that has exactly the same consonants in the same order but with different vowels.

 

Example: REMAIN  -->  ARMENIA or ROMANIA

 

1. COMBED

2. FURNACE

3. AROUSES

4. U.S. OPEN

5. AL GORE

6. MANGLE

7. SINGLE

8. CLIMB

9. REWIND

10. CLONED

11. ORIGINATION

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Cambodia     

    2.  France

    3.  Russia

    4.  Spain

    5.  Algeria

    6.  Mongolia

    7.  Senegal

    8.  Colombia

    9.  Rwanda

    10. Iceland

    11. Argentina

HOMONYMS

HOMONYMS

Quite a lot of my EFL students had trouble distinguishing sounds and spellings of English words that are pronounced the same. Even native speakers of English often get confused among the words that sound the same but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

Will you try to choose the correct word among the given two homonyms (in parentheses) to make sense of each sentence?

E.g., That (bare, bear) animal in the picture is a grizzly (bare, bear) without fur. => answer: bare, bear

 

     1.   The fields of the (barren, baron) were always (barren, baron), so he built houses on the land.

 

     2.   Even though this pet canary is (cheap, cheep), its (cheap, cheep) is loud.

 

     3.   In the (capitol, capital) city, we must visit the (capital, capitol).

 

     4.   The athlete was (bold, bowled) when he (bold, bowled) against the world champion.

 

5.   She will (ail, ale) if she drinks all that (ail, ale).

 

     6.   Walk down the (isle, aisle, I’ll) on the small (aisle, isle, I’ll) with me, and (isle, aisle, I’ll) marry you.

 

     7.   My sister’s (beau, bow) gave her a beautiful (beau, bow) for her hair.

 

     8.   That large (Cyprus, cypress) comes from (Cyprus, cypress) in the eastern Mediterranean Sea.

 

     9.   A (course, coarse) person doesn’t make many friends in the (course, coarse) of life.

 

     10. Even in sleet and (hale, hail), my grandfather is a (hale, hail) and hearty soul.

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  baron, barren

    2.  cheap, cheep

    3.  capital, capitol

    4.  bold, bowled

    5.  ail, ale

    6.  aisle, isle, I’ll

    7.  beau, bow

    8.  cypress, Cyprus

    9.  coarse, course

    10. hail, hale   

*   *** Source from Scholastic Guides: Building Your Vocabulary

*

My small thoughts about the current tumultous phase in South Korea

Witnessing the tempestuous days since the president of South Korea declared the unlawful martial law on December 3, 2024, I have thought about what’s behind his insanity. Still trying to figure it out to no avail. Just as we all had expected, his final defense at the Constitutional Court was composed of the same old excuses, gibberish, and baloney. It all came down to “I said what I said and that’s that”.  He was unapologetically sticking to his statement even though it had caused such huge chaos in Korea, turning the country into a painfully divided nation. His words showed that he does not regret or feel ashamed about his stance with no intention to change his mind. Now that all the legal process for his impeachment trial has been wrapped up, it is time for the righteous verdict to come out in the light.

 

In the name of justice and integrity

Move on to the next shiny chapter together

Peaceful days are in store for you

Every voice of yours will be heard

As long as you keep your heads up in your right mind

Celebrate the upcoming blessing

Hail to justice in Korea!

 

February 27, 2025

Time to play the latest NPR WORD PUZZLE!

You'll get three words starting with the letters C, P, and R (as in the life-saving technique). For each set, give a fourth word that can follow to complete compound words or familiar two-word phrases.

Example: Chain, Priority, Registered --> MAIL (chain mail, priority mail, registered mail)

 

1. Cable     Patrol     Race

 

2. Cash     Piano     Roll

 

3. Cannon     Paint     Racquet

 

4. Changing     Powder     Rest

 

5. Card     Periodic     Round

 

6. Coast     Prison     Rear

 

7. Cashier's     Pay     Reality

 

 

Answer Keys

    1.  Car: Cable Car, Patrol Car, Race Car

    2.  Bar: Piano Bar, Cash Bar, Roll Bar

    3.  Ball: Cannon Ball, Paint Ball, Racquet Ball

    4.  Room: Changing Room, Powder Room, Rest Room

    5.  Table: Card Table, Periodic Table, Round Table

    6.  Guard: Coast Guard, Prison Guard, Rear Guard

    7.  Check: Cashier Check, Pay Check, Reality Check