Death is on my mind....

Hello and welcome back. I have had morbid thoughts all day. I think it's because Halloween is right around the corner. That in mind I would like to go over some idioms that have more of a macabre theme.

In today's podcast I go over a few dark idioms. Try them out the next time you have an English conversation. You can always leave me a comment on this blog or email me if you want to try some practice sentences.

deader than a door nail - to be deceased with no chance of coming back to life. Can refer to a person or also something inanimate. For example:
"Do you think the proposal can be pitched again?"
"No way, that proposal is as dead as a door nail."

dead set against something - to be completely, adamantly against. For example:
"I wanted to visit Saudi Arabia but my mother was dead set against it. She thought it was too dangerous."

dead on one's feet - to be extremely tired while still standing, walking around. For example:
"These double shifts are killing me. I'm dead on my feet and I still have three hours left before I can go home!"


over my dead body - to not give permission to do something. For example:
"You can buy that sports car over my dead body! We can't afford that!"

Keep an eye on on this blog!

It's been a while since my last podcast so I thought I would supplement my blog with a couple of interesting idioms.

Keep an eye on: This is what you say when you will check something regularly. For example, I keep an eye on the sumo results every day during a tournament.

Example sentence: "The police officer keep an eye on the men loitering in front of the bank."


Easy does it!: Be very careful! / Don't do anything too fast or too hard! I would say this to a friend who is eating too fast or maybe if my father was trying to lift something too heavy.

Example sentence: "East does it Michael! That Christmas tree weighs as much as I do!"




Ok, that's all for tonight. Try to use these in your next English conversation!

Michael

How Hungry Are You?

I'm always hungry. That's because I'm on a diet where I don't eat food after 5PM. I call it my "No Dinner Diet." Most people think I am crazy, and maybe I am. There are a lot of different ways to say you're hungry in English. In tonight's podcast I go over a few of them and I add a couple extra just for the show notes.

starving- extremely hungry. "The men worked hard all day and were starving when they came home."
ravenous - extremely hungry. "I skiped breakfast and now I'm ravenous. "
famished- extremely hungry. "When can we eat dinner? I'm famished!"
peckish - some what hungry but not very hungry. "I'm a bit peckish but not starving."

Send GEC an email if you have any English questions!

Do you like to go bowling?

My friends and I love to go bowling. When I lived in Maryland my friends and I formed a team and joined a bowling league. We called ourselves "Justice League" and gave each other superhero nicknames. My nick name was "The Thing" who looked like this in the comic book (Do you think we look alike?) :

Our team did well that year and in the future I will add more videos to my YouTube page where you can see more videos of mine.

Michael

Do you know what an iPhone is?

This is a video that pokes fun at the new iPhone, the $500.00 cell phone (mobile phone if you are in the UK) that just was released in the US. Most people think paying $500 or $600 for a cell phone is crazy. But there were a lot of people who lined up at Apple stores all over the US to buy one. In fact, over 500,000 iPhones were sold one three days! Wow!

Now I Japan, I assume most of cell phones are much better than the ones we have here in the States. What kind of cell phone do you use and what can it do? Let me know!

Michael

A Quick Vocabulary Lesson!

What does it mean to be "macho?" Macho means super masculine to an extreme (in appearance and behavior). If you asked someone from America or the UK what actor is the most "macho" you might get Sean Connery. Muscular and hairy! Most people would not call an actor like Orlando Bloom "macho" because he does not fit the definition.





Here is an example sentence:

"Did you see the old James Bond movie on TV last night? Sean Connery is so macho!"


The song "Macho Man" at the end of the podcast is from the Village People's Greatest Hits.

Dining Alfresco

It's the time of year when people like to do things outside. Washington D.C. is famous for being very hot and humid in the "dog days of summer." But in May and June the weather is not unbearable and people like to get out and enjoy nature. One way people get outdoors more is to eat outside. Many restaurants have outdoor seating for people who want to eat "alfresco." On a sunny afternoon after work you can see hundreds of business and government workers enjoying "happy hour" with co-workers and friends.

What do you like to do in Japan when you leave work? Do you go straight home or do you have a "watering hole" you stop off at?

In today's podcast I introduced a few new vocabulary words and an idiom.

Dog Days of Summer: The hottest days of the summer that are both hot and humid. "Man, I hate the dog days of summer in Washington D.C. It's unbearable!"

Alfresco: Eating outside at a restaurant. "I love to eat alfresco during the spring and summer."

Happy Hour: the special time when restaurants and bars have drink and food specials. "Let's go to the Irish pub after work, they have great happy hour specials. $3 pints of Guinness!"

Watering Hole: another term for bar. "Let's go to my favorite watering hole near the office. They don't have a happy hour but they atmosphere is worth the extra cost."