We were so lucky with the weather last Saturday ... it only rained for a hour!! I enjoyed walking with you and sharing this interesting area of London. And thank you for all the hard work you put in to research the places that we passed.
Below is the vocabulary that we went over at the end in the cafe.
I look forward to seeing you all again soon.
Best Wishes
Gail
Vocabulary:
A trick (noun): something that you do to make somebody believe something that isn’t true or a joke that you play to annoy somebody.
To trick (somebody) (trick): e.g. he’d been tricked into giving the money and he felt very angry.
A treat (noun): something special or enjoyable that you pay for or give yourself/somebody. E.g. I treated myself to a new pair of shoes.
A gravestone (noun): a stone in the ground that shows the name, dates etc of the dead person who is buried there.
The grave (noun): the place where a dead body is buried.
To spread (verb): to affect a larger area or a bigger group of people. E.g. the disease was so infectious, it spread really quickly. E.g. Rats and vermin spread disease. E.g. the fire spread rapidly because of the strong wind. E.g. Xavière spread jam on her scones.
To spread your wings (expression): To leave home. E.g. After his 18th birthday, he spread his wings and moved to another city. His parents were sad but happy for him.
A hood (noun): part of a coat, jacket, sweatshirt etc. that you pull up to cover your head and neck in bad weather.
To blow (something) up (phrasal verb): to make something explode or to destroy something in an explosion. E.g. In 1605, a group of catholic conspirators, planned to blow up the Houses of Parliament. (We saw the plaque in Hoxton on the site of Lord Monteagle’s house. He received a letter which told him about the plot. This led to the capture and arrest of the plotters, including the famous Guy Fawkes.
To set (something) up (phrasal verb): to start a business, an organisation, a system, a project etc. E.g. English Walks was set up in 2012.
Fizzy (adjective): containing many small bubbles of gas. E.g. a fizzy drink like coca-cola.
Sparkling (adjective): a) containing bubbles of gas. E.g. sparkling wine; a bottle of sparkling water. (We tend to use the word ‘sparkling’ to describe more expensive drinks like wine).
b) shining with many points of light. E.g. when she came out of the dentist, her teeth were sparkling white!
c) a sparkling personality – something who is ‘bubbly’ and fun to be with.
Still (adjective): quiet and calm. So we use ‘still’ to describe water that is not sparkling. E.g. a bottle of still water.
A sparkler (noun): a hand-held firework that emits sparks.
To mash (verb): to mix or crush something until it’s soft. E.g. mashed potatoes. We stopped outside the Pie and Mash Shop in Hoxton, where they sell different traditional East End pies with mashed potato.
To smash (verb): to break something or to be broken violently and noisily into many pieces. E.g. the glass smashed into a thousand pieces. E.g. the police had to smash the door open.
To get smashed (expression): to get very drunk.
Booze (noun): A slang word for ‘alcohol’.
A boozer (noun): a) A slang word for a pub and b) a person who drinks a lot of alcohol.
To dress up (phrasal verb): to put on special clothes, especially in order to look like somebody/something else. E.g. Maria dressed up as a devil for Halloween. E.g. the children wanted to dress up as pirates.
To dress up to the nines (expression): to wear very fashionable or formal clothes for a special occasion. E.g. They must be going to a party. They’re dressed up to the nines.
To starve (verb): to suffer or die because you don’t have enough food to eat.
To be starving (informal): to be extremely hungry. E.g. I’m starving. Hurry up and cook dinner!
A scaffold (noun): This is a wooden structure that was built to hang prisoners from. The scaffold was high so each prisoner had to climb steps onto it. Then they were hung.
to flee (verb). to run away or escape from something. E.g. The Gunpowder Plot conspirators fled the country. E.g. the burglar fled from the police.
A lease (noun): a legal agreement that allows you to use a building or land for a fixed period of time in return for rent.
To lease (verb): E.g. James Burbage leased the land from a local farmer to build his new theatre, The Theatre.