Archive for February, 2011

separable phrasal verb: butter up

{ February 4, 2011 @ 2:40 am } · { phrasal verbs }
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Today I have another interesting and surprising phrasal verb for you. It’s “butter up”, and we use it when we want to talk about flattering someone in order to get something from them. For example:

A: You look so beautiful today, and I think you’re really smart too.

B: Why are you buttering me up? What do you want from me?

Ken was really buttering up his boss yesterday because he wants to take the day off on Friday.

If you want anything from Kate, you have to butter her up first.

I wanted to borrow my brother’s car. I tried buttering him up, but he wouldn’t lend it to me.

I think the best way to remember this expression is to think of someone buttering a piece of toast. When people butter toast, it makes it softer. So instead of butter, people use words of flattery in order to make another person softer and more likely to give them what they want.

By the way, I remembered another meaning for yesterday’s blog entry “The thing is…”, so I will add the extra meaning and give more examples. Please check it out.

grammatical expression: the thing is…

{ February 3, 2011 @ 2:46 am } · { grammatical expression }
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Today’s grammatical expression is “the thing is…”, and it’s very commonly used in daily conversations. We use it when we want to give an excuse for something. For example:

I’m sorry that you saw me in my underwear in the living room when you came home. The thing is, I was really drunk.

Many people get angry at Rafael because he’s often late. The thing is, in his home country being late is normal.

I’m sorry, but I’ve forgotten your name. I hope you’re not upset with me. The thing is, I forget most people’s names.

I really want to come to your party, but the thing is, my boss wants me to work overtime that night. I’m sorry.

A: Can you come help me set up my computer?

B: I’d really like to help you. The thing is, I’m really busy right now.

So we use “the thing is” as an introductory phrase before we say the excuse. The excuse can be a reason for some bad behavior which people don’t like, as in the first three examples. It can also be an excuse for why we can’t do something that is being requested of us, as in the last two examples.

We can also use this expression when we want to explain something. For example:

Even though the new apartment is bigger, I don’t want to move there. The thing is, my current place is really convenient and close to where I work.

I really want to stay in room 415 at the hotel. The thing is, that’s the room where I stayed with my wife on our honeymoon.

My sister really doesn’t like cats. The thing is, a cat jumped on her when she was very young.

So, in these examples, “the thing is” is used to explain the reason why someone wants something or has a certain feeling about something.

adjectives: decisive/indecisive

{ February 2, 2011 @ 12:57 am } · { adjectives }
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We can use the adjectives for today to describe a person’s character. The first word is “decisive”, and the other is its opposite “indecisive”. We use “decisive” when we want to say someone has the ability to make decisions firmly and easily. We use “indecisive” when we want to say someone cannot make decisions easily. For example:

My father is a very decisive man. He never has any problems making up his mind.

Bill is decisive, but he can be very stubborn. Once he makes a decision, he usually refuses to change his mind.

I think the prime minister isn’t doing a bad job, but I wish he were more decisive.

I hate my boss because he’s lazy and indecisive! The company loses money because he wastes time making decisions.

I don’t know what to order from the menu. I’m sorry for being so indecisive today.

I used to be a lot more indecisive when I was younger. Now I can make up my mind much more easily.

So, the word “decisive” is positive and the word “indecisive” is negative. Be careful about the pronunciation of these words. We DON’T say /dee SEE siv/. Instead the word is pronounced /dee SAI siv/. And when we say the word “indecisive” we have to stress the “in”, so it’s /IN dee SAI siv/. If you want to hear a clear pronunciation of these words, I recommend using The Free Dictionary. The link for that site is on my blog.

grammatical word: leeway

{ February 1, 2011 @ 2:03 am } · { grammatical word }
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Last week, I used a certain word in a conversation, and I thought it would be a good blog entry for today. The word is the noun “leeway”. It is used when we want to talk about a person giving or receiving more freedom in which to do something. For example:

My boss is very strict about what he wants this ad to look like, and he’s not willing to give us much leeway.

If you increase the budget for the party by only 10%, that will give us more leeway about the types of food we can buy.

A: Gerald said we had to buy eight new chairs for the office, and we couldn’t spend more than $1000.

B: That doesn’t give us much leeway.

I’m very lucky because my boss will usually give me a bit of leeway when it comes to deadlines. If I need a day or two extra to finish something, he usually gives it to me.

So, in the first example, the boss is not willing to be flexible about the look of the ad, so they have to do it exactly as he wants; in the second example, if they receive more money in the party budget, they will have more choices about food; in the third example, they are being very restricted about the choice of chairs because they only have $1000 to spend; in the last example, the boss is willing to give him more time to finish his projects.

In all of these examples, the word “leeway” refers to the amount of freedom the person has in which to do something. This freedom can come in the form of money, time or emotional space.

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