HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Hey everyone, HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So, I decided to write a bit about Halloween. The two key phrases are:

TRICK OR TREAT

and

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Trick or Treat is used by kids to get candy, they ring the doorbell and then say "Trick or Treat" and they will get some candy. They also, sometimes carry UNICEF boxes to raise money for UNICEF by collecting pennies(1 cent coins). If you don't give the kids treats then maybe they will play a bad trick played on you(breaking your pumpkin, throwing eggs on your door, etc.).

When I was a kid we also had this rhyme:

Trick or Treat
Smell my feet
Give me something
Good to eat

Not too big
Not too small
Just the size of
Montreal!

Ok, the two vocabulary words I want to talk about today are; a disguise and a costume.

A costume is when you put on clothes, make up or something to change your appearance for an event like Halloween, Mardi Gras, a party, etc. Often, you dress up to look like someone(Harry Potter, Spider-Man) or something famous(a vampire, a ghost, a princess).

"Hey man, great costume! You look exactly like Frankenstein!"

A disguise is when you put on some clothes or make up to change your appearance TO AVOID RECOGNITION. This means you are hiding your identity, you don't want people to know who you are. For example; you escaped from prison(like in Prison Break) and the police are looking for you so you need to wear a disguise. ^_-

"The police are looking for us! Quick everyone put on your disguises!!!"

Well that is all for now! Enjoy your weekend,

Phil

Stop being so sarcastic!

Do you know what sarcasm is?

Sarcastic is the adjective form of the noun sarcasm.

He's a very sarcastic guy.

Sarcasm is a kind of joke, often not very nice... ...even a bit mean where you want to hurt someone's feelings and make them feel bad.

The way people create a sarcastic sentence is by using INTONATION. When using sarcasm, the intonation tells you that the meaning of the sentence is the OPPOSITE of the words in the sentence.

For example:

You're so smart

This is a complement when using normal intonation but if you use sarcasm you get:

YOU're SOOOO smart.

So YOU and SO are stressed and SO becomes SOOOO.

Or you might hear a "Could you be..." sentence:

Could you be any smarter?

Meaning you are stupid.

Could you be any dumber?

Meaning, no you can't you are REALLY dumb.

Check out this YouTube video from Saturday Night Live a sketch comedy show, this sketch is called SARCASM 101 and is a college course in sarcasm ^_-

The magic of me too!

"Me too" is a REALLY useful phrase! It is the perfect casual way to say that you can also do, own, want to do or did something.



CAN DO:



A: I can swim.



B: I can swim too. = I can too. = Me too.



DID SOMETHING:



A: I went to Canada.



B: I went to Canada too. = I did too. = Me too.



WANT TO DO SOMETHING:



A: I want to go to Fiji.



B: I want to go to Fiji too. = I do too. = Me too.



OWN SOMETHING:



A: I have an ipod.



B: I have an ipod too. = I have one too. = Me too.



So you can see the the most formal is the longest sentence, standard level of politeness is a bit shorter and really casual is the magical ME TOO!



Please remember this is ONLY use when you ALSO want to do, did, own or can do something. So a positive with a positive.



If it is a positive + with a negative - then you have:



A: I can swim. +



B: I can't swim = I can't. -



If it is a negative - with a positive +:



A: I don't have a car. -



B: I have a car. = I do. +



BUT if it is a negative - AND a negative - then you get:



A: I don't want to go to work. -



B: I don't want to go to work either. = I don't either. = Me neither. -



So for positive + and positive + in casual situations use ME TOO and for negative - and negative - situations use ME NEITHER!

There, their, they're review...

Hey everybody, the pronunciation of they are in it's contracted form came up again in one of my lessons yesterday so I thought up a sentence to help you all review:

They're standing over there by their car.

Remember that these all sound EXACTLY the same in North American spoken English.

they're = there = their

同じ発音だよ！＾＿＾

So in my example sentence, they're means they are, over there means あそこ and their means かれらの　or　方々の.

Let's rewrite the sentence now!

They are standing over near the street corner(far away) by the car that they own.

So as you can see, it becomes a much more complicated sentence!

Poems about how crazy English can be!

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Whacha doin?

Hey everyone, yesterday I realized that I forgot a really casual way of saying "What are you...?" is by saying:

"Whacha"

Actually, this is REALLY casual English so "whacha" might mean:

what you(ya) (here are is dropped)
"Whacha doing?" = "What ya doing?" = "What are you doing?"

what are you (to me this is the most common and correct use of whacha)
"Whacha gonna eat for dinner?" = "What are you going to eat for dinner?"

what do you
"Whacha do for a living?" = "What do you do for a living?" (job)



what did you
"Whacha do yesterday?" = "What did you do yesterday?"


what have you
"Whacha been doing lately?" = "What have you been doing lately?"


There is also an interesting English word for something that you forget the name for...


A whachamacallit!


This comes from the sentence "what do you call it?". Or according to the Urban Dictionary "what you may call it" from T.H. White's book The Once and Future King.
(http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=whachamacallit)


Ok, that is it for now!


Phil

medical words, part 3

Hey people, today I will wrap up my 3 part series about medical words. I will start with two words I forgot to mention last time:

insomnia: This is when you CAN'T sleep. You stay awake all night in bed... almost every night.

fever: This is when your body temperature is higher than normal.

Now, let's go over some simple vocabulary to talk about times you hurt yourself a bit...

cut: This is when something sharp cuts through your skin and makes you bleed.

"Ouch! I cut myself."

"Damn, I got a paper cut." (When the edge of a piece of paper cuts your finger)

scrape: This is when you skin gets scratched and bleeds very little.

"Mom, I fell down and scraped my knee!"

burn: This is when heat hurts your skin...

"Be careful, the pot is hot."

"Ouch!!! I burned myself."

sprain: This is when you move your arms or legs(usually) and twist your muscles in the wrong direction. So you pull the ligaments that connect your muscle to the bone.

"I was jogging this morning and sprained my ankle."

bruise: This is when you get hit and your skin turns black and/or blue... like a black eye.

"Wow, look at the boxer! He's covered in bruises."

The importance of the word ache. This means you suffer a dull long lasting pain.
There are many compound words hat use ache.

headache: Probably the most common word using ache. It means your head hurts.

"Man, I am really stressed at work, it's giving me a headache."

earache: This is when your ear hurts continually. Usually because of an infection.

"I have to go, my son has an earache."

toothache: This is when your tooth or teeth hurt non-stop. Usually because of a cavity.

"You should go see a dentist for your toothache."

stomachache: For kids you might say a tummyache. Tummy is another word for stomach used when talking to children. This is when your stomach hurts, usually because of something you ate.

"Aww, owww, I ate to much ice-cream... I have a stomachache."

Well there you go, the medical series is done! What should I do next?

Have a nice week!

Phil

backache:

Yay! Mikan season is here!!!

Well, as some of you must know fruits in Japan look perfect, taste delicious and are HUGE. Agriculture is a very intensive industry here and farmers are very careful that their produce is perfect. Historically, fruits were given as gifts and not often consumed as snacks. This is why fruits are so expensive here. And, of course, like the US and other countries, Japan is protective of their agricultural industry and imported fruits and vegetables(that can be grown in Japan) tend to be REALLY expensive. One of the cheapest fruits in Japan are bananas because they can't be grown here and they are produced in third world countries. Though I did hear there is some kind of banana diet fad driving up prices...

Anyways, my favorite fruit in Japan are mikans. In English, we call them clementines or mandarins. I love them because they are reasonably priced, conveniently sized and make great snacks! Onto our lesson...

Today, we will be looking at the word: season. Now, all of you know the standard meaning which is one of the four seasons: spring, summer, winter and, fall/autumn. There is another meaning when talking about produce(fruits and vegetables). This is the idiom in season or out of season.

in season: This means that it is available or ready for eating.

"Mikans are in season in the fall"

"Corn is in season in late summer"

Basically, in season is the time of year when the harvest is in and there are ALOT of a fruit or vegetable(also used for fish/seafood). It is the best time to eat them and they are usually the most delicious when in season. ^_^

out of season: Has the opposite meaning, a fruit or vegetable is rare and unavailable. IF you can find them, they are usually imported, expensive and may not taste all that good. So you should avoid eating foods when they are not in season.

A: What!?!?!? 1000 yen for a bag of mikans???

B: Yeah, their out of season right now...


So everyone, please enjoy the mikans while they are in season!

Phil