Do you have a hangover?

Hey everyone, just a last quick lesson for the month of August. Actually, I thought I had covered this before but looking back through my old blog posts it looks like I never did~!

Anyways, the first word we are looking at today is:

hangover

Which in Japanese is, 二日酔い (ふつかよい). It is when you drink too much and the next day you wake up with a headache, stomachache and feel really dehydrated (your body doesn't have enough water). Basically, you feel terrible!

I got so wasted yesterday~! So, I have a horrible hangover today.

I hate getting hangovers, it sucks...

For more one hangovers check it out on wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hangover

The word hangover is a noun BUT there is also the adjective HUNGOVER:

I was really hungover this morning.

He looks hungover.

Watch out!

Hangover is a noun which is used with get or have:

I got/have a hangover.

Hungover is an adjective used with the to be:

I'm hungover.

Hair of the dog

This idiom means that when you are hungover you decide to start drinking again to cure your hangover. It is a short form of the idiom "the hair of the dog that bit you" which is an old cure for rabies where you would put some hair from the dog that bit you under your tongue~! Wow, I had no idea about that.

It has been a common English idiom since Shakespeare's time to talk about starting to drink again to cure a hangover. To read more about it check out this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_of_the_dog

In Japanese, you would say: 迎え酒 (むかえざけ).

After a hard night drinking, the only thing that cures my hangover is hair of the dog.

Hmm, all this talk about beer is making me thirsty~! Time to grab a beer, see you next month,

Phil

It has sentimental value...

Hey everyone, I am back from my summer vacation and I had a great time! I am now much more relaxed and refreshed. I hope you all enjoyed your holidays as well.

Do you know the expression sentimental value?

It is pretty useful, we use it when we want to talk about something being valuable for sentimental reasons.

For example, you have a necklace made of wood and beads-it isn't really valuable BUT your best friend gave it to you in high school and you've had it for a long time... ...so it has sentimental value.

Hey be careful with that vase, it has sentimental value~!

A: Man your blanket is falling apart.

B: Yeah, I should throw it away but it has sentimental value. My grandmother made it for me.

Ok, I will try and post once more this month. Have a good week,

Phil

School House Rocks, Electricity

This is the last School House Rocks video I am going to post during Obon Vacation. It is about electricity, I will be back in Japan in a few more days so expect new English lessons next week!

Hope you all had a great vacation,

Phil

School House Rocks, the founding of the US

Here's a School House Rocks video about the founding of the USA. I think I will post one more about science and after that I will be back in Japan posting lessons as usual~!

Enjoy,

Phil

School House Rocks, adverbs...

Today's video is about adverbs, enjoy!

Phil

School House rock, interjections

Ok while I am abroad during summer vacation I think I will publish a few of the School House Rocks videos, maybe a few on English and one or two about the US.

Here's a video on interjections like:

Doh! (Homer Simpson's favorite^_-)

ouch!





More videos later this week!

Phil

Do you like to cuddle?

OK here's one last quick lesson before I go on vacation. The other day I was teaching quite advanced students and they didn't know these verbs:

-to snuggle

-to cuddle

Do you know them? These are both warm, positive verbs often used when talking about getting comfortable or about being close to someone you love.

To snuggle means to lie or press closely together. It can also mean to curl up closely or comfortably. The second (weaker) meaning is one of hugging and holding someone closely to comfort them or to show your affection.

To cuddle, is very positive and is an expression full of love & affection. It has a strong meaning of hugging and holding in your arms. The second (weaker) meaning is to curl up closely or comfortably.

So as you can see these two verbs are really close and can pretty much be used interchangeably.

1- I like to cuddle up with a good book.

2- I like to snuggle up with a good book.

3- I like to curl up with a good book.

For me #1 and #3 sound the most natural, I wouldn't say #2 it sounds too cute so I guess women might be more likely to say it or people speaking a slightly different English dialect would use it.

My girlfriend likes to cuddle in bed, it keeps me from sleeping!

It was so cold yesterday, I snuggled into my blanket and didn't wanna get out of bed.

Alright that is it for now, I will post some videos from youtube over the break and try and post a few more lessons at the end of the month~!

Have a great summer vacation,

Phil

You have a terrible poker face.

Do you know this idiom? Today, we'll just have a quick idioms lesson. Enjoy!

A poker face is when someone's face doesn't show ANY emotion. It is used when someone lies to trick someone. In poker this is called BLUFFING. It is when you lie to trick people into thinking you have good cards and they decide to quit playing--which means you win~!

Jim has a terrible poker face, I always know when he's lying.

So the verb to bluff means to deceive someone, to trick them by using false confidence. You aren't good but you PRETEND to be good to get your opponent to quit.

A: If you don't stop, I'm gonna tell Mom!
B: You're bluffing! If you tell Mom you'll get in trouble too.
A: Try me! I swear I'm gonna tell Mom.
B: OK, OK, I'll stop.

Alright, that is it for now. I'll try to post one more lesson before I go on vacation, have a good weekend!

Phil