Colloquial English

[Владислав]

argy-bargy - high words; squabble; a constant exchange by outrages

[Алексей Конобеев]

a grammar nazi - a person who cpmments on what you write in a blog or in a letter, but the only comments are about the spelling or grammar mistakes you've made, no matter what your posting was about. For example:

A poster: Oh no, my favourite cat has just died, I am so desolite...

A grammar nazi: it should be spelled as "desolate", you silly cow!

[elkaJUNE]

a grammar nazi - a person who cpmments on what you write in a blog or in a letter, but the only comments are about the spelling or grammar mistakes you've made, no matter what your posting was about. For example:

A poster: Oh no, my favourite cat has just died, I am so desolite...

A grammar nazi: it should be spelled as "desolate", you silly cow!

I think it's not just from "colloquial" , but "забавное в изучении английского". Thanks

[Владислав]

to straphang - to stand in a overcrowded bus or train, keeping the balance during the movement, holding on to the special existent for this purpose belts

[Алексей Конобеев]

Интересное изменение в интонации пришло в последние годы (с середины- конца 1990-х примерно) в британскую фонетику: сейчас многие утвердительные высказывания заканчиваются с повышающейся интонацией, звучат подобно вопросу или неуверенному высказыванию. Многие британцы высказывают недовольство такими изменениями, но все же подобное явление становится все более и более заметным. Возможно, если оно закрепится, нам придется учитывать его при обучении.

[Алексей Конобеев]

Американцы обеспокоены тем, как упрощается и обессмысливается английский язык в последнее время. В статье http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/16/world/am...uage&st=cse

Language as a Blunt Tool of the Digital Age автор пишет: "We are all linguistic utilitarians now. At work and home, in person and on our devices, function rules and form pales. Capitalization, commas, full sentences, the writing of words without numbers in them, the avoidance of jargon and mixed metaphors — these norms are suffering, unable to persuade multitaskers of their worth."

"Technology is changing how we read, write and reason, as a growing number of critics suggest. Television has long been accused of making us stupid, but now the Internet, though overflowing with text, is also blamed. In an essay in The Atlantic last year, the technology writer Nicholas Carr argued that the power-skimming, link-hopping and window-toggling that define the Internet experience have eroded the old practice of reading unbroken stretches of prose, with grave implications for our writing.

 

E-mail, meanwhile, has become a linguistic wasteland — even among language lovers. Cellphone keypads make us promise to “call u back after the mtg.” Twitter coaxes us to misspell to meet the 140-character maximum. Blogs, though they seek to bring out the writer in us, are notable for how little stress they put on the actual writing. How many literary greats has the rise of the blogosphere produced?

 

Globalization, in bringing cultures together, exerts its own pragmatic pressure. With English the escalator of globalized success, the language’s center of gravity is tilting away from English-speaking lands. A stripped-down English of catchphrases and trite idioms, light on richness, is becoming the true global language."

"When a company is “levering up,” it often means, in regular language, that it is spending money it doesn’t have. When it is “right-sizing” or finding “synergies,” it may well be firing people. When it “manages stakeholders,” it could be lobbying or bribing. When you dial into “customer care,” they care very little. But when they call you, even at dinnertime, then it’s a “courtesy call.”

[Алексей Конобеев]

Shopped is now more and more frequently used to mean "photoshopped" - an image, altered with a special graphics editing software. So it's got nothing to do with going shopping :-)

[Radislav Millrood]

Интересное изменение в интонации пришло в последние годы (с середины- конца 1990-х примерно) в британскую фонетику: сейчас многие утвердительные высказывания заканчиваются с повышающейся интонацией, звучат подобно вопросу или неуверенному высказыванию. Многие британцы высказывают недовольство такими изменениями, но все же подобное явление становится все более и более заметным. Возможно, если оно закрепится, нам придется учитывать его при обучении.

Повышение тона в конце утвердительных предложений особенно характерно для Уэльского варианта интонирования английских предложений. Моя квартирная хозяйка в Солфорде (пригород Манчестера) говорила про их акцент, "They speak as if they are asking questions". Вероятно мягкая и певучая манера интонировать утвердительные предложения оказалась привлекательной для других британцев.

[Алексей Конобеев]

Have you heard of zonkeys, zorses, zonies and hebras? Well, they are all zebroids, hybrids of zebra with other animals. These breeding experiments began in the 19th century. Zebroids look like their non-zebra parent, but they are striped like zebras. So what zebroids are there? There are zorses (descendants of a zebra father and a horse mother), which are also called zebrules or golden zebras. There are zonies - children of a zebra father and a pony mother. There are also zebrasses and zonkeys (zedonks, zebadonks, zebronkeys) - children of a zebra father and a donkey (ass) mother. And hebras are children of a horse father and a zebra mother. Hm, will your pupils guess what a zony and hebra are?

[Владислав]

Have you heard of zonkeys, zorses, zonies and hebras? Well, they are all zebroids, hybrids of zebra with other animals. These breeding experiments began in the 19th century. Zebroids look like their non-zebra parent, but they are striped like zebras. So what zebroids are there? There are zorses (descendants of a zebra father and a horse mother), which are also called zebrules or golden zebras. There are zonies - children of a zebra father and a pony mother. There are also zebrasses and zonkeys (zedonks, zebadonks, zebronkeys) - children of a zebra father and a donkey (ass) mother. And hebras are children of a horse father and a zebra mother. Hm, will your pupils guess what a zony and hebra are?

 

It`s very interesting! Thank you, Alexey!

[Алексей Конобеев]

Are you a singletasker or a multitasker? A sigletasker is a person who prefers to do only one thing/job/task at a time. A multitasker is someone who likes to do several things simultaneously, like ateacher who is simultaneously making dinner, checking pupils' homework, talking on the phone and planning the next day's lessons. So what are you?

[пять гор]

Are you a singletasker or a multitasker? A sigletasker is a person who prefers to do only one thing/job/task at a time. A multitasker is someone who likes to do several things simultaneously, like ateacher who is simultaneously making dinner, checking pupils' homework, talking on the phone and planning the next day's lessons. So what are you?

Probably many of us ARE singletaskers but we have to be multi-ones otherwise we'll be losers

[Владислав]

As for me, I am a multitasker. For example, I can surf in the Internet, do a presentation and cook dinner at once.

[tam]

As for me, I am a multitasker. For example, I can surf in the Internet, do a presentation and cook dinner at once.

Me too.

[Владислав]

blooper (American) - silly mistake

[Алексей Конобеев]

to love-bomb somebody - to keep telling somebody of one's love for them. This is sometimes done by people and bureaucrats who keep telling how greatly they love children but refuse to move a finger to help a school.

[Владислав]

to love-bomb somebody - to keep telling somebody of one's love for them. This is sometimes done by people and bureaucrats who keep telling how greatly they love children but refuse to move a finger to help a school.

 

Спасибо Алексей!!! Классный пример! Иногда мне кажется, что мы соревнуемся с Вами, кто больше напишет примеров.

[Владислав]

chica bomb - a very attractive girl

[Владислав]

puppy love - love that a young boy and girl feel for each other that does not last

[Алексей Конобеев]

Today Britain is having a general election. Here are a few words related to this topic, perhaps you will be able to use them when discussing the news with your students.

A polling station - участок для голосования

a polling clerk - сотрудник на избирательном участке

a voter - избиратель

a first-time voter - голосующий впервые

Electoral Commission - избирательная комиссия

a ballot paper - бюллетень

to cast the ballot/ the vote - проголосовать

a ballot box - урна для голосования

constituency - избирательный округ

be on the electoral register - быть зарегистрированным избирателем

secrecy of the poll - тайна голосования

a secret ballot - тайное голосование

polling booth - будка для голосования

to mark the box - поставить отметку в графе

to post the ballot paper in the box - опустить бюллетень в урну

rejected votes - преднамеренно испорченные бюллетени

a polling card - приглашение на выборы

 

You may find a brief step-by step presentation of how to vote here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politic...ter/8518247.stm

 

Incidentally, there is some interesting information about whether members of the Royal family can vote. For example, the Queen is registered in the constituency of Westminster, but since she is the head of state, she is considered to be part of the Parliament, so she cannot vote. Close family members, like Prince Charles and his sons, cannot vote either, but other members, who are not so closely related to the Queen, can vote if they wish to.

[Владислав]

Спасибо большое за предоставленный материал, Алексей! Очень полезный. Как раз то, чего мне не хватало в этом учебном году.

[Anton1990]

Today Britain is having a general election. Here are a few words related to this topic, perhaps you will be able to use them when discussing the news with your students.

hung Parliament - когда ни одна партия не набрала большинства и не может только сама сформировать правительство. Сегодня в новостях по Евроньюз услышал.

[Radislav Millrood]

hung Parliament - когда ни одна партия не набрала большинства и не может только сама сформировать правительство. Сегодня в новостях по Евроньюз услышал.

Да, выражение hung Parliament связано с другой фразой - hang in the balance то есть, не перевешивать ни в одну, ни в другую сторону.

[Алексей Конобеев]

We all have heard about computer hackers, the people who use security breaches in computer systems to get information hich is not intended for their use. But have you heard about hackers' hats? This is, in fact, an issue of ethics.

So, hackers, in their own lingo, are subdivided into white-hat, grey-hat and black-hat hackers. This does not mean that they have different tastes in clothing. In fact, a white-hat hacker "hacks" systems out of academic or ethical interest, following the belief that information should be free for everyone. A black-hat hacker hacks computers to do someone harm or to make money. And a grey-hat hackers stands somewhere in between, with undefined ethical principles. Black-hat hackers are often referred to as "crackers" even by other hackers since what they do is basically stealing.

[Алексей Конобеев]

The words moonlight and moonshine both have second meanings. To moonlight means to have a second job, which you often have to do at inconvenient hours, "by the shine of the moon". And moonlight also means illegal home-made alcoholic drink like whisky because the liquid is not transparent. This drink in Russian is called "samogon". To moonshine means to distill this drink or to smuggle it.

So please make sure you remember when to say "I've been moonlighting the entire week" and "I've been moonshining the entire week"