Brace yourself~!

Hey everyone, my friend used this in an email to me last weekend and it made me smile. I hadn't heard it in a long time! He wrote:  

"We're on our way. Brace yourselves."

Do you understand what he meant? A brace is something that holds two pieces together or a part of a building that helps to keep walls or roofs standing. Brace yourself is a sailing term. It is used when a big wave or storm is coming. It means get ready for something big! Hold on tight so you don't fall off the boat!

So my friend was saying get ready for us!

You can use this whenever something big is about to happen. You are warning the people you are with to get ready and hold on tight.

A: We're gonna crash!
B: Aaaah... brace yourself!
$%%#%CRASH%$^&

Dan: Brace yourself, I have big news!
Ben: What's happening?
Dan: I quit my job!
Ben: REALLY? Why?
Dan: I'm starting my own business.
Ben: Good luck.

Let's all have an exciting October~!

Phil

kind of = sort of

Today I was reminded once again that most textbooks don't teach sort of. This has the same meaning as kind of. I feel it is more casual and maybe using it makes you sound a bit young. Plus, I feel it is probably a dialectical difference.

I mean depending on where the speaker is from they will be more likely to use kind of or more likely to use sort of. This is kind of like the difference between 超　（ちょう）　and　めちゃ. People in Osaka tend to use mecha and people in Tokyo tend to use cho but they mean the exact same thing!

That's why I think it is important to know both expressions as you will often hear them in different TV shows or movies. Anyways, here's a lesson I wrote a few years ago explaining sort of and kind of!

I just did some quick research and apparently kind of is preferred in American English and sort of is preferred in British English. Being from Canada I guess that is why it seems natural to me to use both!

The study focuses on modern British English and also states that kind of seems to be preferred in written English and sort of in spoken English. Maybe that's why most textbooks seem to focus on kind of... I think it is a really interesting study with lots of tips about usage of these two expressions in British English. You can find it HERE.

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Kind of, Sort of posted October 27th, 2010

Hey everyone, today I am just writing a quick lesson while taking a break from studying Japanese. In all the textbooks I've taught, they always teach:

KIND OF

which is a very useful expression. It has two main meanings:

- a type of thing

- a little bit, somewhat

That store sells many types of furniture.

means

That stores sells many kinds of furniture.

When you use type of it sounds a bit more formal/educated/business like and kind of sounds more casual/friendly. Also, the pronunciation of kind of changes pretty easily:

kind of ------> kindov ---->kinda

When you want to specify more than one kind of use kinds of. Which is pronunced:

kinds of -----> kinzov ----> kinza

Kinda and kinza are pronunced with a bit of a rising intonation on the a.

The second meaning of kind of is somewhat or a little bit, it is similar to め in Japanese:

柔らかい　－－－－＞　柔らかめ

Yawarakai (soft) becomes Yawarakame(kind of soft).

Now, most textbooks don't teach the even more casual form which has the exact SAME MEANING as kind of which is SORT OF.

The pronunciation of sort of is:

sort of -----> sordov -----> sorda

Again with a rising intonation on the a.

I'm somewhat hungry.

I'm a bit hungry.

I'm kind of hungry.

I'm sort of hungry.

So somewhat is the MOST formal and sort of is the LEAST formal. Remember, by saying sorda or kinda you will make it even more casual~! But all of these sentences have the same general meaning. ^_^

Have a good day,

Phil

Ummm... I'm stumped.

Hey everybody, have you heard this expression before?

According to thefreedictionary.com it means "to be at a loss, to baffle". It basically means that you don't know the answer to something, you are puzzled or confused...

It's either used as an adjective:

stumped

Tom's stumped. He has no idea what the answer is~!

or as a verb:

to stump someone

I learned a new riddle and hopefully I'm gonna stump the teacher!

OK, you stumped me. What's the answer?

You will often hear people use this when they are giving up figuring out a problem on their own and want some help.

Ally: I'm stumped.

Bill: Oh, what's wrong?

Ally: I can't figure out the problem with our new program.

Bill: Let me take a look. Together, I think we can figure it out.

Ally: Thanks Bill.

Have nice night,

Phil

I need a change of pace.

Hey everyone, last May I taught you the word pace. Which means a step or the speed at which you walk/move/do something. 

Phil walks at a quick pace.

Life in Tokyo is fast paced.

That movie was too slow paced, nothing happened for the first 40 minutes!

You can see that lesson here.

The other day I was teaching a lesson and taught:

a change of pace

I then realized I forgot to include this common idiom in my pace lesson! So today I will teach you how to use this very common idiom.

It means that something has been moving at the same speed for a long time and it has gotten a little boring or tiring. You need to change your pace (speed up or slow down) to feel refreshed.

When traveling on foot, you move faster if you change your pace (walk 10 minutes, jog 30 minutes, walk 10 minutes, run 10 minutes, jog, etc) than if you keep the same pace all the time.

This idiom is usually used to talk about your life, you are getting bored with how your life is going and you want a change of pace. Either you want to slow things down or you want to speed things up.

1. I used to be a stock-broker in New York but it was really stressing me out. My doctor told me I should slow things down so I decided to start an organic farm for a change of pace.                       
2. I've been stuck in this small town since college, I need a change of pace! Next year, I think I'm gonna move to the big city!                                                                                                    
3. I always go to McDonald's so sometimes I go to Lotteria for a change of pace.

As you can see, change of pace is usually used with need or for a. 

Need is often used BEFORE you've changed things, you use it to talk about a change you're thinking/dreaming of doing.

For a is used to explain the REASON you changed something. You are explaining that things had gotten boring and you needed to do something different.

After traveling around the world for a year and a half, I realized I needed a change of pace so I decided to settle down in Japan and teach English for awhile.

Have a good week,

Phil

butter, batter, better, bitter tongue twister~!

Hey everyone, I was teaching the definition of batter today and it reminded me of a famous nursery rhyme called Betty Botter. You can find information about it here. 

Here is the tongue twister:

Betty Botter bought some butter,

"But," she said, "this butter's bitter;

If I put it in my batter,

It will make my batter bitter;

But a bit of better butter,

Better than the bitter butter

Will but make my bitter batter better."

So she bought a bit of better butter,

Better than the bitter butter,

and made her bitter batter better.

Betty Botter bought a bit of butter.

The butter Betty Botter bought was a bit bitter

And made her batter bitter.

But a bit of better butter

Makes better batter.

So Betty Botter bought a bit of better butter,

Making Betty Botter's bitter batter better.

 

 

Here is a video from youtube, unfortunately I couldn't find a version I liked in North American English.

 

 

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

This is a stick up~!

Today, we are looking at phrasal verbs and expressions using the verb "to stick". The first one we are looking at is:

a stick up

This is a robbery. Someone comes into a bank or shop and yells "This is a stick up" and all the people there stick their hands up in the air.

to stick with ( X )

This means that you will stay on the same team as someone. You won't leave them.

I tried Coke but I think I'll stick with Pepsi.

Meaning, I am a Pepsi drinker and I tried coca-cola but I won't change brands. I will continue to drink Pepsi.

We have to split up. Tom you stick with me. Jed go with Paul.

to stick up for ( X )

This means that you will stand up for someone. You will take their side and defend them.

When I was young I always stuck up for my brother.

You should stick up for yourself. You shouldn't let people push you around.

to stick around

This means that you will stay in the same place. You won't leave.

Al: Ted you should stick around till Jill shows up. You'll like her.

Ted: I can't stick around anymore or I'm gonna miss my train.

Al: Don't leave yet. Stick around just a bit more.

Ted: OK, I'll stick around for 10 more minutes.


 Have a good week,

Phil

Have you had enough?

OK, I posted about this topic way back in 2009! you can see the original entry here. Today, I will keep it very simple.

When using the word enough it comes BEFORE nouns but AFTER adjectives.

I was glad I brought enough money shopping. I almost ran out (of money).

I didn't eat enough food this morning.

She is pretty enough but kind of boring to talk to.

I am not tall enough so the coach said I can't be on the basketball team.

I can't get enough of this delicious steak! It's addictive!

A: Have you had enough pizza? Would you like some more?

B: No thanks, I'm fine.

Enough means that you are satisfied and don't need anymore. Of course in NEGATIVE sentences it means you aren't satisfied and want more~! To run out of something means to have none left.

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

Fight or argue?

Hey guys, do you know the difference between these two words?

ARGUE is VERBAL you are just using words. You might shout, scream or yell or even just talk in an excited way. You are basically having a disagreement using words.

in a car...

Anne: I think Stacy is the cutest!

Betty: No, it's Heidi.

Anne: Stacy, she has dimples!

Betty: Heidi has round eyes!

Anne: Stacy!

Betty: Heidi~!

Mom: Stop arguing!!!

FIGHT can be verbal or PHYSICAL or even BOTH. Many times things start off verbally and then progress into a physical fight...

...later.

Betty: Heidi is cuter! Stacy is an ugly cow!

Anne: Take that back! 

Betty: No~! Heidi is the best!

Anne: POW~ ! (hits Betty)

Betty: Owww.... Mom, Anne hit me~!

Mom: I told you to stop fighting~~! That's it we're going home, no concert for you bad girls!

Girls: Mooooo~m~!

So fight is a bit more general, you aren't sure exactly what happened but you know that two people or groups disagreed and are enemies or opponents. Argue is a bit more narrowly focused, you know that people just yelled or raised their voices. Argue is therefore a bit weaker than fight.

I saw a woman arguing with her friend on the train, they were so loud!

I had a fight with my wife so I had to sleep on the couch.

When I was a kid, I always used to fight with my brother.

Try not to start any arguments! You don't wanna get into any fights~!

Phil 

P.S. Be careful, fight is a noun and verb but argue is only a verb! The noun form is argument.