Click on the link to read the article.
Answer the following question:
If you were the Ambassador to Nicaragua would you have made his comment?
- If yes, why?
- If no, what would you have said?
Links about the theft:
Monthly Archives: March 2009
Interesting Comment
Makes you think…
Is it morally acceptable to experiment on animals to develop products and medicines that benefit human beings? Why or why not?
What would you have done?
Last month a woman was caught breastfeeding while driving and talking on the cell phone!
Read the article and tell me whether she should go to jail or not? Give me your reasons.
Also, listen to the 911 call (just above the article). Do you think the man made the right decision to alert the police or should he have minded his own business? Why or why not?
If the article doesn’t work you need to sign in.
User: abutosi@yahoo.com
Password: ipblog
K
IDIOM: to keep an eye on
MEANING: to watch; to check regularly
EXAMPLE: “Raymond, please keep an eye on your little brother while I go to the
store.”
IDIOM: to keep an eye out for
MEANING: be careful of; to watch for
EXAMPLE: “Please keep an eye out for Amy. I need to talk to her.”
IDIOM: to keep in touch
MEANING: to stay in contact with someone by writing, calling, sending e-mail,
etc. on a regular basis
EXAMPLE: “Armando and I keep in touch by mail.”
IDIOM: to keep (one’s) chin up
MEANING: to remain brave or confident in a difficult situation
EXAMPLE: “Job-hunting is difficult. Keep your chin up – you’ll find a job soon.”
IDIOM: to keep (one’s) fingers crossed
MEANING: to hope for the best; to wish someone luck
EXAMPLE: “Keep your fingers crossed for me. I have a difficult exam in half an
hour.”
IDIOM: to keep (one’s) nose to the grindstone
MEANING: stay diligent; work steadily
EXAMPLE: “Lenny finished his project early by keeping his nose to the
grindstone.”
IDIOM: a kid (n)
MEANING: a child
EXAMPLE: “Kathy has two kids, and Fred has one kid.”
IDIOM: to kid (v)
MEANING: to tease; to playfully say something untrue
EXAMPLE: “I like to kid my brother about losing his hair.”
IDIOM: kind of / kinda
MEANING: a little bit; rather; more or less;
EXAMPLE: “I’m kind of hungry. Maybe I’ll make a sandwich.” “I’m kinda hungry
too.”
IDIOM: a klutz (n)
MEANING: an ungraceful person; awkward; an uncoordinated person
EXAMPLE: “I was such a klutz the other day. I was shopping, and I knocked over a
row of glasses and broke them! I was so embarrassed!”
IDIOM: klutzy (adj)
MEANING: to be ungraceful; awkward; uncoordinated
EXAMPLE: “I can be so klutzy sometimes! Once, when I was shopping, I knocked
over a row of glasses and broke them! I was so embarrassed!”
IDIOM: to know something backwards and forwards
MEANING: to know something completely; or understand something thoroughly
EXAMPLE: The students knew the material backwards and forwards, and they all
passed the test.
RELATED: to have something down pat / to know something inside out
IDIOM: to know something inside out
MEANING: to know something completely; or understand something thoroughly
EXAMPLE: The students knew the material inside out, and they all passed the
test.
RELATED: to have something down pat / to know something backwards and forwards
IDIOM: a know-it-all (n)
MEANING: a person who acts like he/she knows everything
EXAMPLE: “Yvonne is a know-it-all and she won’t listen to anything you have to
say.”
J
IDIOM: to jump all over (one)
MEANING: to harshly criticize or find fault with (one)
EXAMPLE: “I can’t believe it! Ally just jumped all over me! What’s her problem
today?!”
IDIOM: to jump down (one’s) throat
MEANING: to scold, or reprimand someone harshly; to berate someone
EXAMPLE: “Nigel just jumped down my throat! What’s his problem today?!”
IDIOM: to jump the gun
MEANING: to do something too early, or before it’s time
EXAMPLE: “Angel jumped the gun and told the other employees that they were
getting a raise. Now it turns out that nobody is getting a raise!”
ORIGIN: At the start of a race, the judge fires a gun. If a racer starts to
early, it’s said that he jumped the gun.
IDIOM: to jump to conclusions
MEANING: to make a conclusion without all the necessary facts
EXAMPLE: I thought Mark didn’t like me, but I was just jumping to conclusions.
He told me today that he does like me.
IDIOM: junk mail (n)
MEANING: unwanted, or unsolicited mail
EXAMPLE: “I got a bunch of junk mail today.”
I
IDIOM: If I had my druthers.
MEANING: if I could do what I’d rather do
EXAMPLE: “If Bill had his druthers, he’d stay on the computer day and night.”
ORIGIN: This comes from the pronunciation of “I’d rather.” (If I had my “I’d
rathers.”)
IDIOM: (be) in and out
MEANING: to come and go from a place often
EXAMPLE: Sam was in and out of the office most of the day today.
IDIOM: in over (one’s) head
MEANING: in a situation that is too difficult to handle alone
EXAMPLE: “Could you have time to help me please? I’m afraid I’m in over my head.
I just can’t handle this alone.”
IDIOM: in stock (adj)
MEANING: a product is available to buy or sell
EXAMPLE: “We’re out of stock on the deluxe vacuum cleaner, but we have the super
model in stock.”
IDIOM: in the black (adj)
MEANING: profitable; not showing a financial loss
EXAMPLE: The @Home Corporation hasn’t been in the black for the past year.
IDIOM: in the red (adj)
MEANING: unprofitable; showing a financial loss
EXAMPLE: The @Home Corporation has been in the red for the past year, so they
filed bankruptcy.
IDIOM: in time (adj)
MEANING: not late
EXAMPLE: “Petra was in time for her meeting. In fact, she was 20 minutes early.”
RELATED: on time
IDIOM: inside out (adj)
MEANING: reversed; with the inner part on the outside and the outer part on the inside.
H
IDIOM: hard feelings (n)
MEANING: bad feelings; anger; animosity; bitter feelings
EXAMPLE: “I’m sorry that we got into an argument. Please, let’s have no hard
feelings over this.”
IDIOM: (be) hard-headed (adj)
MEANING: to be unwilling to change; stubborn; inflexible
EXAMPLE: “Jason will never change his mind. He’s really hard-headed sometimes!”
IDIOM: a hassle (n)
MEANING: a bothersome situation; something troublesome that interrupts the
normal routine
EXAMPLE: “What a hassle! My supervisor wants to have all of the reports finished
by the end of the week.”
IDIOM: to hassle (v)
MEANING: to bother; annoy; interrupt a normal routine
EXAMPLE: “My boss is hassling me to finish these reports before Friday.”
IDIOM: to have (one’s) hands full
MEANING: to be very, very busy
EXAMPLE: “I’d love to help you, but I’ve got my hands full moving this weekend.
Sorry!”
IDIOM: to have (something) down pat
MEANING: to know something completely; or understand something thoroughly
EXAMPLE: The students had the lesson down pat, and they all passed the test.
RELATED: to have something down pat / to know something inside out
IDIOM: head honcho (n)
MEANING: the top boss; the person in charge
EXAMPLE: “Who’s the head honcho of this division?”
IDIOM: to hit the books
MEANING: to study
EXAMPLE: “I’ve got to hit the books because there’s an exam in class tomorrow.”
IDIOM: to hit the hay / hit the sack
MEANING: to go to bed; go to sleep
EXAMPLE: It’s getting late. I’m going to hit the hay. / I’m going to hit the
sack.
IDIOM: How come?
MEANING: a different way to ask “Why?”
EXAMPLE: “How come you didn’t do your homework?”
G
IDIOM: to get a kick out of something
MEANING: to find something entertaining, or amusing
EXAMPLE: I really get a kick out of watching my cat play.
IDIOM: to get a move on
MEANING: to hurry
EXAMPLE: “Get a move on, or you’re going to be late!”
RELATED: to get going / to shake a leg / move it
IDIOM: to get going
MEANING: to leave
EXAMPLE: “Larry, it’s getting late. You’d better get going!”
RELATED: to get a move on / to shake a leg / move it
IDIOM: to get in (one’s) hair
MEANING: to pester, or annoy someone; to bother
EXAMPLE: “I’m making dinner now, and I don’t want anyone to get in my hair.
Everyone out of the kitchen now!”
IDIOM: to get it
MEANING: to understand something
EXAMPLE: “What do you mean? I don’t get it.”
IDIOM: Get lost!
MEANING: Go away! Don’t bother me!
EXAMPLE: “Get lost! Leave me alone!”
IDIOM: to get on (one’s) nerves
MEANING: to annoy or irritate someone; to make someone upset
EXAMPLE: “Please stop humming. It’s really getting on my nerves.”
IDIOM: to get (one’s) wires crossed
MEANING: to be mistaken or confused about something; a miscommunication
EXAMPLE: “I thought we were going to meet at nine, but Susie thought we were
going to meet at ten. I guess we got our wires crossed.”
IDIOM: to get out of hand
MEANING: to lose control of a situation
EXAMPLE: “In-class talking is getting out of hand. The students need to stop
talking in class.”
IDIOM: Get real!
MEANING: Be realistic! / Don’t be naive.
EXAMPLE: “Get real! Very few people win money in the lottery!”
IDIOM: get up and go (n)
MEANING: energy
EXAMPLE: “I don’t have any get up and go. I’m exhausted.”
IDIOM: to give (one) a hand
MEANING: to help someone
EXAMPLE: Frank is always there to give me a hand. He’s such a helpful guy.
RELATED: to lend someone a hand
IDIOM: to give (one) a hand
MEANING: to applaud out of respect or appreciation
EXAMPLE: When the politician finished his speech, the audience gave him a hand.
IDIOM: to give up
MEANING: to stop, quit, or abandon
EXAMPLE: You can learn English! Don’t give up!
IDIOM: to go with the flow
MEANING: to take things as they come; be casual and easygoing
EXAMPLE: I decided to quit worrying about whether the party was going to be
successful or not, and to just go with the flow. When I relaxed, I had a much
better time.
IDIOM: a go-getter / a real go-getter (n)
MEANING: a hard-working, or ambitious person
EXAMPLE: The new salesman is a real go-getter. He’s going to be the president of
the company if he continues like this!
IDIOM: to grab a bite
MEANING: to get something to eat
EXAMPLE: “I’m ready to grab a bite. Want to go for a burger with me?”
RELATED: chow down
IDIOM: (be) green (adj.)
MEANING: inexperienced
EXAMPLE: “The new supervisor is too green. He has no idea what he’s doing.”
IDIOM: (be) green with envy
MEANING: jealous; envious
EXAMPLE: “Did you see Myrna’s new car? I’m just green with envy!”
F
IDIOM: far-fetched
MEANING: difficult to believe; difficult to accept; not credible
EXAMPLE: Judy’s excuse for being late is pretty far-fetched. Nobody’s going to believe her!
IDIOM: (be) fed up with someone or something
MEANING: to have no more patience with one, or to be very tired of one
EXAMPLE: Susan is fed up with her job, and I’m fed up with Susan always complaining about it!
IDIOM: to feel blue / (be) blue
MEANING: to feel depressed and sad
EXAMPLE: When Nell’s dog died, she felt blue for several weeks. She was blue for a long time.
IDIOM: to fire (one)
MEANING: to dismiss (one) from a job due to poor job performance
EXAMPLE: Perry’s supervisor fired him last week because he was always late for work.
IDIOM: a fender-bender
MEANING: an automobile accident
EXAMPLE: Henry was in fender-bender last week, and now his insurance rates are going up.
IDIOM: for ages
MEANING: for a long time
EXAMPLE: “How have you been? I haven’t talked to you for ages!”
RELATED: in ages
E
IDIOM: an eager beaver
MEANING: a person who wants to do something very much
EXAMPLE: Bethany sure is an eager beaver today. Yesterday I told her that if she wakes up early and finished her work, I’d take her to zoo. I guess she really wants to go because it’s only 8:00 A.M. and she’s already cleaned her room and taken out the trash! Now she’s waiting by the door to go to the zoo.
IDIOM: Easy does it!
MEANING: Be careful! ; Don’t move too fast!
EXAMPLE: Easy does it! The milk is ready to spill.
IDIOM: an egghead
MEANING: an intelligent person who spends a lot of time with books, but not as much time with people
EXAMPLE: In the Harry Potter books, the character of Hermione is an egghead.
IDIOM: elbow grease
MEANING: effort; hard work
EXAMPLE: I used a little elbow grease and got the stain out of the carpet.
IDIOM: every other _____ (day/line/week/month/etc.)
MEANING: alternately; omitting the second one in each group of two.
EXAMPLE: The teacher asked us to write on every other line so that she could correct our
compositions more easily.
