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New vocabulary: The Inns of Court - Monday 16th July 2012

24/7/2012

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Dear all
Thank you so much for joining me on another English Conversation walk last week. I hope that you enjoyed exploring another area of London (and one that is so different!).

Here is some of the vocabulary that we went over at the end in the pub. If you think of any that I've missed, please do add it!

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


To alight
(verb): To get off something (e.g. a horse) or out of a vehicle. E.g. Alight from the bus (get off the bus here). On the tube we often hear an announcement that says: ‘Alight here for the British Museum’ or ‘alight here for Tate Britain’ etc. It means that if you want the British Museum or Tate Britain, then get off the tube here.

An umbrella word (adjective): A generic term for a group of words or ideas. E.g. ‘lawyers’ is an umbrella word for barristers, solicitors etc.

A solicitor (noun): A solicitor has the first contact with a client who needs legal help or advice. The solicitor does all the paper work on a case, but if it has to go to court, they find a barrister who specialises in the same type of law (family, criminal, civil etc)

A barrister (noun): A lawyer who has had extra training to become a barrister. Barristers are the people who stand up in a court and represent the client in front of the judge. Barristers are trained in the Inns of Court.

 A treasurer (noun): A person who looks after the money of an organisation and does all the paperwork.  In the Inns of Court, the Treasurer is also in charge of the administration (I think!)

A plane tree or London Plane (noun): Their scientific name is = platinus hispanica.Type of tree common in England and especially London. It is often used to line a road with trees. In London, you are likely to find them in every square, park and other open spaces. They are tall with rough multi-coloured bark. They have ‘nuts’ that look like little cones that hang from their branches.


A hosepipe
(noun): A pipe usually made from rubber that is used to carry water. We often reduce the word to just ‘hose’ instead of ‘hosepipe’. E.g. I watered my garden with the hose last night or I used the hosepipe to water my garden.

A sprinkler (noun): A gadget or device for spraying water on grass or other open areas.

To ban (verb): When we are officially forbidden from doing something. E.g. ‘a hosepipe ban’ is when we were not allowed to use our hoses to water gardens.  

To smuggle (verb): a) When someone takes goods in or out of a country and it is illegal, we say that they smuggle. E.g. They smuggled drugs into London.

b) We also use the verb informally. If I took a bag of sweets into the cinema instead of buying the expensive sweets sold at the cinema, I can say ‘I smuggled some sweets into the cinema’.

A smuggler (noun): The term we use to describe a person who smuggles.

It’s spitting (weather) (verb): When the rain is very light, we say ‘it’s spitting’.

It’s drizzling (weather) (verb): When the rain is gentle but steady.

Draughty (adjective): When cold air blows through a room. Or if you sit by a door which is open and cold air comes through it. E.g. It’s draughty in here. E.g. A draughty old house. E.g. It feels draughty in here. Let’s sit somewhere else.

Some opposites:

a) Sweet and sour (adjectives): Used to describe taste

Sweet: like honey or sugar or ripe fruit

Sour: if you suck or taste a  lemon, it’s sour

b) Sweet and savoury (adjectives): Used to describe types of food categories

Sweet: foods like biscuits, cakes, chocolate, sweets

Savoury: foods like cheese, eggs, vegetable tarts, crisps etc.

c) Sweet and dry (adjectives): Used to describe types of wine

Sweet: as in a), wine that is more ‘sugary’ in taste

Dry: wine that is less sweet in taste

Bitter (adjective): When food has a sharp and often strong taste, it is ‘bitter’. E.g. coffee, beer, walnuts

A nut (noun): a type of fruit that has a hard shell and usually grows on a tree. Nuts are a generic word or an  ‘umbrella word’ (see above). For example, walnuts, almonds, peanuts, pistachios, brazil nuts, hazel nuts, chestnuts, cashews etc are all ‘nuts’.

Nuts (adjective): A very informal slang word we use to describe a person who we think is mad. E.g. He’s nuts!

Strange (adjective): Unusual or extraordinary. E.g. It was a strange thing to say. I don’t understand it.  E.g. He is a strange person. He never says anything at the meetings.

Weird (adjective): If we describe a person as weird, it is because they have either done something that is very unusual  and  bizarre or because they look bizarre in some way.

Queer (adjective): We discovered on the walk, that Carey Street was often referred to as ‘Queer Street’ (old English slang meaning in financial difficulties in bankrupt). Later, the word was used to describe a person or thing that was strange or odd and became linked with gay and lesbian people. Today, it is offensive to use the word ‘queer’ to describe gay and lesbians.

Costume jewellery (noun): Popular jewellery that is made with cheaper metals than gold and silver and replaces precious stones with beads or cheaper stones.

Fine jewellery (noun): Jewellery that is made using gold, silver and expensive precious stones.

A windscreen (noun): The front window on a car through which the driver looks out. It is made of protective glas.

To wind (verb): a) We wind up string or rope into a ball. b) To wind up a person: if we annoy or irritate a person they feel as if someone is winding them up inside and become angry. E.g. she really wound me up. However, we can also use it in a joking way and not use it seriously, e.g. ah, you’re winding me up!

To toss (verb): To throw something lightly or easily. E.g. she tossed the paper into the bin.


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New Vocabulary: St. Paul's - discover heroes and executions

20/7/2012

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Hello everyone
It was lovely seeing so many familiar faces last Sunday and I really enjoyed sharing this walk with you (even the gruesome bits). Thank you for working so hard as well. I was so impressed with how much you were able to research about the history of the places that I gave you ... well done! When you read out the information and shared it with us, it was done so well and you made it incredibly interesting.

Below is the vocabulary that we shared at the end of the walk. I'm sure that there is more so please do add it if you'd like to.

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


To drown (verb): When someone is underwater and cannot breath, they die. We say that they ‘drown’.  Some of the memorials to the heroes in Postman’s Park drowned when they tried to save another person.

To pelt (verb): To throw something at someone or thing. E.g. when the prisoners from Newgate Prison were executed, the crowds pelted them with tomatoes and rotten fruit.

Pelting with rain: When it rains very heavily, we use this expression. We say ‘it’s pelting with rain’ or ‘the rain is pelting down’.

A pelt (noun): The skin of an animal with the fur, hair or wool still on it.

Cigarette butts (noun): The ends of cigarettes after they have been smoked. We see lots of them on the pavements and the ground!

Fag ends (noun): The same as cigarette end. This is very informal English, slang.

Fags (noun): Cigarettes. This is very informal, slang.

A butt (noun): A bum, bottom or arse (on a person).  

A pew (noun): The long, wooden seat that we find in churches. We talked about where the pews would have been if the church hadn’t been destroyed by bombs. Today, there are rose bushes there instead!

Stationery (noun): Items such as writing paper, envelopes and other office materials, traditionally made of paper. Today, stationery shops sell other items such as pens and plastic folders.

Stationary (adjective): When something is still and not moving, it is ‘stationary’. E.g. the car was stationary when the accident happened.

A frieze
(noun): A horizontal strip of paper or clay or wood (any material) that is mounted on a wall. It can be painted or sculpted to create a series of pictures that tell a story or show a process. E.g. We looked at the frieze above Cutlers’ Hall. It shows the traditional process of making knives and other sharp instruments.

To damage (verb): When an object is ruined in some way, we say that it is damaged. E.g. I damaged the door when I knocked the chair into it. Now it’s got a hole in it. Note: we do not use ‘damage’ when we hurt ourselves (NOT I’ve damaged my knee. We say, I’ve hurt my knee or I’ve injured my knee)

To injure (verb): When harm is done to a person or if we hurt ourselves. E.g. I injured my leg when I fell over. It really hurts. E.g. He was injured in the car accident.

A stained-glass window (noun): The coloured glass that is used to make pictures in windows like church windows.

A barrel (noun): A container (usually wood) that is cylindrical and bulges in the middle. It has metal hoops around it. When beer is carried from the brewery to the pub, it is carried in ‘a beer barrel’. We saw some lovely ones outside The Mitre Pub in Ely Place.

Cellar (noun): A room below ground in a house. Cellars are often used for storing wine or other items. Traditionally, they were used for storing coal.

A cell (noun): A small room where a prisoner is locked up. On this walk, we learned that prisoners in Newgate Prison were locked up in terrible conditions ... they had vermin (rats and mice) running over them and were tortured before they were executed (unless they had lots of money!).

An inmate (noun):  A person who is locked up in prison or a hospital.

To demolish (verb used with an object). a)When we pull down a building or other structure, we say us the verb ‘to demolish’. E.g. They demolished the building where The Four Aces Club was and built a new library.

b) We also use ‘to demolish’ informally. E.g. If we are very hungry and eat our dinner very quickly, we might say ‘I demolished that lot quickly!’ or ‘he demolished his meal in no time!’ or ‘she demolished that chocolate bar!.’

c) demolition (noun). The act of demolishing something. E.g. Demolition work began on the old office building this morning.

To destroy (verb): When we ruin something (a building, painting, dinner or any other object or thing), we use the verb ‘to destroy’. E.g. During the riots, the toy shop was destroyed in the fire. E.g. She poured paint everywhere and destroyed my work.

A stump (noun): a) When someone has to have a part of their leg cut off (or arm), the part of the leg that remains is called ‘a stump’. We discovered that there was a pub next to Newgate Prison called The Magpie and Stump ... and this the suffix, ‘stump’ was added as a joke because of the large number of headless bodies executed at the prison!!

b) When we cut a tree down, the round wooden part that is left in the ground is also called ‘a tree stump’.

c) An expression: I’m completely stumped. If someone asks me a question and I don’t know the answer because it’s too difficult, I can say ‘I’m completely stumped!’ or ‘You’ve stumped me!’

The bride (noun): A woman on her wedding day is called ‘the bride’.

The groom (noun): The man on his wedding day is called ‘the groom’.

Copper (noun): a type of metal that is a reddish-brown colour.

A copper (noun): A police officer.

A fair cop (idiom): If someone catches me doing something wrong, I can say something like, ‘Fair cop. You’re right ... I blah blah blah’. It is something we say when we admit that another person has caught us out doing something wrong!

Under (preposition): a) When something is beneath or covered by something. E.g. The food fell under the table. E.g. We waited under the tree for the rain to stop. b) If something is below the surface we can use ‘under’ as a preposition. E.g. The fish swam under the water (of course!).

Under (adverb): If we talk about something that is below or beneath something. E.g. go over the fence, not under.

Underneath (preposition): Situated just below something else. E.g. Harry’s office is underneath English Walks!

A stain (noun): If I drop food down my t-shirt and it leaves a coloured patch there that I cannot wash out, it is a stain. E.g. The red wine left a stain on the table cloth.

To stain (verb): To mark something with dirt or coloured patches that we cannot get rid of or remove easily.  E.g. the beetroot stained my fingers. E.g. His shirt was stained with blackcurrants.

Other:

It is interested – we say, ‘it is interesting’ or ‘I’m interested in ... (something)’.

I forget person’s names – we say, ‘I forget people’s names’ or ‘I’m not very good at remembering people’s names’.

To make a note or to make notes.


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New Vocabulary: The many faces of Dalston, Saturday 07 July 2012

10/7/2012

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Hello everyone
Thank you for all your lovely comments about the walk through Dalston last Saturday. I'm pleased that you enjoyed the walk and I hope that you learnt lots of new words too! I really enjoyed walking with you and sharing the history of the area. And it didn't rain all day either!!

Here are the some of the new words that we went over at the end. If there are any others that you would like to add, please do so!

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


Towpath (noun): A path next to a river or canal. Originally it was a pathway for the horses that used to pull (tow) the barges (canal boats). 

To tow (verb): To pull a boat, car or any other vehicle along with a robe or some other item E.g. When Harry’s car broke down, the man towed it to the garage.

Strength (noun): a) When we can do something well, we say it is our ‘strength’. It is the quality or state of being strong. E.g. As a teacher, her strength was helping the children to understand the letters. b) Physical power. E.g. walking can help to build up your strength.’

Brutal (adjective): Violent or uncomfortable. a) E.g. The brutal dictator killed hundreds of people. b) They were brutally critical about that film.

 A plaque (noun): A tablet or tile that is fixed to a wall to commemorate a person or an event. It is usually made of metal, porcelain or wood. In London, you will see lots of blue plaques. This scheme began in 1866 and it’s thought that it is the oldest like it in the world. Blue plaques are fixed to the wall of a house or building where a famous person once lived or worked.

A barometer (noun): An instrument that tells us what the weather is. On this walk we saw the large barometer on the tower St. Mark’s Church. It’s unique in England and believed to be the only working barometer in Europe. When we looked at it, it told us it was raining ... it was correct!!

To sprain (verb): When we twist our ankle, wrist or another joint very violently, we say that we have ‘sprained it’. E.g. Mandy went to the hospital because she’d sprained her ankle.  

A sprain
(noun): The result of when we twist a joint (ankle, wrist etc). E.g. The doctor told her that it was a sprain and she needed to rest it.

Posh (adjective): wealthy and rich, aristocratic.

Flamboyant (adjective): When a person dresses or behaves in a way that gets everyone to look at them. E.g. If a person dresses in brightly coloured clothes and everyone notices them, we say that they are ‘flamboyant’.

To limp (verb): When someone has hurt their leg or foot and cannot walk properly. E.g. He fell over and hurt his foot. He had to limp all the way home.

To grumble (verb): Complain or protest about something in a bad-tempered way. For example, when the cafe was closing as we arrived after our walk, a lot of us grumbled! We complained among ourselves and not to the cafe. That means that we grumbled or that we were grumbling!

Grumbling (present participle of ‘grumble’(verb): They were grumbling about the cost of the tickets.

Grumpy (adjective): To be bad-tempered and sulk.

Barmy (adjective): Mad, insane, a little crazy. On this walk, we went through the De Beauvoir Square which originally was called the Balmes Estate in the 17th century. Later the large house became a psychiatric institution and this is where we get the word ‘balmy ... then barmy’ from!

To demolish (verb used with an object). a)When we pull down a building or other structure, we say us the verb ‘to demolish’. E.g. They demolished the building where The Four Aces Club was and built a new library.

b) We also use ‘to demolish’ informally. E.g. If we are very hungry and eat our dinner very quickly, we might say ‘I demolished that lot quickly!’ or ‘he demolished his meal in no time!’ or ‘she demolished that chocolate bar!.’

c) demolition (noun). The act of demolishing something. E.g. Demolition work began on the old office building this morning.

To destroy (verb): When we ruin something (a building, painting, dinner or any other object or thing), we use the verb ‘to destroy’. E.g. During the riots, the toy shop was destroyed in the fire. E.g. She poured paint everywhere and destroyed my work.

Joseph Grimaldi (a person so a proper noun): Grimaldi was born in Clerkenwell in 1778. He was the person who created the image of a clown as we know it today – the big painted smile, the costume, the sadness behind the smile and audience participation.

A goat (noun): An animal often found on farms or in mountain and hill areas. We make cheese from their milk i.e. goat’s cheese. Some goats have a long, pointed beard.

A goatee or goatee beard (noun):  When someone has a beard which is a triangle shame and comes to a point, we call it a ‘goatee’ or ‘goatee beard’.

A curve (noun): A line that gradually starts to bend.

To curve (verb): To form a bend in a line.

To google (verb): This is a new verb and used all the time! When we search something on the internet, we say that ‘we are googling something’.

E.g.
Person A: I need to get some information about India
Person B: Why don’t you google it?

A google (noun): E.g. ‘Do a google. It’ll be quicker.’

In everyday English, we use ‘google’ more than the word ‘search’.

Sellotape (noun): A long, thin strip of sticky and usually transparent material that is used to join things together. It is sold in a roll. E.g. She used sellotape to stick the paper together.

It’s expensive (adjective): When something costs a lot of money.

It’s pricey (adjective): When something costs a lot of money.

It’s dear (adjective): When something costs a lot of money.

A rip-off (noun): a) When a product or service is over-priced (costs more money than it deserves), we say ‘it’s a rip-off’. When we are cheated out of money or some other thing. E.g. I bought the sofa for £500-00 but, afterwards, I saw it for £300-00. The shop ripped us off.’

Dirt cheap (adverb): Extremely cheap. E.g. That sofa’s dirt cheap. Look! It’s only £99-99!’

A learning disability (noun): When someone has difficulty learning skills or acquiring knowledge to the standard expected of their age group, we say that they have ‘a learning disability’. When someone has a learning disability, they have problems understanding new or complex information, learning new skills and being able to cope independently. There are different levels of learning disability – mild, moderate or severe. Disabilities include: Down’s Syndrome, autism, cerebral palsy, dyslexia etc.

Stressed out (adjective): When you are very worried and nervous, you can say that you are ‘stressed out’. E.g. I was stressed out when I had to wait so long to hear if I got the job’. E.g. I’m really stressed out at the moment. I’ve been working 12 hours a day for ages ...

Grammar corrections:

‘In this moment’ – we say ‘at this moment’

They must to help people – we do not use the infinitive with ‘to’ here.

To like or love a language: Someone said, ‘I’m loving this language’. We can’t use ‘ I’m loving’ as it’s a continuous verb and an emotion. But we can say: ‘I love the language’ or ‘I love English’.

To look after (verb): to care for. In the introductions, someone said: ‘I’m looking for the children’. If we are ‘looking for’ the children, we are searching for them because they have disappeared. So, we need to say, ‘I look after the children’.

To write (verb): I write a letter (present), I wrote a letter (past simple), I have written a letter (present perfect), I was writing a letter (past continuous)


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