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by Liz Walter
Back in 2017, my colleague Kate Woodford wrote a couple of posts on ‘binomials’, which are pairs of words joined with ‘and’ or ‘or’, that are used together in a fixed order. Today I’m taking this one step further by looking at ‘trinomials’ or groups of three words always used in the same order. Continue reading “Tall, dark, and handsome: using trinomials”
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by Liz Walter
We often find ourselves in situations where we don’t believe something we are being told. This post looks at some of the phrases we can use when this happens, depending on factors such as how strongly we feel about it, or whether we think someone intended to lie or not. Continue reading “It’s a pack of lies!: things we say when we don’t believe someone”
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by Liz Walter
Over the years, I have written several posts about emotions, such as this one on describing emotion with metaphors of height and this one on idioms and phrasal verbs to express happiness. Today’s post looks at something a little different: the nouns we use when we want to talk about the way we experience emotions. Continue reading “Waves, twinges and bursts: words we use to describe emotions”
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by Kate Woodford
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By Liz Walter
Today’s post looks at some of the phrases we use when bad things happen to people. It appears that we must be very judgmental, since there are many more phrases for saying that a person deserves what happened to them than there are for being sympathetic! Continue reading “It’s your own fault! Talking about deserving bad things.”
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by Liz Walter
When we want to speak to someone for a specific reason, we don’t usually begin immediately with the thing we want to say. Instead, we often use a phrase that will help the other person get some idea of what sort of conversation it is going to be. Continue reading “I need to ask you a favour: signalling what we are going to say”
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My first post on death and dying looked at softer, less direct ways of talking about this subject, for example saying that we ‘lose’ a person or that a person ‘passes away’ rather than saying they ‘die’. Today, I’m looking at idioms and phrases generally in this area, some of which are also gently euphemistic. Continue reading “Talking about death (Part 2)”
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It’s the second week of February and here in Cambridge, the weather feels arctic! As I type this, my fingers are as cold as ice. Time to get that electric heater from the spare room! In a way though, it’s appropriate, as today’s post is about how we describe the effect that the weather has on us.
Continue reading “Chilled to the bone or roasting? (The effect that the weather has on us)”
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by Liz Walter
We all have times when we need to reassure someone, perhaps because they have done something they regret, because they are worried about something they have to do in the future or because they are experiencing something that is causing them anxiety.
Continue reading “Nobody blames you: phrases for offering reassurance”
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by Liz Walter
We all make judgments every day about what to believe and what not to believe, so it’s not surprising that there are several nice phrases to express this process.
If you have something on good authority, you have been given information about it by someone you trust:
I have it on good authority that she’s considering selling the property. Continue reading “I feel it in my bones: phrases connected with believing or disbelieving”