PE 11/23 Hercules at the Dog Park

* interact: to have a mutual effect

ex> Ms. Faber is an excellent teacher because she interacts with her students.

* fuss over: to be overly attentive to someone or something

ex> Tanya is always fussing over her baby, but Donna lets her baby relax and enjoy its surroundings.

* bet one dollars to donuts: to be very certain about something

ex> I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that Bob will move back here within six months.

* have the time of one’s life: to have a very good time

ex> We went to Greece last month and had the time of our lives.

* reinforce: to strengthen or add support to something

ex> To reinforce my point, I’ve brought some samples we can pass around the room.

Note> Many English words have the prefix “re-,” which means “to do again.” Reinforce was originally spelled re-enforce or reenforce, and was used in military contexts.

* the more the merrier: an event is more enjoyable if there are more participants

ex> Michelle thinks it’s rude to invite people to someone else’s party but I say, “the more the merrier.”

* fire up: 흥분한, 열광한

This expression is sometimes applied to machines, especially engine-powered vehicles or equipment. In that context, it means to start a machine that has been idle for a while.

ex> I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so fired up. Did you have an extra cup of coffee or something?

PE 11/20 Gaming vs. Reading

* in the zone: feeling a sense of focus and achievement

ex> Brett is the only guy I know who claims to be in the zone when he’s winning at Scrabble.

* the pot calling the kettle black: accusing someone of doing something that one is guilty of oneself

ex> You say I’m always late for everything, but that’s the pot calling the kettle black.

Note> Another, less common form of this expression is the cat calling the kettle black, which would only make sense if all cats were black.

* insidious: harmful in a slow, undetectable way

ex> Brandon thinks that the fast food industry is an insidious plot to make us all fat and lazy.

Note> The Latin root of insidious literally means “to sit on.” It implies that something dangerous is sitting somewhere, waiting to ambush its victim. Adopted into French, it later came to mean “deceitful or cunning.”

* double standard: a rule that is applied differently to different individuals or groups

ex> There are still many double standards in the workplace that make it difficult for women to advance in their careers.

* same old song and dance: excuses or stories that are repeated to a boring or annoying degree

ex> Whenever things don’t go well for Dale, he goes into the same old song and dance about how difficult his childhood was.

* drop it: to stop talking about something because it is upsetting or annoying

ex> I know you enjoy teasing me about my new girlfriend, but please just drop it.

* parrot: (맹무새처럼) 뜻도 모르고 흉내내다

There’s another animal whose name is used as a verb that roughly means “to imitate”: the ape. To ape someone or something is to imitate it in a clumsy or unskilled way, but to parrot someone means to repeat their ideas as if they were your own, even if you don’t understand them.

ex> She’s just at that stage where she parrots all the radical ideas she hears at college. She’ll grow out of it.

PE 11/19 Amazed by the Giant Baobb

* itching to + verb: restlessly eager

ex> Cheryl is itching to know what I got her for her birthday, but she’ll just have to wait.

* stoked: excited; thrilled (informal)

ex> My brother is so stocked that he got tickets to see his favorite band next month.

Note> The verb stoke meaning “to add fuel to, or to otherwise revive a fire” came to English from the Dutch language. It gained its contemporary usage in the slang used by surfers beginning in the 1960’s.

* emblematic: acting as a symbol for something

ex> The priests’ white robes are emblematic of their spiritual purity.

* figment of one’s imagination: something untrue that one believes is real

ex> There weren’t really three cookies left: that was a figment of your imagination.

ex> Is it also a figment of my imagination that there are crumbs on your book?

Note> This expression is actually redundant, as figment by itself means “something made up or invented in the mind.” However, the word figment is very rarely heard on its own.

* give one the benefit of the doubt: to accept that one is being truthful even if the evidence is incomplete

ex> Even though we haven’t read your report card yet, we’re going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it’s as good as you say it is.

* boggle the mind: causes astonishment

ex> It boggles the mind that my favorite team hasn’t won a championship in sixty years.

* blow away: 놀라게 하다; 이기다

This is a very tricky idiom, as it has a wide range of alternate meanings. Apart from the above meanings, be blown away means “to be carried to an unreachable place by the wind” and “to be killed by a firearm.”

ex> But I didn’t think it had gone that well. I’m blown away that I got the top mark!

PE 11/18 An Unpopular Development

* up to speed: aware of the details of a situation

ex> As soon as Max gets here, please bring him up to speed on the Wilson account before the meeting.

* the straight goods: the complete truth

ex> The salesman says that the car is in excellent condition, but I don’t think he’s giving me the straight goods.

ex> Give me the straight goods, doctor: will I be able to play the violin after this operation?

* eyesore: an ugly or unpleasant sight in a public place

ex> That bridge is so graceful that it’s hard to believe some people think it’s an eyesore.

* blight: a plant disease; something that causes disease-like harm or damage

ex> My vegetable garden did well last year, except for the potatoes, which had blight.

ex> He was always treated like a blight on the family just because of his physical problems.

* give one carte blanche: to allow one to do what they want

ex> When she was twelve, her parents gave her carte blanche to paint her room any way she liked.

Note> French for “white card,” a carte blanche was originally a blank sheet of paper signed by the King, allowing the recipient to write whatever they wanted above the signature and have complete freedom from prosecution.

* point fingers: to blame someone for something

ex> My kids always start pointing fingers the moment something gets broken.

* go over: 받아들여지다

Be careful not to confuse this definition with another meaning for go over, which is “to go to a specific place,” as in: Let’s go over to Tony’s place after the concert.”

ex> While you’re writing dialogue for a play, do you ever think about how the lines will go over?

PE 11/17 Julian Schnabel Interview

* acclaimed: famous for excelling at something

ex> He worked alongside people for many years who had no idea he was an acclaimed composer.

Note> The word acclaim comes from the Latin word clamare, which means “to shout.” It’s the same root that gives us the word exclaim, which means “to shout out loud.”

* come about: to develop into a reality; happen

ex> My work with underprivileged children in Laos came about through a college friends.

* not good enough: unworthy of one’s time or attention

ex> I know you love him, but I really feel he’s not good enough for you.

* happen to: do incidentally; do by chance

ex> I happened to find a hardware store on my way here, so I bought all the fasteners we’ll need.

Note> The new-archaic root word hap, which means “good fortune,” came to English from Old Norse, the language of the Vikings who conquered parts of the British Isles. It is the root of many English words related to good or bad luck, like happy, mishap, hapless and perhaps.

* put up with: to endure

ex> Because of the crowded conditions, we had to put up with some people not smelling as good as they could have.

* deal with: to interact with; tolerate

ex> In my old job, I had to deal with unhappy customers all day.

* not know what to do with oneself: 아주 불안하다, 뭘 해야 할지 모르다

This expression is similar to “fit to be tied” (angry) and “beside oneself” (distraught) or “out of sorts” (a general abnormal emotional state). However, to “not know what to do with oneself” carries the idea of restlessness and agitation.

ex> Beginner’s luck, I guess. I’m so glad you brought these games, or I wouldn’t know what to do with myself.

PE 11/16 Theater for a Good Cause

* miss the boat: to be too late to do something

ex> I know we all wanted to see the exhibition before it ended, but it looks like we’ve missed the boat.

* strike a balance: to achieve a suitable compromise between two or more conditions

ex> The piece strikes a balance between a light, lyrical tone and an intense exploration of darker themes.

* nosebleed section: the highest seats in a performance venue

ex> Because our seats are in the nosebleed section, I brought a radio so we can listen to the game.

Note> This expression is used primarily in the US and Canada. It possibly originated from an episode in the American 1970’s TV comedy Happy Days, when the character “Fonzie” complained that he was getting a nose bleed from climbing up to high seats at a concert.

* modest: not large or luxurious; plain

ex> She lived in a modest apartment in Greenwich Village for most of her life.

* outreach program: a social program intended to help the poor, elderly, homeless, etc.

ex> Our taxes aren’t enough to pay for outreach programs, so I always give a little through their websites.

* the salt of the earth: a worthy person (or people) of high moral integrity

ex> Shannon is the salt of the earth: you can rely on her for anything

Note> This expression is taken from the Bible. In biblical times, salt was very valuable, and was sometimes used to pay people for their work. This practice was the origin of the word salary.

* proceeds: 수익금, 수입

Don’t confuse this noun with the third person singular form of the verb “to proceed.” The pronunciation is different, too: the noun has the emphasis on the first syllable.

ex> Congratulations on selling your old car. What do you plan to do with the proceeds?

PE 11/13 Assembling Furniture Together – In a Way

* forge ahead: to move forward strongly and boldly

ex> We were so confident we’d win the contract that we forged ahead with designs for the project.

Note> this expression could have something to do with forge, which means “to shape a metal object by heating it and striking it repeatedly with a hammer.” Or it could be a variation of the word force.

* see fit: to consider it correct or acceptable to do something

ex> What surprises me the most is that you saw fit to let your little brother go to the store on his own.

* methodical: systematic and orderly

ex> He was grateful that his wife’s methodical nature meant that all their paperwork was perfectly in order.

* in the lead: ahead of all others

ex> these binoculars make it easy to see which horse is in the lead.

* hit a snag: to encounter an obstacle

ex> His plan hit a snag when he discovered that the cars could not be registered in that country.

Note> The original meaning of snag refers to a sharp branch sticking out from the stump of a tree. It later came to mean a dead tree branch or stump sticking out of the water as an obstacle to boats.

* start over: to begin again

ex> Louise disliked any game where an opponent’s actions could force another player to start over.

* outskirts: 변두리, 교외

There are several casual (and slightly derogatory) expressions that mean the same as outskirts, including “the boonies,” “the bullies,” and “the sticks.”

ex> I’m not living on the outskirts of town and spending three hours driving to and from work every day.