Archive for August, 2010

idiom: to not hold one’s breath

{ August 8, 2010 @ 2:41 am } · { idioms }
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The idiom for this week is “to not hold one’s breath”. It is used when we want to say that someone should not wait for something to happen when we know that it will never happen. For example:

The prime minister promised he would lower taxes this year, but I won’t hold my breath. Politicians always say things like that just to get elected.

A: Do you think the boss will give me a raise this year?

B: Don’t hold your breath! He never gives anyone a raise.

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A: Ned said he’d help me move this weekend.

B: If I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath. He always says he’ll help people, but he never does it.

So, we often use this expression in the future tense (I won’t hold my breath.) or in the conditional tense (If I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath.) However, the most common way of using it is in the imperative tense (Don’t hold your breath!) When it is used this way, it’s a little strong, but it’s not rude.

intransitive phrasal verb: chill out

{ August 6, 2010 @ 1:22 am } · { phrasal verbs }
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The phrasal verb “chill out” is a casual expression that means to relax. It’s generally neutral in tone, but it can sound a bit negative sometimes. For example:

A: What are you doing?

B: Nothing. I’m just chilling out in my apartment.

I don’t want to go out tonight. I’m tired, so I just want to chill out at home.

Stop worrying about the new job. It’ll be fine. You really need to learn to chill out.

A: I don’t want to eat Chinese food tonight!

B: Ok. Just chill out! We can order something else.

So, when using “chill out” to talk about ourselves, as in the first two examples, the tone is neutral. However, when using it directly to another person, as in the last two examples, it’s quite strong and not very polite. Therefore, please be careful when using this expression. If you use it directly to someone else, they could get angry with you.

grammatical expression: let alone

{ August 5, 2010 @ 2:20 am } · { grammatical expression }
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Today I’d like to write about another very commonly used expression which I’ve never seen any textbook teach: “let alone”. This expression is used when we are talking about two negative facts. First, we talk about one negative fact, and then we use “let alone” to emphasize that the second negative fact is stronger than the first one. I know this is confusing, so let me give you some examples:

A: Can you drive a bus?

B: Are you kidding? I can’t drive a car, let alone a bus.

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A: I need to borrow $1000.

B: I’m sorry, but I don’t have even $100, let alone $1000.

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A: Is your sister married?

B: No, she doesn’t have much luck with men. She can’t find a boyfriend, let alone a husband.

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A: Does your boyfriend want to go to London with us this summer?

B: No way! He doesn’t like travelling within the country, let alone overseas.

So, when using this expression, the sentences are always in the negative. As you can see, we don’t repeat the entire sentence after “let alone”. So, it’s not common to say, “I can’t drive a car, let alone drive a bus.” In English, generally speaking we don’t like to repeat words within one sentence unless it’s to emphasize something. Therefore, most people will say, “I can’t drive a car, let alone a bus.” without repeating the verb “drive”.

adjective: thoughtful

{ August 4, 2010 @ 1:02 am } · { adjectives }
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The adjective for this week is one which is often misunderstood. Many people think that the word “thoughtful” means that someone thinks a lot about various things, but this is not the accurate meaning. This word is actually used to talk about a person who thinks about another person’s feelings and does something nice for them in order to be kind. For example:

My aunt is such a thoughtful person. She often sends me things that she thinks I will like.

A: I brought you a blanket because I thought you might be cold.

B: Thank you! That’s so thoughtful of you!

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A: Is Mr. Parker a thoughtful boss?

B: Well, not always but, last week, he let me go home early because I had a headache. That was very thoughtful of him.

It’s important to note that when a person is being thoughtful, they do the nice thing voluntarily; they don’t do it because someone asked them to do it. Therefore, in the first example, the person did NOT ask the aunt to send her anything; in the second example, the person did NOT ask for a blanket; and in the third example, the person did NOT ask the boss to go home early.

grammatical word: put

{ August 3, 2010 @ 12:41 am } · { grammatical word }
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As I have explained before, many common verbs in English have more than one meaning. The verb “put” has many subtle meanings, but the main definition is to place something in a certain location. There is another meaning which most people don’t know about though; it also means to say something in a certain way. For example:

My sister is very articulate. She always puts things in a very impressive way.

A: I thought the movie was really stupid!

B: Well, that’s not how I’d put it, but I didn’t really enjoy it either.

A: Well, how would you put it then?

B: I’d say it was disappointing rather than stupid.

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A: I asked Cary if he liked you and he said that he did.

B: Really? He likes me? How exactly did he put it?

A: He said that he thought you were really pretty and cool.

So I hope this is clear to everyone. The word “articulate” in the first example means that a person can speak very well in their own language. You can check my blog entry from April 30th, 2010 for more examples. If anyone is interested in the other meanings for “put”, they can look up the word at The Free Dictionary; the website link is on this blog page.

the difference between words: so and such

{ August 2, 2010 @ 12:32 am } · { the difference between words }
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Many of my students get confused about how to use the words “so” and “such” correctly. Sometimes they say things like, “My friend is so nice guy.” or “It is such hot today.” These sentences are completely wrong in terms of grammar.

When we use the word “so”, it is followed by an adjective. When we use the word “such”, it is followed the article “a” or “an”, then by an adjective and finally, by a noun. Sometimes there is no adjective in the sentence at all. For example:

My friend is so nice.

My friend is such a nice guy.

My friend is such a gentleman.

It’s so hot today.

It’s such a hot day today.

It’s such a scorcher today.

Harriet is so intelligent.

Harriet is such an intelligent woman.

Harriet is such a genius.

In case you’re wondering, the word “scorcher” in the sixth sentence is a casual word that refers to a very hot day. The word “scorch” has a similar meaning to the word “burn”.

It’s important to note that when we use “such”, we only use “a” or “an” in the sentence if the noun is countable. If the noun is uncountable, we must drop the article. For example:

This is such good wine. Where did you get it?

My guidebook gave me such useful information.

We had such beautiful weather during our vacation.

It’s also possible to use “so” with an adverb. For example:

My sister dances so well.

The construction job was done so badly.

Please note that we cannot use “such” with adverbs.

idiom: to not bat an eye

{ August 1, 2010 @ 2:17 am } · { idioms }
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I have another idiom for you this week. The expression is “to not bat an eye”. It is used when we want to talk about someone who is not shocked or surprised when most people would be shocked or surprised by a certain situation.

If someone bats their eyes, it basically means that they blink.  Usually if we receive some shocking news, it’s natural for us to blink our eyes when we hear the news. Therefore, if a person doesn’t blink or “bat an eye”, they are not shocked or surprised at all about something. For example:

When the salesman told Walter that the price would be $150,000, he didn’t  bat an eye. He just agreed to pay the money without hesitation. He must be really rich.

I told my girlfriend I wanted to go to Europe for six months alone, and she didn’t even bat an eye. I think maybe she doesn’t love me anymore.

My co-workers are really strange. The boss announced that everyone would have to take a 10% paycut and none of them batted an eye. I seem to be the only one who’s upset about that.

So, as you can see, this idiom is usually used when someone doesn’t react in a shocked or upset way to something another person tells them. Also, for emphasis, we can put the word “even” before “bat an eye”, as in the second example.

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