Jan 16, 2018 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: on the cheap Some of you may have heard on the news this week that dozens of people were injured when a floor overlooking the main lobby of the Indonesian Stock Exchange building collapsed. You may even have seen the shocking video of a happy group of students and office workers who one minute were waiting for the […]
Dec 26, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: Christmas cheer Despite my mutterings of Bah humbug! in the last post, I do actually like a bit of Christmas cheer. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been out quite a bit catching up with friends who I haven’t seen for a while, which is always nice. Yes, we should meet up more often, but sometimes […]
Dec 17, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: Bah humbug! The phrase Bah, humbug! comes from the Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol and is said by the main character Scrooge, who doesn’t like anything about Christmas. People can be called a scrooge when they don’t like spending money. You might say ‘Don’t be such a scrooge’ or ‘He’s a right scrooge’ (and let’s face […]
Dec 11, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: cut your teeth I usually try and avoid central London at this time of year. Streets like Tottenham Court Road are jam-packed at the best of times, but in the run-up to Christmas, they start to resemble the ninth circle of hell! Desperate dead-eyed shoppers elbow their way past each other, frantically searching for bargains; the pavements are […]
Dec 3, 2017 Chunks, Phrase of the day Phrase of the day: all the trimmings If there’s one thing I’ve learned over twenty years of teaching foreign students here in the UK it’s that English food is misunderstood and much-maligned. The usual comments I’ve heard revolve around the idea that there’s no such thing as English food; it simply doesn’t exist! Students point to the fact that so few restaurants […]
