a boy and his father singing and dancing together in the kitchen while doing the washing up, pretending that a scrubbing brush and mop are a microphone and guitar

Making a song and dance about it: talking about importance (2)

On April 5, 2023April 4, 2023 By Liz WalterIn the English language, Vocabulary13 Comments

Listen to the author reading this blog post:

This is the second of two posts on importance and covers some more aspects of the topic.

I will start with things that are important because of their effect on someone or something else. Someone or something that has the power to affect things can be described as influential. Something that has a great effect on future events is momentous, or – even more emphatically – seismic: Continue reading “Making a song and dance about it: talking about importance (2)” →

Weighed down or perking up? Phrasal verbs to express emotions, part 1

On September 18, 2019August 31, 2019 By Liz WalterIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary27 Comments

by Liz Walter

Phrasal verbs are a very important part of English (even if students hate them!) and I have written several posts explaining useful ones. I realised recently that there is a surprisingly large number of phrasal verbs and prepositional verbs relating to emotions. Today I am going to concentrate on happiness and sadness. My next post will cover some other emotions, and a final post will present a selection of phrasal verbs for talking more generally about emotions. Continue reading “Weighed down or perking up? Phrasal verbs to express emotions, part 1” →

Pieces of cake and sour grapes: food idioms

On August 28, 2019August 26, 2019 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary55 Comments

by Kate Woodford

This week, we’re looking at English idioms that feature food and drink words. As there are lots of these idioms, we’re focusing today on idioms containing words for sweet food. Next month, we’ll publish a post on savoury (UK) or savory (US) food idioms.

Continue reading “Pieces of cake and sour grapes: food idioms” →

Rising sea levels, endangered species and renewable energy: talking about climate change

On August 21, 2019July 30, 2019 By Liz WalterIn the English language, Vocabulary16 Comments

by Liz Walter

I’ve written a couple of posts on collocations (word partners) recently, and a reader suggested some specific collocation topics, one of which was the environment. Climate change is in the news a lot, particularly because of the campaigning of the Swedish schoolgirl, Greta Thunberg. So here are some collocations to help you talk about this vitally important topic.

Continue reading “Rising sea levels, endangered species and renewable energy: talking about climate change” →

My very best friend: talking about friendship

On July 17, 2019July 15, 2019 By Liz WalterIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary22 Comments

by Liz Walter

July 30^th is the United Nations’ International Day of Friendship, so this post is all about words and phrases for talking about friends and friendship.

A friend can be anyone you like and spend time with, so we use adjectives to say how much we like or love someone. A good friend or a close friend is someone you spend a lot of time with and care very much about, and your best friend is the person you love most of all:

I’d like you to meet my good friend Mateo.

He doesn’t have many close friends.

Sarah is my very best friend.

Continue reading “My very best friend: talking about friendship” →

Black sheep and cans of worms: animal idioms, part 4

On July 10, 2019July 3, 2019 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary17 Comments

By Kate Woodford

This post – the last in our popular ‘animal idioms’ series – looks at idioms featuring animals that range in size from an elephant to a worm. Most of today’s idioms have a rather negative meaning.

Let’s start with the elephant idiom. If people know that a problem exists but they find it too embarrassing or difficult to talk about, the problem may be described as the elephant in the room:

We all know that Tom will have to retire at some point, but no one mentions it – it’s the elephant in the room. Continue reading “Black sheep and cans of worms: animal idioms, part 4” →

It’s all in the mind: phrases with ‘mind’

On June 5, 2019May 30, 2019 By Liz WalterIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary16 Comments

by Liz Walter

Since our mind is the part of us that enables us to think and feel emotions, I suppose it’s not surprising that there are lots of phrases that include it. In this post I am going to talk about some of the most common and useful phrases.

When you decide something, you make up your mind or make your mind up:

It’s time to make your mind up. Are you coming with us or not? Continue reading “It’s all in the mind: phrases with ‘mind’” →

Abiding memories and long-term effects: words that mean ‘lasting a long time’

On May 29, 2019May 1, 2019 By Kate WoodfordIn the English language, Vocabulary13 Comments

BrianAJackson / iStock / Getty Images Plus

by Kate Woodford

Last week I posted a blog on the language we use to talk about things that last a short time. This post focuses on the opposite: describing things that last a long time.

Some adjectives simply mean ‘continuing for a long time’, such as lasting and prolonged: Continue reading “Abiding memories and long-term effects: words that mean ‘lasting a long time’” →

Hurling insults and hazarding a guess: ways to talk about communication

On May 15, 2019May 1, 2019 By Liz WalterIn Conversation, the English language, Vocabulary29 Comments

Caiaimage/TomMerton / Caiaimage / Getty Images

by Liz Walter

Last month I wrote about the importance of collocations (word partners) for making your English fluent and natural. In this post I am going to concentrate on collocations connected with a very basic topic – communicating.

A major reason to learn good collocations is to avoid using common words too much. So while it’s fine to say that someone ‘starts’ or ‘has’ a conversation, it would be much more impressive to use the collocations strike up a conversation or hold a conversation:

She struck up a conversation with one of the other passengers.

I know enough French to be able to hold a conversation. Continue reading “Hurling insults and hazarding a guess: ways to talk about communication” →

Flies on the wall and fish out of water: animal idioms, part 2

On May 8, 2019May 1, 2019 By Kate WoodfordIn Idioms, the English language, Vocabulary15 Comments

by Kate Woodford

This week we return to animal idioms, starting with the humble – and often irritating! – fly. Though small in size, the fly appears in a surprisingly large number of common idioms. To describe someone who is very gentle and who never offends or hurts others, you might say they wouldn’t hurt a fly:

I don’t believe Molly did that. She wouldn’t hurt a fly! Continue reading “Flies on the wall and fish out of water: animal idioms, part 2” →