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We all make mistakes. Often, they’re small and easily corrected, though sadly this is not always true. Today’s post takes a look at the different types of mistakes that we make, big and small, written and spoken.
Continue reading “Gaffes and blunders (Different types of mistakes)”
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‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.’ So said Albert Einstein. It may be comforting to remember this quote when an action of yours produces unwanted results. Of course, no one likes making mistakes, but mistakes are part of life. That’s why we have so many ways of talking about them. This post and my next are dedicated to this subject.
Continue reading “Rookie mistakes and schoolboy errors (Talking about mistakes)”
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A few years ago on this blog, we published a post on words that mean ‘funny’. It recently occurred to me that we should also look at the opposite, so today’s post looks at the language we use to describe things or people that are serious – sometimes too serious.
Continue reading “It’s no laughing matter! (Words that mean ‘serious’)”
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This week’s post is a companion to one that I published last December on the language of embarrassment. That post focused on the feeling of being ashamed or shy in the company of others. Today’s post looks at the related theme of feeling or appearing foolish or making someone feel this way.
Continue reading “It’s so humiliating! (The language of feeling foolish)”
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Do you like learning English by playing games? Here at Cambridge Dictionary, we now have a Games Hub with daily word games so you can practise your English in a way that is both fun and motivating. To mark the arrival of our fabulous games, we thought we’d take a look at the language that people often use when they’re playing games.
Continue reading “Whose go is it? (The language of playing games)”
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Today’s post is the latest in my Newspaper idioms thread, in which I present you with a selection of English idioms and phrases used in several newspapers published on the same day. The aim is to provide you with a range of contemporary, frequently used English idioms.
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The world’s stock markets are very much in the news these days. With this in mind, I thought I’d take a look at the sort of language that is commonly used to talk about market fluctuation. I’ll focus especially on the colourful terms that describe dramatic changes in trading and share prices.
Continue reading “Stock market turmoil (Talking about stock markets and share prices)”
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We’ve all had the experience of looking forward to something and expecting it to be great but finding, when it happens, that it’s a disappointment. Conversely, we all know what it’s like to have low expectations of something but find that it’s much better than we were expecting. This post looks at language in this area and includes both single words and phrases.
Continue reading “Did it live up to your expectations? (Talking about disappointment)”
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From time to time, we all complain, whether it’s about the poor quality of service in a restaurant, a noisy neighbour, or rain that won’t stop. (Some people – and I certainly know one or two – never stop complaining!) This post will provide you with a range of interesting alternatives to ‘complain’ and ‘complaint’ and will explain the differences between them.
Continue reading “Stop whining! (Words for ‘complain’ and ‘complaint’)”
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This is the second of my two-part post on useful idioms and phrases that feature the word ‘eye’. Part 1 focused mainly on expressions that said something about the act of looking and seeing. Today’s post features ‘eye’ phrases on a range of themes.
Continue reading “Your eyes are bigger than your stomach (Idioms with ‘eye’, Part 2)”