1) copping oLlt
off
2)
ripped me
3)
kicked
4)
croshed out
5)
hocks ...off
off
6) chotted
7)
bunk
uP
off
8) veg out
9) stewed
uP
10) moxed out
11)
beoten up
12)kick in
13) dumbing down
14)Chill out
15) wind
......uP
16) sussed out
17) beef ......up
18) into
19) phose......in
2O) slog ........off
16) As soon os
f've
how
to use the video, f'll exploin it to
you.
17) Thot group obviously f inds my lessons too eqsy: f'm going to hqve to
q bit.
them
f lomenco doncing, cqts qnd crosswords!
18) Lis is
19) Nobody would qgree to the increosed houns
mqnqgement hos decided
-
to
if
they brought them in qll ot once, so the
them
over o two-yeor period.
20)
Be csreful with her. She'll be nice to your foce qnd then
behind your bock
f
A
A
=
=
ine = A sentence intended
to f lqtter
Someone yot!re
you
_
ottrqcted to.
something not worth the price you're expected to poy
qn qction tqken
_
for it.
to qvoid hoving to work hord or do something unpleosont.
@
be ll
Put the phrosol verbs into these sentences. You moy need
1) When
f chose to do a course of ort college insteqd of going to university, my dod
thought
2)
to chonge the form.
r wos reolly
to thqt restqurqnt. They reolly
They charged me €10 for q plote of spoghetti!
me
T'm not going bock
3) f orrived holf on hour lote, ond he just
.
lost time.
f don't know why he got so
cngry!
4) I didn't do ony homework lost night. f
ond fell asleep.
5)
He
reolly
just
the sofo
on
to do the woshing
-
6) My sister
wqs
by o lovely guy, who then turned out to be mqrried.
7) Let's
8) f've
tired I
when he goes out ond leqves me
me
up.
was so
eorly on Fridoy ofternoonl No one'll notice.
hqd such q hqrd week
thqt oll f wont to do tonight
is
in
front of
the telly.
9) I reolly
\r
the lqst port of the exom. f'm sure f've foiled it.
10) f've spent oll my cosh qnd
skint!
11)
olf my credit cords: f'm complelely
qt o footbqll motch lost weekend. He's still
My brother got
hospitol.
12)My heqd reolly hurts. How long will
it bebefore those toblets
13)The BBC seem to be
becoming q notion of holf
to
_l
of
?
oll their progrqmmes. They must think we'?e
!4)Hey,stop getting so steomed up obout
15) Don't toke ony notice
you
in
everything.
q bit,
him when he tells you you're o hopeless cook: he's
just trying
20 colloguiol phrosol verbs in current use
)k:k*
-
vulgor; hqndle with cqre!
** = colloguiol ond moinly used by teenagers
* = colloguiqf ond in generol use
to screw something
up
To tnqke o mess of something, to ruin
it
*:krk
to beot someone up*
to kick in*
to dumb something
hit
someone repeatedly, os o punishment or os port
mugginq
To stort working, to take effect
To
of o
to be into somethinq*
to hqck someone off"*
to bunk off*
To tnoke something less intellectuql, ond theref ore more
occessible to more people
To lose your temper
(BrE) to deliberotely overchorge someone for something,
or sell them somethinq worthless
To go to bed or lie down when you're very Iired (or drunk!)
To relox or toke it eosy
To spend your free time os lozily os possible
To def iberotely mqke someone sngry, shocked or panicky,
.iust for fhe pleqsure of seetnq their reqction
To tqlk to someone pleosontly in order to get whot you
wont, especiolly if you're attrqcted to them
To work out how something works or how to use it. For q
person, to understond whot mokes them tick!
To mqke something more substqntiql, more chollenqinq
To qvoid doing something thqt seems difficult or
f riqhteninq
To en.ioy doing something hobituqlly, to hove it qs o hobby
To qnnoy someone
To ploy truqnt (skip clqss) or to leove work eqrly
To mox something
(used with credit cords) To use the credit
outx*
To phose something
in*
limits
To introduce something bit by bit
to slqq someone off*
To criticise soneone viciously, often behind their bock
downx
to kick off*
to rip someone off*
to crosh out**
to chill out**
to veq out**
to wind someone up*
to chqt someone up*
to suss something/
someone out**
to beef somethinq up*
to cop outx
focility to its
Contemporory Phrosal verbs
On a separate piece of paper, write answers
to the following guestions
randomly:
Whqt wos the lost thing you screwed up?
Whqt's the lost thing thot mqde you kick off?
When wos the lost tirne you were ripped off?
When wqs the lqst time you hod to crosh out?
Whqt's your fovourite woy of ihilling ou't/vegging out?
Whqdo you enjoy winding uP?
Who wos the lost Person you chotted up?
Or:
Who wos the lqst person who chqtted you up?
Whot wos the lost thing you sussed out how to
Or:
Whqt woulci you like to suss out?
When did you lost beef something
do?
i
uP?
Whqt wqs the lost thing you copPed out
of
doing?
Whot qre you most ihto?
Who or whot hocks you off?
Hove you phosed onything out of your diet recenlly?
When you have finished, look at a neighbour's answars and guess what
question they were trying to answer.
A
lnvestigoting origin/dictionory skills
1)
2)
qnswer lrue or fqlse to these stqtements
check in o diclionqry to find fhe idiom
connecfed fo the underlined word
l. Achilles wos o mon in Greek mythology who
injured his orm. F
2. Knights were soldiers in medievol times who rode -_
on horses ond helped rescue women in donger.
'l
3. A mogic wond is o stick used in mogic tricks.
4. A clom is o type of shellfish which is slow to reoct
when it is ottocked.
5. A beover is o smoll onimol which people believe
to be hord-working ond eoger io help.
I
Now choose 2 of these idioms qnd leqch them to
your clossmqles.
B
IDIOMS + COLLOCATIONS
Mqich the beEinnings ond ends of these collocqtions.
l. o lost ditch eo like o heodless chicken
b the droin
2.be woy +
3. moke o cleon breok + c o hcstv retreoi
4. beot c
d into your pockets
5. go down b
6 ottempt
6. siort with h
f out of line
g wiih the post
7 . running oround A
B. dig deep d
h o cleon slote
Now choose 2 ol lhese idioms ond teoch them lo
your clqssmqtes.
C
IDIOMS + PREPOSITIONS
The following idioms ore missing prepositions. Con
you guess which preposition goes where?
Check in o dictionory.
l.
He didn't get ony outhority to toke the ociion. He
went ...:... ... his boss's heod.
2.Don't soy o word to onyone, do you promise?
it.... ......your hot.
... her. She doesn't understond.
3. Go eosy
Keep
She's only o child.
4. She won't tell me onything. lt's like trying to get
... o stone.
blood
5. Go on spoil yourselves. Push the boot
... for
o chonge.
5. She's got o good eor .
she's pretty musicol os well.
Z. Thot wos ouick. You're .
.. longuoges ond
..
the boll
this
morning.
I've hod it.... ...... with him ond we seem to
hcve resolved most of the problems.
B.
on out on for out
out
of
over under
Now choose 2 oI ihese idiorns ond leoch them to
your clossmqtes.
D
IDIOMS + TRANSLATION
Compore in your group how your first longuoge
expresses these idioms
o to let the cot out of the bog (=reveol o secret by
.
.
o
o
o
o
occident)
to hove green fingers (=be good of gordening)
to be between the devil ond ihe deep blue seo
(=find yourself with 2 equolly difficult choices)
to hove your heod in the clouds (=5" o
doydreomer)
to be os proud os o peocock (=feel excessively
proud of your ochievements)
to pull someone's leg (=joke, not be serious)
to be broke (=hove no money)
Now choose 2 oI these idioms ond leqch thenr io
your clossmoles.
E
IDIOMS THAT USE THE SAME KEY WORD
Write down os mony idioms os you con thot
incorporote the word "heod":
flosh mobbing
This phroserefers to qn octivity orgonised by o group of people on the Tnfernef
which involves guickly qssembling in o public ploce such qs o stqtion concourse,
doing somefhing bizarre,like o choreographed donce routine, ond then
dispersing as soon as they hove f inished. This provides spontoneous
entertqinment for passers-byl
o
fot
cot
This phrose ref ers to o weolthy, powerful person , often who works in high
finonce or industry, or who is o mojor share-holder in o comPqny.Thesepeople
sre seen os moking large omounts of eosy money of the exPense of honast, hqrdworking people.
cyber-slocking
This phrose descries fhe oct of cvoiding work qnd/or ofher responsibilif ies by
surf ing fhe internet in seqrch of gsmes or other non-work related omusements
such as sending personal e-msils or doing sotne online shopping. The second
word in this phrose meons 'being lazy'.
A wsrdrobe nrolfuncfion
This is the euphemistic term used to ref er to whqt hoppens when o celebrity
qppe.ors on TV or in public, qnd qn item of thair clothing comes undone or falls
down, revealing qn intirnqte port of fheir body to the public. ft wos first used
when this hoppened to Jonet Jockson qt the Superbowlin2004, ond there hove
6een subseguent exomples involving people like Rihonno, Some would soy they're
not occidental, just o publicity stunt!
on eor worm
This phrose describes o song or o piece of music thqt is so cotchy thot you
con't get it out of your mind once you've heord it. So, you might heqr it on the
rodio of breqkfost time, ond spend the rest of the doy with it running through
your heod, whether you like it or not. This phrose is q direct trqnslqtion from
Gernan.
Lis
Horrison
BTC
Homerton
?O14
Whot's thqt oll obout?
q morol
composs
This phrose describes the sense of the diff erence bef ween right ond wrong
thqt everyone should hove, but which is locking in some people, either becouse
of their upbringing or becqusethey hove psychopothic tendencies. 5o, when
someone commits on oct of mindless cruelty, we sqy they hove'no
chick lit
This phrose descnibes novels which areregarded by the speoker as specificolly
writfen with women in mind, eg'Bridget Jones's Diory'. ft hos negative
connotqtions, becouse the f irst word , on Americqn term meoning 'young womon',
is rqther dismissive qnd disrespectful. The second word is simply on
obbreviotion. Together, the two words form o reduplicotive.
retoil theropy
This is q phrqse which is ironicqlly but qff ectionotely used to ref er to
extrovogont, enjoyoble shopping which you might do to cheer yourself up
you're f eeling a bit down.
if
fly
tipping
This phrose describes lhe qnti-sociol proctice of dumping rubbish in public
ploces, such os of the side of the roqd. There's little excuse for this in the UK,
os rubbish collecfion is q serviceoffered by the town council, not privotely, ond
there ore plenty of litter bins oround.Large items cqn be taken to'the tip', ie o
municipol lqnd-fill site.
o food bonk
This phrose describes q centre run by o choritqble or non prof it-moking
orgonisotion thot distributes or gives out food to people qnd fqmilies who ore so
short of money thot they con't offord to f eed themselves properly. The food
moy be donqted by supermorkets or bought with public donotions, ond moy be in
the form of groceries or food cooked ond served up on the premises. Some
people feor fhqt this provision moy erode support for stqte welfare support.
Lis
Horrison
BTC
Homerfon
?OI4
o shelf stocker
This phrose describes someone who works in o supermqrket, replenishing Ihe
disploys of goods on sole. ft's often held up os on exomple of q monotonous,
poorly-poid occupotion,eg 'ff you don't work hord of school, you'll end up os o
shelf stocker
white-von
mon
A phrose whi*h 4***ribas sa{fre*ene wk* is rude, p**rly eCaeated', *nd k*s very
str*ng, *ften unpl****nt oBinians" Tkis kind *f drrvar spends f hein tima w*Ef *
whistling af vu*men , m*Lcing stupid p*stures with tTae.ir Szunds at p*,ssers-V:y und
drr,ting dmnEnr***ty" Stere*typie*lly, they drive d**ltvery v*hir.l**, whi*h *ra
aft*n,"snr{qerbu"ed {ie v,tith yw n#yre *r e*nt*et namb*r art tha si$e}.
trolley roge
This phrose describesthe increosingly comrnon phenomenon of aggressive
behoviour disployed in supermqrkets, which ?anges from pushing onother shoper
out of the woy with your trolley to octuolly romming it into the bock of
' (on plones)
someone's legs if fhey're moving too slowly. We olso hqve 'qir
' (6efween motorists).
ond 'rood
A bock story
This phrose ref ers to q ncrrctive fh*t pr*vides *.'*a*kgr*qJnd r'ar$av"t, esp**ei6lly
far c ch*rscfer *r sifumfi*n in * *CIvel, f ilm, ar dramstie series. ff c f ilm d*es
?his, i?'s *eilled 'c preqe*el'. This phrnse is n*ff/ r-lssd in everydcy tif*.: [f we rne*t
g*rft€*ne who se.*nrs myster{*us or" irafniguizlg, we *right *sk,'Whst's his
tj
a senior moment
This phrose refers to o suddan lopse of concentrotion qnd memory suffered by
most of us os we gef older , eg when we f orgel someone's nqme or leove q set of
photocopies in the teochers' room. ft's often used humorously.
o trout pout
A phrose used to ref er to o womon's lips when she's hod excessive or inexperf
cosmetic surgery done on them to plump them up. ft comes f rom the imoge of o
f ish's mouth, where the lips protrude consideroblyl
Lis
Horrison
BTC
Homerton
2Ol4
uage creation, language change: vocabulary
AFFTXATION
The following modern affixes have all been used widely enough to merit
inclusion in the Macmillan dictionary, Can you work out their meaning from
some examples?
1
2
stephen King is the absolute horror- meister, don't you think?
That Dutch model, Doutzen Kroes, is a real uber-babe: gorgeous
figure, perfect hair and flawless skin.
3
4
6
7
I've just seen yet another ad on TV for a fat-busting drink.
Bill Clinton had to resign after Monicagate, remember?
Not another programme about archaeology. Snoozeville!
Fancy coming over later for a bottle of wine and a bitchfest?
'.
Research the items
Select 2 that you will peer teach
;Language creation, language change: vocabulary
BORROWING
Tlrese are just sonre of the thousands o1'new words to have entered everyday
use in sritiih English from other languages during the 20th century,
.
.
investigate the items by matching the words to their language of origin
Select 2 that vou will peer teach
J3
Japanese
Japanesq___
Ii
| 4 Frannh
t,4
French
i
6
7
German
Greenland Inuit
B Hindi
Finnish
10 Russian
1l Turkish
I
c Schaderrfreude
d sauna
f
i
anorak
biro
chauffeur
bunqalow
k vendetta
.
nguage creation/ language change: vocabulary
Now let's look at REDUPLTCATTVES (items made with rhyming pairs). A
number of colloquial expressions consist of these, Put each of the followinq
items in the correct place in the sente rces below:
flick
drain
chick
brain
blarne
trout pout
culture vulture
meals on wheels
game
romcom
prime time
fun
run
yurnmy mumrny
make or break
Delhi belly
1) This is Terry's last chance to show if he's good enough for the
team. It's
time for him,
2) The programme
is only of limited interest.
I can't understand why they,ve
pur
I on
3)
Elderly people who can't cook for themserves are entitled to a
ry,
national
qpnrir-p
just don't interest my boyfriend, you wouldn,t catch hlm
watching Bridget Jones' Diary or Mamma Mial
4)
5) The
of doctors, scientists and academics leavinq this
country is seriously affecting our health service, universities and industries.
6) He goes to all the new plays and exhibitions, reads all the latest novels
anc ts a regutar opera-goer. what
a
I
7) 5000 people are taking part in Saturday,s five-mile
fn *-i^^
LU IdIJC
money for charity.
B) I really envy Victoria Beckham - with her good
looks and
-' '^l-' ld^
-l-'^fltr))uLt
5t
that great figure,
9) Don't Nicole's lips look funny? That Botox has qiven her a real
10) The sports minister said he wasn't going to enter into a
about the security fiasco, because the responsibility lay with many people.
11) I'm not a big fan of Hugh Grant - he only ever does
prefer more versatile actors'
12) That's the last time I go on a Nile cruisel I had
- nright have been the tap water - and spent most of the time on the
.
Cotrlplete the exercise,
.
Select 2 items that you will peer teach
fnr d.:rrc
I v,
ev
/ J
loo.
nguage creation, language change: vocabulary
BLENDING
Let's tlrink about words which are blends.
Which two words form these new items? To help, look at the definition of the
new word,
electrocute
phubbing
smo9
moobs
kill someone using electricity
the act of ignoring someone who is talking to you
because you are too busy checking your mobile
air pollution in a city
fat on a man's chest that makes it look as if he has
breasts
glanrping
snrirting
brornance
netiquette
screenager
bridezilla
chugger
.
.
holidaying in a luxury tent with all mod cons
indulging in a cigaretLe while chatting someone up
a close but non-sexual'relationship between two men
the rules of correct or polite behaviour among
Internet users
a young person who spends many hours online
a difficult, unpleasant, perfectionist wife-to-be
a person who stops you in the street to bully you
into making regular donations to charity
Investigate the items
Select 2 that you will Peer teach
Whot's qll this obout?
Putting Iogether one word f rom each of the boxes below, how mony
combinqtions cqn you moke to form o compound noun or qn 'odjective + noun'
combinotion2 (in sorne cqses, you'll need to qdd qn orticle)
retoil
morql
chick
shelf
white-von
trout
f lash
flv
trolley
fqt
food
bqck
cyber-
senior
wqrdrobe
ear
story
pout
mqn
tipping
moment
,,
cots
moD
worm
roge
lir
Lis
Horrison
BTC
Homerton
stqcker
2014
composs
bonk
slocking
theropy
mqlf unction
Coll my Bluff
Doughnut development
This is o modern phenomenon. ft occurs when hypermorkets ond lorge
superrnorkets are built on the outskirts of o city, and os o result peoplego
there to do'one-stop'shopping. This mesns thot the mony of the shops in the
city centre, the troditionql place for shopping, close down thnough lock of
business, leoving the centre empty (in commerciol terms) like the hole in a
doughnut.
A salomi attack
This is o modern-doy crime which usuolly involves computer hocking. The criminol
hqcks in to thousonds of bank occounts, for exomple, qnd trqnsfers o very smoll
omount from eoch one into their own occount. Eoch omount is so smoll thqt
either nobody notices or no one bothers to do anything qbout it.However, put
together, these smqll omounts moke o lorge sum.
Yornbombing
This is q kind of hobby ond public Aesture thqt involves knitting colourful covers
f or tree trunks, lomp-posfs ond bike rocks, ond putting them in place in the
middle of the night so thqt the public will see them the naxt monning. ft's socolled becquse the wool used for knitting is colled 'yorn'. We hod several
exomples of this in Cqmbridge lasl summer; they can be seen on Youtubel
6ozumping
This practice is usuqlly connected with house-buying: person A's house is up for
sole. Person B offers him €200,000, which he occepts. Person Cthen offers him
E?!0,0OO, which he occepts , relecting Person B's off er. The estote agent hos to
inform Person B thqt his offer is no longer volid.
This proctice isn't very ethicql, but it isn't illegol becouse the originologreement
wos only verbol.., no controct wos signed.
Hotdesking
This is o proctice in modern, open-plon offices, which meons thot nobody sits ot
the some work-stotion day in, doy out. fnsteod,people toke a diff erent place
eoch doy, depending on which one is freewhenthey arrive. This is meont to be
democrotic, but of course it olso encou?ages people Io get into work eorly so
thot they can geI the best work-stotion, eg the one next to the window.
Chugging
This word is o blending; it cornbines the words 'muggrng' (ie attocking sorneone
in the street with a view to toking their money) ond 'chority'. 5o, o 'chugger' is
someone who stonds in the street with their collecting tin, opprooching possersby ond moking them f eel obliged to donote money.
Presenteeism
This is o phenomenon thot exists in cultures where people are expected to work
long hours without being poid overtime. ft involves stoying ot work just becouse
thot's what's expected of you, not becauseyou're doing onything productive; you
just hcve fo be presentl ft's importqnt that you're also seen to be stoying on
lote. ft's the opposite of whqt tends to hoppen in the UK, where people take
doys off work just becquse Ihey f eel like it.
The pink
pound
This phros e expresses the spending power of the gqy community in a given
society. This cqn be a powerful economic fqctor, qs goy couples, moybe having
double income, but no children to spend their money on, mqy ba prepored fo
spend on expensive home d6.cor, holidoys, clothes, entertoining eIc.
o
Shoulder surfing
This phrase ref ers to the crirninql proctice of looking over someone's shoulder
when they are keying in their PfN number either of o cosh mqchine outside o
bqnk or o chip-ond-pin device in o shop. This informqtion is then used to tqke
money out of the victim's occount without their consent, usually in conjunction
with the stolen debit or credit cord.
z
16)
Full nest syndrome is whqt hoppens to middle-aged porents when their kids,
hoving moved out of the fomily home,eglo go to university, eventuolly move bock in
becquse they con't qfford to live independently in Ihese times of economic crisis. ft's
qlso cqlled 'the boomerong eff ect'.
17i
Snopchot qnd Vine qre video messoging apps which enoble users fo toke photos,
record videos, odd fext qnd drowings, ond send them to c controlled list of recipienfs.
The sociol rnedio opp
of choice qmong most of
rny students...sn hos somefhing else
reploced it?!
18) A kippen is q smoked herring, but here 'o Kipper' meqns o support er of the U KIP
porty. UKIP is fhe UK fndependence Porty: it stqnds for extrerne notionqlism, getting
Britqin out of the EU qnd drosticolly limiting immigrotion. fts leader is Nigel Farage.
12.6% of the electorate voted for UKIP in the May Generql Election, although the porty
only won one seat, thqnks to the'f irst post the post system.
19) Eeno-houE"s contnccfs, or cost.ral confrocts, qllow e,mployers to hire staff wifh nro
guorantee of work. They meqn employees work only whan they ore needed by employers,
offen of short notice. Their poy depends on how mcny hours they wonk.Zqra hsilrs
the ssffie amploynrent nigh?s as regulcn workers, afthcugh f hey eecy h*ve
breaks isi thair emet?rsc?s, w3"lieh sffeets nights thef *ccru& avar tirne.Ter* fueucrs
vcor$cer$ are enfitled fc mftnusE Eeave, the lo*a?iensf fulinimum Wcqe and psv f*r nr,r*rkral*ted frcvel in the s*ffie wfiy as r*g*lar uo,rcrkers
war"ksrs have
2O) Voping is smoking on e-cigarette (so-colled becouseof the vopour thot it gives
ft's gnodually token off in the UK over the lost two yeqrs or so, ond voping f luid in
diff erent f lqvours is on sole in most newsogents, but lhere
obout the chorgers presenting o f ire risk.
off).
hove been recenJ worries
9) 'Upcycling' is the Process of converting woste mqteriqls or objects thot might be
considered useless into qttroctive or useful fhings. So, for exornple, o totty old dress
from o chority shop rnight be restyled, mended ond updoted so thqt it becomes q
vintage item, ond ocguires o new volue.
10)
A scouser is someone who comes from Liverpool. Young f emole scousers are
often presenled os being obsessed with their oppeqronce, ond guick to copy the
lotest fqshion qnd beouty trends, buf olso os locking subtlety. 'scouse brows' ore
eyebrows thqt hqve been tqttooed or pointed on, the nqturql eyebrows sometimes
hoving been removed. When done clumsily, they con look 'nqff' (in bod tosta), but qll
the young TV soap stqrs ore sporting them!
11)
'Phubbing' is q blending of 'phone'qnd'snubbing'. ft describes whqt hoppens
when the parson you qre tqlking to poys more qttention to whqt is hoppening on their
phone or toblet thon to whot you're soying. They ore'phubbing'you.(Sound fomilior2)
t?)
A dqshcom is q miniqture comero thot you ottoch to the dashboqrd of your cor
to record ony exqmples of dongerous or illegol driving by other motorists, especiolly if
you wont being implicoted in q court cose or insurance clqim, qnd f eel it would be
useful to hove recorded evidence of whot reolly hoppened. A sign of Ihe timesl
13)'Totes'
=totqlly,'smoze' ='qmqzing' qnd'qtrosh' = otrocious (nb the
pronunciolion reflects the obbreviotion). This is on exqmple of 'youth speok' where
content words ore cut short, qnd qn's' sometirnes odded, ft wos populorised in Towie
(The Only Woy is Essex) o docusoqp obout the lives ond loves of o group of
twentysomethings f rom Essex....o county whose young residents ore renowned f or
their love of bling ond lock of intellect ond subtlety.
t4)
YOLO = lou only live once, TMI =too much informotion, FOMO = fesr of
missing out. All of these stqrted lifeas text ocronyms, but hove now filtered info
speech, especiolly the f irst two, which ore exclomqtions. The lqst one ref ers to q
feeling of onxiety thqt we might geI if wesee other people hoving more fun thon us,
for exomple on sociol mediq.
15)
Amozonisqtion is q term thof describes the woy our expectqtions regording
customer servicehavebeen changed/rqised becquse we're getting usad to the kind of
service thqt online refailers like Amazon off er. This is o guote from q smoller
refoiler: '\A/e're now oll expecling ease of ordering, technicol infrostructure, speed of
delivery," she sqid. "Once people experience thot with Amazon,lhey begin lo expecf
thqt in every port of your world. And f think thot puts incredible pressure on
distributors, becqus e we can't offord thqt technicol i nf rostructure."
v
How contemporqry is your English? (2Ot5)
1) Dumbwolking is olso known qs'the smarfphone walk'. ft's tFrct Ensil's pcee thc? peaple
odopf when they're sfcnins at e phone screeft - thein hecd down, atrms oufsf,retched,
looking iike zombies. Resesrchers here hcve founei people dori'f just wolk ffiore slowly
when fhey're on smorfphones their f ield of vision is redueed ta8% of whct i? should
bel
?) fn the 80s we ocquired the title'Ms', which women could use when f illing in forms if
they didn't want to stqte whether Ihey were morried or not. Now,'Mx' hos stqrted
oppeoring on f orms os qn qlternotive to 'Mr'/'Miss'/'Ms'/ Mrs' . ft of f ers people of both
genders qn olternqtive by offering q title which meons they don't hove to stqte if Ihey
ore mqrried or single, but qlso indicqtes o neufralgender.
3) We're sqid to zone out when we lose concentrqtion qnd stqrt doydreoming; it could be
becquse wefeel the topic of conversqtion doesn't qpply to us, or simply bacquse we'rd
bored. ft's o term originolly only used by people in their teens ond eorly twenties, but
it seems to be creeping into stondord colloquiql British English.
4) 'Oeneration Pouse' ref ers to young odults who qre not oble to do things previously
typicol fortheir agegroup suchqsbuyohome,getmorriedor stqrtofomilybecouse
of lock of money. According to arecent study, o guorter of young Brits \elieve they'll
never'do the grown-up stuff' becouse they'll never ochieve the necessory f inonciol
security.
5) A displocement activity is something mindless thqt you do in order to put off hoving
to do on unpleosont or boring tosk, For exomple,ralher thon mark thot pile of essays,
you suddenly discover sone urgent cleoning jobs in the kitchen. Never before hqs
hosework seemed so qttrqctive!
6) Vomping is now used to describe the proctice of staying qwoke into the smoll hours
using sociol networks, surf ing lhe net, skyping etc, ie behoving like o (cyber)
vompirel
7) Shift porenting is whot hoppens when (often out of economic necessity) both
porents hove full-time jobs, each working shifts, so thqt when oneleaves the house to
9o to work, the other one tokes over fhe care of the kids ond the household.
8) Lqterqf spoce is whot q flqt or o house hqs if it offers q lot of spoce on o smqll
number of floors, rother thon hovingseveral floors qnd stqircoses. This mqkes the
living qreos biggee qnd more flexible, ond oppeols to many house-buyers, who don't
wqnt to spend their time rushing up and down stoirs Iabe with the rest of the fomily.
How contemporory is your English? (July 2015)
We'vejust looked qt fhe new meoning of the noun'froll', ond the odvent of the nouns'selfie', 'bestie'
ond 'onesie'. Now consider the following neologisms: put o tick ogoinst the ones you olreody know, ond
o question mork ogoinst the ones you think you might.
1) Whot's
dunbwalking, ond why might you find yourself doing it?
Where might you see 'l4x'(pronounced with oschwo), ond whot would purpose would il serve?
2)
3) What do you do if you'zone ouf? Whot might moke you do it?
4) Who belongs to' Qeneration
5)
5)
Pause', ond why are they so colled?
Whot's a 'displacemenf ocfivify' ond why ore Ihey so much port of our lives?
If you spent oll night 'vanping', whqt would you be doing?
7) Whot
8)
is 'shiff parenfing'
ond why do people do it?
Why is 'lateralspace' so imporfqnt to estate ogents nowodoys?
I
' 9) We oll know whqt recycling is, but whot's 'upcycling ?
10) Which UK city do 'Scousers'come from, ond whqt e?e 'scouse brows'2
11)
Whot's 'phubbingj' ond why is it such q hot topie
nowodoysZ
12) Why would you hove o 'dashcami ond where would you put it?
cs 'fofes .amaze', or even'amazeball! how
'fotes
it?
Whst
she
about
obout
does
afrosh? The TV series thqt hqs'immortalised'this
feel
woy of speoking is colled TOWIE. Whqt does this ocronym stqnd f or?
13)If
o young English womqn describes something
:
14) Similorly, whot do the following qcronyms meon?: YOLO,
TMf, FOMO. Would you only see
them in text messages?
15) Whot's 'amazonisation', ond hos
it
aff ected yoP
16) Whct's 'full nest syndrome' ond why might it be so common nowodoys?
17) Whot's 'snapchaffing?
And
'vining'2
18) Most of us hqve eaten kippers, but whot kind
of person is a Kipper?
19)What,sa,zero-hourscontract,,andwhyhavesomsnypeop|egotthem2
I
20) Whot's 'vaping', ond hqs it cought on?