Cambridge Dictionaries Online blog

by Kate Woodford

Happy Christmas! Merry Christmas! Season’s Greetings! Happy holidays! Whatever the greeting, Christmastime is once again almost with us. In homes around the world, people are preparing for Christmas Day (December 25^th), Boxing Day (the 26^th) and the whole festive season. Christmas trees are being decorated (trimmed US) with baubles, tinsel, stars and angels. Wreaths are being hung on doors, and lights draped around trees. Christmas cards with typical Christmas images of holly, bells and snowmen, are being quickly written and posted, and gifts wrapped and hidden away from curious children. Read the rest of this entry ?

by Kate Woodford

With the football season set to kick off again in Europe, we thought it would be a good time to take a look at those phrases that are so often used when people commentate on or talk about the beautiful game.

First, let’s think about the main aim of the exercise – to score a goal or, as they say informally, to put it in the net. An impressive player might manage this when they are not even near the goal, with a long-range-shot. An even more impressive player might score with an overhead kick (= a kick in which the player’s foot is higher than their head), also known as a bicycle kick. If this is the player’s first goal for a club, they might be said to open their account for that side. Or perhaps a player will score from a penalty and their side take the lead (= start to win). If they fail to score any more goals from this point onwards but also prevent their opponents from doing so, they will hold their lead. Indeed, if the opposing side fail to score any goals, a team may be said to keep a clean sheet.

And what problems might a football team experience? A striker might have gone for goal (= attempted to score) but, unfortunately, only managed to hit the crossbar (= hit the bar across the top of the goal). Maybe one of the side has committed a foul and been shown the yellow card by the referee. If the foul is judged to be particularly serious, or if it is the player’s second such offence, he will be sent off – shown the red card – and his team will be left playing a man short. Read the rest of this entry ?

by Kate Woodford

God could not be everywhere and therefore he made mothers. So says the Jewish proverb. We might assume, then, that it was the helicopter parent God had in mind when he fashioned the first mother – that ever-present, ever-vigilant scheduler of playdates and homework, hovering over the precious child (‘helicoptering’), and never letting them out of their sights. God may even have had for his template the lawnmower parent. The lawnmower parent is similarly obsessive, smoothing the way ahead for their offspring, doing all that they can to ensure that the future is without obstacles and inconveniences (and in doing so, maybe removing the challenges and setbacks that build character?).  The relatively recently coined terms of ‘lawnmower parenting’ and ‘helicoptering’ both fit neatly under the more established umbrella term of overparenting. Read the rest of this entry ?