Are you a slob?

Hey everyone, have you heard the casual English noun a slob before? It means someone who is VERY MESSY, they often have food stains on their clothes, their rooms have garbage everywhere, etc. I think it might be similar to the Japanese: ふしだらな人.


A: I had to break up with Paul.


B: Really? Why? He was such a good guy.


A: Yeah, but he was a total slob! His apartment was really gross.


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Hal: Jill, you have to stop being such a slob at work!


Jill: Huh? What do you mean?


Hal: People are starting to complain about all the empty take-out containers all over your desk and your overflowing trash can.


Jill: Oh, uh... sorry. I'll try to clean up more often.


So,


Are you a slob?


Phil

Rock and a Hard Place revisted...

In English, there are some common idioms/expressions I think even low level students should know. One is:

It's a piece of cake.

This means it is VERY EASY and is most often used when someone is trying to persuade you to do something. For example:

A: Square dancing... I don't know, it looks kind of hard...

B: C'm'on (Come on) it'll be fun! Square dancing is a piece of cake~!

A: Really? It's not really my kind of thing...

B: How can you say that? You've never even tried it... give it a shot!

A: Ok, ok, I'll give square dancing a try.

Another expression I think is useful is:

to be (stuck) between a rock and a hard place

This means you are in a tough or impossible situation where both of your options are bad. Some possible Japanese translations are:


二進も三進も行かない

 板挟み

 進退両難 【しんたいりょうなん】 This is the one I think is closest ^_-

Al: I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Pat: What's wrong?

Al: Well my boss wants me to go on a business trip.

Pat: So? What's the big deal?

Al: Well, it's on my wedding anniversary. So if I go my wife will be really angry, if I tell my boss no he's going to get angry! Plus bye bye promotion...

Pat: Yeah, you really are in a tough spot! Where's does your boss want you to go?

Al: New York City.

Pat: I got it~! Take your wife with you and turn it into a weekend romantic getaway.

Al: Pat you're a genius~! You're a real lifesaver!

I went over this idiom a long time ago so feel free to check out that lesson here.

Have a nice night,


Phil

chaku, hatsu, yuki, madeni

Hey guys, today I am going to talk about some common Japanese train expressions and their English equivalents.


~chaku, 着


This means arriving at~


So　東京着 means arriving at Tokyo or going to Tokyo.


~hatsu, 発


This means leaving~ or departing from~.　So　大阪発　means　leaving/departing from Osaka.


~yuki, 行き


This is similar to ~chaku I guess but sounds more formal. It is often used in train announcements, in English we'd say bound for.


今日と行くの電車。


A train bound for Kyoto.


~madeni、までに

This means at any time before X. It is often used for deadlines.

Please hand in your report before (by) March 10th. 

3月10日までにリポートを提出してください。


Any questions?


Phil

Mount vs. Mountain

Hey everyone do you know the difference between these two terms? They have the same meaning but are use differently.


Mount is like the Japanese -さん. For example:


Mt. Fuji or Mount Fuji = 富士山


From thefreedictionary:


Mt. A mountain or hill. Used especially as part of a proper name.


Mountain is more like the Japanese やま.

山を登りましょう！

Let's hike up/climb a mountain!

Actually, this is a good chance to tell you the difference between hiking and mountain climbing. Hiking is when you just walk up a mountain. Mountain climbing is when you need special equipment to get up a hill. 

I hiked up Mt. Takao.

I climbed Mt. Everest.

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

He got shot~!!!

Hey everyone, today I want to talk about the use of "a". It can really change the meaning of a sentence!


Let's go out for a drink. 


That means to go out for 1 or 2 drinks, you'll only be out for a short time.


Let's go out for drinks.


This means to go out for more than 2 drinks,  you'll be out for a long time.


I ate a watermelon.


This means you ate a WHOLE watermelon.


I ate watermelon.


This means you ate SOME watermelon.


Now let's look at the example in the title.


Tom got shot.


This means that Tom got shot by a gun~!!! A rare event and very scary.


Tom got a shot.


This can mean two different things depending on the context.


1- He got an injection(注射). For example: Tom got a flu shot. He got a flu vaccination.


2- He had a CHANCE. 


Give me a shot coach! I know I can beat him!

He has a shot at the World Heavyweight Title.


I got a shot at happiness but I blew it.


Are you crazy??? You don't have a shot with her, she's WAY too hot.


I blew my shot. (I messed up my chance)


So you can have, give, get or blow a shot. Any questions?


Phil

Sunrise? Sunset? Dawn? Dusk?

Do you know the difference between these terms?


Sunrise is similar to dawn. Dawn is the time in the morning when daylight first starts to show up. Sunrise is  an event, it is the time when the sun rises over the eastern horizon in the morning.  So dawn usually begins BEFORE sunrise, the sky grows light and you can see a little better and then finally you begin to see the sun rising over the horizon. Dawn can also mean beginning; at the dawn(beginning) of time.


Sunset is similar to dusk. Dusk is when the sky starts to grow dark in the evening. Sunset is when the sun begins to disappear over the western horizon.


They are pairs of opposites:

sunrise <----------> sunset

dawn <--------> dusk

You watch sunrises/sunsets.

I saw an amazing sunset once in Uruguay, the sky looked like it was on fire.

Dawn is a peaceful time of day when everyone is asleep.

I eat dinner at dusk every evening.

I hate getting up at dawn before the sun rises!

I want to see the sunrise from the top of Mt.Fuji someday.

Dawn & dusk are a bit older words but they are still used, especially in horror movies and stories.


Sunrise and sunset are much more commonly used words.


Have a nice week,


Phil

Where's Tom? He was a no show.

Here's a quick Sunday lesson. Do you understand this lesson's title? Well you will soon~!


We're looking at the expression:

no show

It means that someone didn't show up, they didn't come. The structure is:

to be + no show

For example:

Sally's been really busy lately, I hope she won't be a no show at the party...

Harry: Where's Sue?

Terry: Sue's a no show man, she just texted me to let me know.

Harry: Really? That sucks man.


To text means to send someone a short written message to their cellphone usually from your cellphone.

Have a good night,

Phil

Do you have a sensitive stomach?

Hey everyone, do you understand what that question means? 


A sensitive stomach is when someone easily gets stomachaches, upset stomach or has digestion problems.

Sally: When I travel, I have to be really careful about what I eat.

Fred: Really? Why?

Sally: I have a sensitive stomach. If I eat strange food or if it isn't cooked well I easily get indigestion.

Fred: That's too bad~! I have a cast-iron stomach. I can eat anything and I never get sick. I spent 3 months in India eating food from street vendors and never had a problem!

Sally: WOW! You really do have a cast-iron stomach! I'm jealous...

A cast-iron stomach is the opposite of a sensitive stomach. It means your stomach is REALLY tough like cast-iron (鋳鉄 - ちゅうてつ) and you can eat anything without any problems.


How about you guys? What kind of stomach do you have?


Phil