Gauntlet My students and I often discus articles related to their industries or general business topics. Often, interesting or unusual vocabulary pops up and this is one of those. It’s an expression many native speakers use, though not every day. Gauntlet A gauntlet is a big glove with a long, loose wrist. These days, if …
What’s the difference between end and finish? Finish and end both mean something stops, but finish typically means something is complete and end is the last part of something. How they are the same In many cases, finish and end both mean that something has stopped. • When the movie ended, everyone left the theater. …
What’s the difference between overtime and overwork? Overtime is a noun. It means extra time a person works. In casual English, we sometimes say OT. Ex: I usually finish work at five o’clock. Yesterday, I did two hours of OT. (I finished work at seven o’clock.) Ex: When we work overtime, we get paid time and a …
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Valentine’s Day Idioms Valentine’s Day is the holiday of love. It’s an international holiday celebrated on February 14th in most countries. People celebrate the holiday differently throughout the world but wherever you celebrate, do it with someone special. Common English Idioms About Love 1. a crush = the person you like Ex: My crush doesn’t …
Native American Words in English English is a mishmash of words from all over the world with plenty of regional variations. American English is, of course, no different and you’ll find an endless array of Native American words peppered throughout people’s speech in everything from place names to indigenous foods and animals. Sadly, many of …
100 Common Uncommon Words I’m very happy to announce the second edition of my book, 100 Common Uncommon Words, is now available as an ePub and PDF! What’s in the book? Each page has two images, descriptions, and example sentences of the terms. Every ten words, you’ll find a review. You’ll also find all the …
Farther and Further What’s the difference between farther and further and how do you use them? Many native speakers mix these words up. Why? Because they usually, but not always, mean exactly the same thing. Let’s look at the similarities first. 1. Similarities – they both mean “more far” in space or time adverb • The dog kept …
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Father’s Day Idioms Happy Father’s Day! As a very happy dad, you can imagine that Father’s Day is pretty special to me. There are lots of idioms in English related to dads. So, let’s celebrate an awesome holiday with some dad jokes and idioms related to dads around the world! Study the idioms below and …
Every Day and Everyday What’s the difference between every day and everyday? These words are easy to mix up, especially if you are typing fast, or using text to speech. Here’s a hint: Every morning, I do my daily exercise. Got it? Let’s look at some examples. 1. every + day, week, month, year, etc. “Every” …
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Literally and Figuratively Figuratively Figurative expressions mean something special. The words and meaning don’t always match. “Spill the tea” means “gossip”. Literally Literal expressions mean what they say. I really did spill my tea. Compare the literal and figurative expressions below. Literal: The actor literally died on stage. He had a heart attack. Figurative: The actor died …