Most of the time, when we say stuff we mean things. For example: "I left all of my stuff in my car" - I left all of my things/possessions in my car. This word is used both in American and British English. Here are some other common expressions using stuff:
"I've got some stuff to do at home." Meaning: I have work that I have to do at home. (Probably housework).
"The new guy in my office is hot stuff." Meaning: The new guy is sexually attractive."
"Don't sweat the small stuff." Meaning: Don't worry about issues that are not important. (More common in American English).
"Her life was the stuff of legends." Meaning: She had an amazing life. The kind of life that you read about in books or see in films.
"Ask Julia to explain it to you. She really knows her stuff." Meaning: She has a lot of knowledge/skill about a topic.
"I cleaned my room because my mum said there was stuff everywhere." Meaning: There were things everywhere - it was untidy/messy.
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When used as a verb, stuff means fill or to eat a lot:
Fill: "I just about had enough time to stuff some clothes into my bag and then leave."
Eat a lot: "I stuffed myself with pizza last night while watching a movie."
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Stuff when used as an adjective stuffed means full:
"I felt stuffed after eating too much for lunch."
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The stuff you need to know about stuff!
Let's take a look at 5 pairs of words that English learners get confused by
Fun and funny
Both of these are positive adjectives.
fun: something that is enjoyable. Something that we enjoy.
'Going to the park with friends is fun.'
funny: something that makes us laugh is funny.
'The comedy I saw last night was really funny. I laughed and laughed.'
lose and loose
These two words are often confused in written English. They have very different meanings.
lose: is a present tense verb. The simple past and past participle forms are both lost. Lose has two meanings:
To no longer possess something because you do not know where it is.
'Try not to lose this key, it's the only one we have.'
Not to win or draw (tie) in a game or sport. To be beaten.
'I always lose when I play tennis against my sister. She's too good.'
Loose: is an adjective which means the opposite of tight. Something which does not fit properly is loose.
'His shirt is too loose because he is so thin.'
advise and advice
Both of these have the same meaning. They mean recommend. Advice is the noun form. Advise is the verb form.
'She never listens to my advice.'
'I advise you to spend more time planning projects in the future.'
embarrassed and ashamed
The difference between these two adjectives is that ashamed is a much stronger word. It is used in very serious situations.
Embarrassed: to feel uncomfortable in a social situation because of your actions or because of what someone has done to you.
'I felt embarrassed when I fell over in the street. Lots of people saw me fall. My face turned red.'
Ashamed: to feel guilt or strong embarrassment over your actions.
'I am ashamed to tell you that i was arrested by the police for drink-driving.'
lend and borrow
Both lend and borrow are verbs. Although they are used in the same situation, they are opposites.
Lend: to give something to someone. They will give it back to you when they are finished with it.
'I will lend you my car while I am away on holiday.'
Borrow: to receive or 'get' something from someone for a short period of time.
'Can I borrow your pen, please?'
practise
1. I enjoyed the amusement park. It was a lot of ___.
fun
funny
2. Your brother is so ___. How does he remember all those jokes?
funny
fun
3. Be careful with that jar. I think the lid is ___.
lose
loose
4. We don't play cards for money so it doen't matter if I ___.
lose
loose
5. Can I offer you a piece of ___?
advice
advise
6. The bank will ___ you on which account is best for you.
advise
advice
7. I was ___ when I called my neighbour by the wrong name.
ashamed
embarrassed
8. I am ___ over my governments treatment of political prisoners.
ashamed
embarrassed
9. Don't ___ him your pen; you'll never see it again.
lend
borrow
10. I tried to ___ my brother's hammer, but he said 'no'
borrow
lend
answer key
1.(A) 2.(A) 3.(B) 4.(A) 5.(A) 6.(A) 7.(B) 8.(A) 9.(A) 10.(A)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Bank English - từ vựng tiếng anh về ngân hàng
Using the phrase I'd like to, here are some phrases that will help you out in the bank:
I'd like to open an account, please.
How much is the interest rate for your savings account.
I'd like to deposit some money, please.
I'd like to withdraw some money please.
I' d like to transfer some money, please.
I'd like to exchange some money. What's today's the exchange rate? Do you charge commission?
I'd like to change some traveller's cheques, please.
Key words
(bank) account - (noun) an arrangement with a bank to keep your money there and to allow you to take it out when you need to.
interest rate - (noun) money that you earn from keeping your money in an account in a bank or other financial organization. It is also the extra money you must pay when you borrow money from a bank.
deposit - (verb) to put some money into the your bank account.
withdraw - (noun) to take some money out of your bank account.
transfer - (verb) to move money from one account to another. Possibly from person's account to another.
exchange - (verb) to change one country's money into another countries money. E.g. To change your US dollars into euro.
exchange rate - (noun) the rate at which the money of one country can be changed for the money of another country. E.g. 1 US dollar = .74 euro.
commission - (noun) a payment or charge taken by a bank for a service. Banks sometime charge a small fee for changing money for customers.
traveller's cheques - (noun) a safe way to carry money instead of cash when travelling. The cheque can be exchanged into cash at a bank.
Word of the day: Bet - các cấu trúc với "Bet"
Bet (verb): to risk money on the result of an event or a competition, such as a horse race, in the hope of winning more money:
"She bet $10 that her favourite horse would win the race, but it came third."
bet (noun): an amount of money which you risk on the result of an event or a competition, such as a horse race or sportimg event:
"He placed a bet on that the white horse would win the race."
You may have heard the bet used in relation to gambling; however, it's also a commonly used word in casual English here's how to use it:
I bet (you)
We use this expression, informally, when you think that something will happen or when you think something is true. It shows you are certain about something:
"I bet you that Simon will be late."
you bet
This expression means 'certainly' and is used to add emphasis to a statement:
"Are you going to Jake's party?"
"You bet!"
a safe bet
We use this phrases when we are sure that something will happen:
"It's a safe bet that Sarah will be the first person to arrive at the meeting."
your best best bet
This phrase is used to show the best decision or choice:
"Your best best would be to take the train. The bus will take too long."
I bet / I'll bet
This expression is used to show that you understand why someone has a particular opinion or feels a particular way:
"I'm really angry about what James did!"
"I bet."
Words that show the wrong position - từ chỉ sai vị trí
Upside-down / wrong-way-up
When something is upside-down or wrong-way-up, the part which is usually at the top is turned to be at the bottom.
wrong-way-round / back-to-front
When something is wrong-way-round or back-to-front it is facing the wrong way.
inside-out
When something is inside-out, it has the usual inside part on the outside and the usual outside part on the inside.
A Thousand Marbles
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me tell you about it.
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a golden voice. You know, the kind, he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with something about “a thousand marbles.”
I was intrigued and sat down to listen to what he had to say. “Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you’re busy with your job. I’m sure they pay you well but it’s a shame you have to be away from home and your Family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter’s dance recital.”
He continued, “Let me tell you something Tom, something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities.” And that’s when he began to explain his theory of a “thousand marbles.”
“You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.”
“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900 which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I’m getting to the important part.”
“It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any detail,” he went on, “and by that time I had lived through over twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.”
“So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to roundup 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container right here in my workshop next to the radio. Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it away.”
“I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more on the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities straight.”
“Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it until next Saturday then God has blessed me with a little extra time to be with my loved ones...”
“It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have a good morning!”
You could have heard a pin drop when he finished. Even the show’s moderator didn’t have anything to say for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym. Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. “C’mon honey, I’m taking you and the kids to breakfast.”
“What brought this on?” she asked with a smile.
“Oh, nothing special,” I said. “It has just been a long time since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we’re out? I need to buy some marbles.”
By Jeff Davis
Chush, Chush, Sweet Varlets
In Brooklyn, New York, Chush is a school that caters to learning disabled children. Some children remain in Chush for their entire school career, while others can be mainstreamed into conventional schools.
At a Chush fundraising dinner, the father of a Chush child delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended.
After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he cried out, "Where is the perfection in my son Shaya? Everything God does is done with perfection.
But my child cannot understand things as other children do. My child cannot remember facts and figures as other children do. Where is God's perfection? The audience was shocked by the question, pained by the father's anguish and stilled by the piercing query.
"I believe," the father answered, "that when God brings a child like this into the world, the perfection that he seeks is in the way people react to this child."
He then told the following story about his son Shaya.
One afternoon, Shaya and his father walked past a park where some boys Shaya knew were playing baseball. Shaya asked, "Do you think they will let me play?"
Shaya's father knew that his son was not at all athletic and that most boys would not want him on their team. But Shaya's father understood that if his son was chosen to play it would give him a comfortable sense of belonging. Shaya's father approached one of the boys in the field and asked if Shaya could play. The boy looked around for guidance from his teammates. Getting none, he took matters in his own hands and said "We are losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we'll try to put him up to bat in the ninth inning."
Shaya's father was ecstatic as Shaya smiled broadly. Shaya was told to put on a glove and go out to play short center field. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shaya's team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shaya's team scored again and now with two outs and the bases loaded with the potential winning run on base. Shaya was scheduled to be up. Would the team actually let Shaya bat at this juncture and give away their chance to win the game?
Surpassingly, Shaya was given the bat. Everyone knew that it was all but impossible because Shaya didn't even know how to hold the bat properly, let alone hit with it. However as Shaya stepped up to the plate, the pitcher moved a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shaya should at least be able to make contact.
The first pitch came and Shaya swung clumsily and missed. One of Shaya's teammates came up to Shaya and together they held the bat and faced the pitcher waiting for the next pitch. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly toward Shaya. As the pitch came in, Shaya and his teammate swung at the ball and together they hit a slow ground ball to the pitcher.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could easily have thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shaya would have been out and that would have ended the game. Instead, the pitcher took the ball and threw it on a high arc to right field, far beyond reach of the first baseman.
Everyone started yelling, "Shaya, run to first, run to first."
Never in his life had Shaya run to first. He scampered down the baseline wide-eyed and startled. By the time he reached first base, the right fielder had the ball. He could have thrown the ball to the second baseman who would tag out Shaya, who was still running. But the right fielder understood what the pitcher's intentions were, so he threw the ball high and far over the third baseman's head.
Everyone yelled, "Run to second, run to second." Shaya ran towards second base as the runners ahead of him deliriously circled the bases toward home.
As Shaya reached second base, the opposing short stop ran to him, turned him in the direction of third base and shouted, "Run to third." As Shaya rounded third, the boys from both teams ran behind him screaming, "Shaya run home." Shaya ran home, stepped on home plate and all 18 boys lifted him on their shoulders and made him the hero, as if he had just hit a "grand slam" and won the game for his team.
"That day," said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, "those 18 boys reached their level of God's perfection."
Funny how you can send a thousand 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding life choices, people think twice about sharing.
Funny how the lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene pass freely through cyberspace, but the public discussion of morality is suppressed in the school and workplace.
Funny isn't it?
Funny how when you go to forward this message, you will not send it to many of your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it to them.
Funny how I can be more worried about what other people think of me than what I think of me.
By Rabbi Paysach Krohn
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
The gift - món quà
H
is parents acquired the washer when John Claypool was a small boy. It happened during World War II. His family owned no washing machine and, since gasoline was rationed, they could ill afford trips to the laundry several miles away. Keeping clothes clean became a problem for young John's household.
A family friend was drafted into the service, and his wife prepared to go with him. John's family offered to store their furniture while they were away. To the family's surprise, the friends suggested they use their Bendix while they were gone. "It would be better for it to be running," they said, "than sitting up rusting." So this is how they acquired the washer.
Young John helped with the washing, and across the years he developed an affection for the old, green Bendix. But eventually the war ended. Their friends returned. In the meantime he had forgotten how the machine came to be in their basement in the first place. When the friends came to take it away, John grew terribly upset -- and said so! His mother, wise as she was, sat him down and said, "Wait a minute, Son. You must remember, that machine never belonged to us in the first place. That we ever got to use it at all was a gift. So, instead of being mad at it being taken away, let's use this occasion to be grateful that we had it at all."
The lesson proved invaluable. Years later, John watched his eight-year-old daughter die a slow and painful death of leukemia. Though he struggled for months with her death, John could not begin healing from the loss until he remembered the old Bendix.
"I am here to testify," he said, "that this is the only way down the mountain of loss...when I remember that Laura Lou was a gift, pure and simple, something I neither earned nor deserved nor had a right to. And when I remember that the appropriate response to a gift, even when it is taken away, is gratitude, then I am better able to try and thank God that I was ever given her in the first place."
His daughter was a gift. When he realized that simple fact, everything changed. He could now begin healing from the tragedy of her loss by focusing instead on the wonder of her life. He started to see Laura Lou as a marvelous gift that he was fortunate enough to share for a time. He felt grateful. He found strength and healing. He knew he could get through the valley of loss.
We all experience loss -- loss of people, loss of jobs, loss of relationships, loss of independence, loss of esteem, loss of things. When what you held dear can be viewed as a gift, a wonder that you had it at all, the memory can eventually become one more of gratitude than tragedy. And you will find the healing you need.
Bản tiếng việt
B
a mẹ của John mua được một cái máy giặt khi John còn nhỏ. Trong suốt cuộc thế chiến thứ 2, gia đình cậu không có máy giặt nào cả, và vì xăng dầu bị hạn chế theo khẩu phần nên khó có thể đi xa hàng dặm để chỉ giặt ủi. Việc giữ quần áo luôn sạch sẽ là rất khó đối với một gia đình như John.
