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Today’s offering is Part 2 of a post looking at the language of large numbers or amounts of things. Part 1 focused on adjectives and verbs, so this post looks at nouns and phrases in this area. Continue reading “No shortage of phrases (The language of large amounts or numbers, Part 2)”
Today, I’m looking at the language we use to describe large amounts or numbers of things. Of course, words that mean ‘very large’ such as huge and massive, are often used in this way, but for the purposes of this post, I’ll focus on words and phrases which refer specifically to large amounts and numbers. It’s a very rich area of the language so the post will be in two parts. Continue reading “Teeming with and abundant (The language of large amounts and numbers, Part 1)”
Part 1 of this money-themed post looked at idioms that say something about having lots of money. Today’s post features idioms about not having enough money and about controlling how you spend money when you don’t have very much of it. In addition, I’ll also include sayings about money. Continue reading “Making ends meet and feeling the pinch (Money idioms, Part 2)”
Today, in the latest of my money-themed posts, I’m looking at money idioms, by which I mean idioms that say something about money (and not idioms about other subjects that feature the words ‘penny’, ‘money’, ‘coin’ etc.). There are lots of money idioms so this is Part 1 and we’ll publish Part 2 in a couple of weeks. Continue reading “Paying through the nose and pushing the boat out (Money Idioms, Part 1)”
Last month I wrote a post on words and phrases used to talk about our money habits. Continuing with the money theme, I’m looking this week at verbs and verb phrases for spending money. Continue reading “Skimping and splurging (Verbs for spending money)”
Would you describe yourself as careful with money or are you a big spender? Today’s post considers the language we use to talk about our money habits. Continue reading “Spendthrifts and skinflints (The language of how we spend)”
In a supermarket last week, I heard a mother telling her child not to be naughty. Naughty is, of course, a word usually used for (badly behaved) children rather than adults. It made me think about other words that we use mainly for children, and I thought the subject would make an interesting post. Continue reading “Telltales and fidgets (Words that we use for children)”
My last ‘How we talk’ post focused on words used for people who talk a lot, including adjectives such as ‘talkative’ and ‘forthcoming’. This week, I’m looking at the opposite – words that we use for people who say very little. Continue reading “Has the cat got your tongue? (How we talk, Part 2)”
This week and next, I’m looking at ways to describe how much – or how little – we speak. There are lots of words (especially adjectives) in this area, with very different connotations, from chatty (=talking a lot in a friendly, informal way) to reserved (=tending not to talk about your feelings or opinions):
Jamie was his usual chatty self.
My grandfather was a quiet, rather reserved man.
This post will cover words and phrases that mean ‘talking a lot’ and Part 2 will deal with the opposite. Continue reading “He could talk the hind legs off a donkey (How we talk, Part 1)”
Today’s post is a round-up of the idioms and phrases found in a range of national newspapers published on the same Sunday in October. I write one of these newspaper idioms posts every few months as a way of providing you with a regular supply of contemporary, frequently used English idioms. Continue reading “Hot air and bad blood (Idioms found in newspapers)”