English Walks
  • Home
    • About English Walks
  • London walks
    • The City >
      • Walk: Clerkenwell
      • Walk: The Inns of Court
      • Walk: The Square Mile
      • Walk: St. Pauls - Heroes and Executions
      • Walk: The Heart of the City
    • East London >
      • Walk: Tower Hill & Shadwell
      • Walk: Bethnal Green
      • Walk: Sailing to Stepney Green
      • Walk: On the trail of Street Art: Hoxton to Shoreditch
      • Walk: The many faces of Dalston
      • Walk: Walthamstow Village
      • Walk: Spitalfields
    • North London >
      • Walk: Hampstead Village and Heath
      • Walk: Kilburn to West Hampstead
      • Walk: Old Street to Angel
    • South East London >
      • Walk: Bermondsey & Rotherhithe
      • Walk: Borough
      • Walk: Elephant & Castle
    • West London >
      • Walk: Fulham Broadway to Imperial Wharf
      • Walk: Hammersmith
      • Walk: Turnham Green to Chiswick Park
    • South West London >
      • Walk: Barnes Bridge to Fulham Palace
      • Walk: Last stop on the Victoria Line: Bustling Brixton
      • Walk: Richmond - River-views and royal connections
      • Walk: Vauxhall to Battersea
  • Dates and Prices 2019
    • What to bring with you
    • Terms & Conditions
  • Contact Us
  • Testimonials & Student Photos
  • Vocabulary
  • Links
  • New Page

Vocabulary: Old Street to London Bridge - Wednesday 18th June 2014

23/6/2014

0 Comments

 
Dear all
We were very impressed with the level of English last Wednesday ... well done! The presentations about the history of places we passed was excellent - clear, interesting and really good English.

Below you'll find some of the vocabulary that we went over in the George Inn at the end. I hope you start to use it ...

I look forward to seeing you all again.
Best Wishes
Gail



Vocabulary: Where business, skyscrapers and finance meet medieval London 18th June 2014


Rope (noun): Very thick, strong cord that is used for tying or lifting heavy things, climbing up etc. E.g. We need some rope to tie up the boat with. E.g. We walked down Ropemaker Street and guessed that it must have been an area for making rope many years ago!

String (noun):  a piece of long, strong material like very thin rope that you use for tying things. E.g. The key is hanging on a string. E.g. Don’t forget to tie up the parcel with string.

Rubble (noun): Pieces of broken brick, stone etc., especially from damaged buildings. E.g. We saw lots of rubble as we walked through the City – especially from old buildings that have been demolished in order to construct new, modern ones.

Cobbles (noun): A small round stone used to cover road surfaces. E.g. We walked down a cobbled street near the Market.

To cobble something together (phrasal verb): To make something or put something together quickly and without much care. e.g. Hopefully, together, we’ll be able to cobble something together before the manager gets back from lunch.

A cuff (noun): The end part of a sleeve, which often fastens to the wrist.

Cufflinks (noun): A pair of small objects used instead of a button to fasten a shirt sleeve together at the wrist.

Handcuffs (noun): A pair of metal rings that are joined together by a chain and put around the wrists of prisoners.

A cash machine (noun): A machine on the outside of a bank from where you can get cash. Also commonly called A hole in the wall. E.g. Excuse me, can you tell me where the nearest hole in the wall (cash machine) is, please?

A stench (noun): A strong and very unpleasant smell. E.g. The stench of rotting fish is horrible. (we don’t say that someone ‘stenches’ – this form doesn’t exist)

To stink (verb) (also a stink – noun): To have a very strong and unpleasant smell. E.g. Uh, it stinks in here – open the window!

To take hold (idiom): To seize or become established. E.g. After the third day, the fire took hold of the buildings. E.g. The new plants quickly took hold (became established).

Narrow-minded (adjective): Not willing to listen to new ideas or to the opinions of other people. [opposite to Broad-minded; open-minded]

A riot (noun): A situation in which a group of people behave in a violent way in a public place, often as a protest. Usually spontaneous. E.g. Further riots have broken out in Manchester.

A rebellion (noun): An occasion when some of the people in a country try to change the government, using violence. The act of fighting against authority, or refusing to accept rules. E.g. voting against the leader of the party was an act of open rebellion.

To rebel (verb): To fight against authority, society, a law etc – usually in a planned and organised way.

To demonstrate (against/for somebody/thing) (verb): To take part in a public protest for or against somebody/something. E.g. Enormous crowds have been demonstrating against the government.  

A demonstration (noun) (a demo – British informal): A public protest for or against somebody/thing. E.g. Did you go on the demo last Saturday?

To sniff around/round) (informal expression): To investigate secretly, especially in an attempt to find out confidential information, or information that will hurt the other person. e.g. A couple of journalists are sniffing around.

To brown-nose (verb): To try to make someone like you or support you by doing things to please them by acting in a subservient way. E.g. Our prime minister is brown-nosing other countries in order to get his policies.

A brown-nose (noun): An extremely slimy, subservient, submissive person.

To converse (verb) (formal): To talk to somebody; to have a conversation. Note: We are more likely to say: I’ve had a chat with; talked to; spoken to; had a conversation with etc.

Goosebumps (or Goose pimples) (noun): Small points or lumps which appear on your skin because you are cold or frightened or something has made you feel emotional. E.g. When we walked through St Dunstan’s-in-the-East, the feeling in the garden gave us goosebumps.

Batter (noun): A mixture of flour, eggs and milk used to cover food such as fish, vegetable etc before frying them. Also used to make pancakes or Yorkshire Puddings (yummy!!).

To batter (verb): To hit somebody/thing very hard, many times. E.g. The wind battered against the window. E.g. He battered the door down. E.g. She battered the child until the police arrived.

To beat (somebody) up (phrasal verb): To attack somebody by hitting or kicking them many times. E.g. He was badly beaten up outside the pub last night.

To go downhill (idiom): To get worse. E.g. Our conversation after the walk went downhill as we laughed at some of the new vocabulary!

Instead of saying ‘I don’t know’, we can say ‘I haven’t a clue!’ (informal)

0 Comments

New vocabulary: City walks Monday 05 September 2012

5/9/2012

0 Comments

 
Dear all
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and spending the morning with you ... showing you parts of the City of London as well as listening to your English (which is a very good standard!!).

Here is the vocabulary from the walk. If I've missed anything, please do add it yourselves.

I wish you all the very best when you return to your countries but hope to see you again when you return to London!
Best Wishes
Gail

The vocabulary:
A skyscraper (noun): A very tall building that has several floors. It looks as if it’s reaching up to the sky.

To scrape (verb): To drag a hard or sharp implement (e.g. knife) across a surface to remove dirt or something else. E.g. After he walked in the muddy fields, he scraped his boots with a stick to remove the mud.

Rope (noun): A long piece of cord. The cord is made by twisting strands of fibres from plants (traditionally hemp) together.

To climb (verb):  To go up, ascend something that is high or goes upwards e.g. a hill, a mountain, stairs, an escalator etc. E.g. he climbed the mountain using rope to help him.

An abattoir (noun): A place where animals are slaughtered.

Poultry (noun): A generic name for animals such as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl. Another generic name for these animals is ‘fowl’. E.g. In the 1840s Leadenhall Market sold poultry.

A crane (noun): a) A tall machine made of metal that is used for moving heavy objects. We saws lots of cranes while walking through the City.

b) a type of long-necked and long-legged bird.

A terminus (noun): The end of a transport route, usually railway. E.g. We walked through Liverpool Street station. This is a terminus because all the trains have to stop there and can’t go any further. It is the ‘end of the line’.

A pawnbroker (noun): A person who lends money on security of an article. E.g. She took her gold watch to the pawnbroker and he gave her money for it. When she could pay it back, she collected the watch again.

A beggar (noun): A person who asks for money so that they can live. E.g. when we were at The George Inn at the end, a man asked us to give him money.

A gherkin (noun): a) A small cucumber that is used for pickling (kept in vinegar).

b) The Gherkin = the Swiss Re building we walked past. It is commonly called the Gherkin because it looks like a cucumber shape!

A penthouse (noun): An apartment on the top floor of a tall building. It is usually luxurious and has lovely views from the window. E.g. We looked up at The Shard and talked about the apartments at the top. We said that they would be very, very expensive penthouses!

Classmates (noun): Another member of a class at school or college.

Fellow students (noun): The same as ‘classmates’.

Mate or matey (noun): An informal word we use for a friend or companion for someone we want to be friendly with. E.g. We can say, ‘Thanks mate’ to someone. Or, ‘Hey matey, you coming to the pub this evening?’

Traveller v traveller = ‘traveller’ is British English (‘traveler’ is US English).

Raisin (noun): A partially dried grape used in cakes, biscuits and other foods.

Currants (noun): A small dried fruit made from a small seedless grape. We use these in cooking.

Sultanas (noun): A small, light brown seedless raisin used in cooking e.g. cakes and puddings

Pudding (noun): a) A cooked sweet dish eaten after the main course. A dessert.

b) A sweet or savoury dish made with suet and flour. E.g. Steak and kidney pudding

To slam the door in someone’s face (verb / expression): a) Close the door very forcefully so that is nearly hits a person in the face.

b) E.g. a person looking for work might feel that employers have slammed the door in their face when they cannot find work.

To hang up (verb / expression): When you talk to someone on the phone and cut them off suddenly, possibly in anger. We also can say: ‘She slammed the phone down on me’

_
0 Comments

New vocabulary: Where business, finance and skyscrapers meet medieval London: Old Street to London Bridge - Wednesday 09 May 2012.

13/5/2012

1 Comment

 
Firstly, if anyone has tried to leave a comment, I apologise that it hasn't shown up here. I am still learning how to use this Blog and I am trying to sort out the settings so that your comments arrive automatically. I have asked for support from the experts here so hopefully this will change soon!

Here is the new Vocabulary from last Wednesday's walk:
Vocabulary City Walk – Wednesday 09 May 2012


A nuisance (noun). An annoying person, thing or circumstance

e.g. That man who spoke very loudly on his mobile on the bus a nuisance.

e.g. Having to wait so long in the queue was a nuisance.

To gawp (verb used with an object). To stare at something or someone with your mouth open in astonishment.

e.g. she gawped at that man who took his trousers off in public!

To stare (verb without object). To look at something very intently, with eyes wide open.

To gaze (verb without object). To look at something or someone. Not so wide open-eyed like staring or gawping.

Mind-blowing (adjective). Something that is extremely exciting or surprising. That has an intense effect on our emotions.

e.g. When I moved to London from the countryside, it was mind-blowing.

A buzz (noun). A feeling of intense excitement.

e.g. I got a real buzz from that history walk.

Snap (noun). A children’s card game. You match the pictures so that when you see a card the same as your one, you say ‘SNAP’ loudly. We use it to mean ‘the same’.

e.g. Person A: I used to live in Birmingham

Person B: Snap. (i.e. I did as well)

Snap (verb without object).a) To make a sudden, sharp sound.

b) to break an object in two. E.g. I snapped the stick in two. E.g. the tree branch snapped off.

c) to be very angry. E.g. She snapped when she lost her job.

To bury (verb). (buried = past participle/past tense of ‘bury’) To put something in the ground and cover it with earth. E.g. The squirrel buried some nuts in that flower bed. E.g. When her cat died, she buried it.

Litter (noun). Rubbish such as plastic cups, paper, bottles etc that are left in an open or public  place.

Littering (present participle of verb ‘to litter’). To make a place untidy with rubbish or lots of objects lying about. E.g. The newspapers littered the floor. E.g. No littering in the railway station.  

Grubby (adjective). Dirty. E.g. The little boy had a grubby face.

A bowler hat (noun). A type of hat worn in England up until the 1960s.

Bone china (noun). Very fine china. Porcelain.

To slaughter (verb). a) When many, many people are killed deliberately. E.g. During the First World War, thousands of young men were slaughtered.

b) When animals are killed, especially for food.

Note: the pronunciation for ‘slaughter’ is: //slɔːtə//

Sl – then the ‘augh’ sound = ‘oor’ that as in ‘door’.

Other words with the same sound:
Slaughter
Ought
Bought
Brought
Thought




1 Comment

    Archives

    October 2014
    September 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012

    Author

    Gail Golding, English teacher and guide at English Walks

    Categories

    All
    April 2014
    August 2012
    August 2013
    Barnes To Fulham
    Bermondsey & Rotherhithe
    Borough
    Brixton
    City
    Clerkenwell Walk
    Dalston
    December 2012
    December 2013
    February 2013
    February 2014
    Hampstead
    Hoxton Shoreditch
    Hoxton-Shoreditch
    Inns Of Court
    January 2013
    January 2014
    July 2012
    July 2013
    June 2012
    June 2013
    June 2014
    March 2013
    March 2014
    May 2012
    May 2013
    May 2014
    November 2012
    November 2013
    October 2013
    Richmond Upon Thames
    Richmond-upon-thames
    September 2012
    September 2014
    St Pauls
    Vauxhall To Battersea
    Vocabulary
    Walthamstow Village

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Find us on facebook here: