Colloquial English

[Алексей Конобеев]

a no-motion is a fairly recent term which was given rise to by the credit crunch. It is something similar to promotion, but instead of getting more responsibilities/duties, a more important job title and a pay rise, all you get is more duties and a more importantly-sounding job title. Hm...

[Алексей Конобеев]

to put the boot in - to kick(figuratively speaking) somebody when they are already in trouble.

[Алексей Конобеев]

tattoo remorse - a feeling that somebody gets when they realise, after many years, that they shouldn't have got that tattoo in the first place because it looks ugly now, or they image has changed, or they just don't like it anymore..

[Владислав]

a dog`s dinner - something that is very intidy or badly done

 

dog eat dog - a situation in which people compete very hard and will do anything to be successful

 

give a dog bad name - used for saying that once someone has a bad reputation, people will blame them for everything

 

dog days - the hottest days of the year

 

top dog - the best, most important, or most powerful person, often the winner of the competition

[Владислав]

to jaywalk - to cross the street carelessly

 

a jaywalker - a careless pedestrian

[Harry Smith]

At a loose end

(UK) If you are at a loose end, you have spare time but don't know what to do with it.

At a loss

If you are at a loss, you are unable to understand or comply.

[natpetrovna]

Usually its from correspondence and British and American newspapers, and sometimes I find interesting expressions on the Internet.

So, you work with them permanently....Good idea...But how do you give them to your students, I mean in the context of what....or just for brain training....

[natpetrovna]

We (I mean English teachers) are very curious about something new and unusual. But the better a teacher is the harder it is for students to work with him (her). It's only my opinion....Sorry. I mean it is difficult to catch up with all teacher's ideas. Now, what about colloquial English...May be it would be better not to give students "ready-made" material but stimulate them for individual activity?!

[Алексей Конобеев]

So, you work with them permanently....Good idea...But how do you give them to your students, I mean in the context of what....or just for brain training....

When we come across a topic and I know a few suitable expressions, I just use them in my speech without asking the students to memorise them, but I make sure they can passively understand these phrases. The problem with colloquialisms is that some of the expressions are hard to understand unless you know what they really mean, and since they are used quite often in everyday speech, the students may have problems when they encounter such phrases. However, there is one very important thing: I always make sure that what I give my students is not slang. Slang changes very quickly and I wouldn't want my students to say things like "groovy" which went out of common use in early 1990-s, much the same as I wouldn't teach an adult foreigner to say "здоровско" in Russian and sound like a kindrgartener because of it. So in fact it is not easy to select the words and expressions to use in your own speech, but unless we do it, we risk to teach only a very limited and unnaturally-sounding vocabulary range.

[пять гор]

I always make sure that what I give my students is not slang. Slang changes very quickly and I wouldn't want my students to say things like "groovy" which went out of common use in early 1990-s, much the same as I wouldn't teach an adult foreigner to say "здоровско" in Russian and sound like a kindrgartener because of it. So in fact it is not easy to select the words and expressions to use in your own speech, but unless we do it, we risk to teach only a very limited and unnaturally-sounding vocabulary range.

 

This is what I mean when I say I dont teach slang!

[Harry Smith]

This is what I mean when I say I dont teach slang!

 

 

It would be very nice of you to teach slang! Your students are sure to like it....

[пять гор]

Nobody doubts. Everybody likes fun now and then. A little slang wont do any harm as long as we have plenty of time ahead I mean dont have to get ready for exams or lessons at school

[Алексей Конобеев]

an indoorsman - a person who spends a lot of time indoors watching TV, playing computer games, or just being lazy

[пять гор]

I wonder if "couch potato" is still in common use?

[пять гор]

indoorsman отсутствует в лингве

[Алексей Конобеев]

I wonder if "couch potato" is still in common use?

Couch potato is used, of course, but the meaning of it is slightly different from thet of "indoorsman". A couch potato spends most of the time on the couch watching TV< whereas an indoorsman just prefers to stay indoors, as opposed to going in for outdoors activities. Still, they are very similar in meaning, and I wouldn't expect my students to memorise the word "indoorsman", but it would be good if they could recognise it when they see it. Althoughthis word has not appeared in Lingvo yet, there are Great Indoorsman fridge magnets, T-shirts and other paraphernalia on sale in the USA, so it is a word that is used in daily speech.

[пять гор]

Are there any indoorswomen?

[Алексей Конобеев]

Are there any indoorswomen?

Yes, although the word indoorsman is more popular for some reason.

[пять гор]

Why for some reason?)) Isnt it typical of men to be hmmm...indoorish after work?

[natpetrovna]

Dear colleagues! Write, please, how you work with all this material....It is not so difficult to find....The more interesting guestions (for me at least!) HOW? WHY? WHEN?......How do you check if your students have memorized the words and phrases given or not...and in the end... how do these phrases improve your stusents' skills of learning English?

[LaSerena]

Dear colleagues! Write, please, how you work with all this material....It is not so difficult to find....The more interesting guestions (for me at least!) HOW? WHY? WHEN?......How do you check if your students have memorized the words and phrases given or not...and in the end... how do these phrases improve your stusents' skills of learning English?

Вот я тоже согласна, что не надо никаких разговорных выражений добавлять. Нужно просто качественный учебник взять - и все в нем будет, особенно если это аутентичный учебник. А так можно много чего понавыбирать, а зачем это детям? И, главное, зачем это учителю? Тут бы научить тому, что есть успеть, а не еще какие-то выражения и слова приносить. Пользы больше будет, если лишний раз из учебника лексику повторить, чем запас словарный без конца расширять.

[Владислав]

В этом разделе, я так думаю, что собраны материалы не только для учащихся, но и для нас с Вами для пополнения своего словарного запаса.

[Harry Smith]

В этом разделе, я так думаю, что собраны материалы не только для учащихся, но и для нас с Вами для пополнения своего словарного запаса.

 

 

Думаю, всё что здесь есть для нас в первую очередь...

[tam]

Думаю, всё что здесь есть для нас в первую очередь...

Конечно для нас. Предлагаю слово HOT:

not so hot. If you ask someone how she feels, she may answer "not so hot." What she means is she does not feel well.

 

A hot shot is a person, often a young person, who thinks he can do anything. At least he wants to try. He is very sure he can succeed. But often he fails. The expression was born in the military forces. A hot shot was a soldier who fired without aiming carefully.

 

A person who becomes angry easily is called a hothead. An angry person's neck often becomes red. We say he is hot under the collar.

[Владислав]

whatnot - a small cupboard with some opened shelves; a thing, the name of which you forgot