Calisthenics

Hey guys, do you know what this word means? 

Calisthenics are physical exercises you use to build up your muscle tone and help your body feel healthy. They are often kinds of STRETCHES or gymnastics. In Japanese, it means 体操 (たいそう). You can find a link to wikipedia here and weblio here.

It is a good idea to do calisthenic stretches before going for a run.

I am trying to stay in shape so I started doing calisthenics every day.

Have a nice week,

Phil     

It doesn't make any sense...

Do you guys know what that means? It means that something isn't logical. It seems crazy to you and you can't understand it.

To make sense

To be logical, reasonable and understandable..

His explanations always make perfect sense.

What you're saying makes sense.

I can't make sense of calculus. It is too hard!

That movie didn't make any sense, I don't get why he wanted to date Julie... she was pretty but her character was so mean!

To not get something means to not understand something.

As you can see it is often used in a negative form to say that you didn't understand something or something isn't logical. You can also use it in a even more casual way by saying:

To make no sense

He was talking but what he was saying made no sense!

I could make no sense of what was written because of your horrible handwriting.(sounds formal)

It makes no sense coming back here tomorrow, let's just buy it now.

You can also have sense. In this case, it means that you are a reasonable person who makes good decisions.

He has a great fashion sense.
He is fashionable.

He has no sense.
He is foolish.

In British English, you will often hear the word nonsense. This sounds quite formal and means something is wrong, foolish or in vulgar North American English bullshit. 

Alice: Someday, Man will walk on Mars.

David: That's nonsense, it is too expensive. Man will never go there!

 Any questions?

Phil
 

Down the drain...

Do you know what a drain is? In Japanese, it is 流し. When someone says:

Something is down the drain

They mean that it is wasted. For example; you bought something and it broke, so your money went down the drain.

I can't believe it broke! I bought this lamp yesterday... that's 50 bucks down the drain...

Man, I spent the whole night with her and didn't even get a goodnight kiss! What a waste, my whole Friday night has gone down the drain...

As you can see, you can replace is with to go.

If you don't eat that pie soon it'll go bad. That'll be 3 bucks down the drain.

Bucks = dollars in casual North American English. 

Have a nice weekend,

Phil 

We all need to chip in and lend a hand!

Hey everyone, today we will look at the meaning of the phrasal verb:

chip in

It has three meanings. The first is to work together.

Ed: How were you able to get this party ready in just a day?

Fred: We all chipped in and did our best.

Ed: That's great.

The second meaning is related, it means to help pay for something together.

Paul: Wow guys, a new computer! You shouldn't have!

Friends: Well, we all chipped in.

Paul: Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it.

It is a great way to buy a really special gift for someone. Individually, you don't want to spend so much but together you can afford a fantastic present!

It is also useful when asking people to help pay for something.

Hey guys, it's almost closing time. I'll go get more beer if you all chip in.

I'll give you a ride to Tokyo if you chip in on gas.

The third meaning is to interrupt with a comment.

During my presentation this guy kept chipping in with stupid comments. It was really annoying...

If you have any questions or comments feel free to chip in with your two cents.

Someone's two cents, means their opinion. 

Any questions? 

Phil

It's no big deal.

I have talked about a good deal before, it means that something was good value for money. You can see that lesson here. Today, we will look at the usage of deal in the expression:

a big deal

This is a situation, subject or event which people think is important. It is often used to highlight something as important.

Alice: Did you hear? Ted got the promotion!

Bill: Wow, that's a big deal isn't it?

Alice: Yeah, his salary will double and he'll have lots more responsibility.

Bill: Good for him! 

It can also be used to be modest and humble(謙辞 - けんじ). In this case, you will say "it's no big deal" or "it's not a big deal". 

A: I hear you got 100% on your test.

B: Yeah, it's no big deal.

A: Don't be so modest! You worked hard for that grade.

 ------
C: Weren't you on TV for rescuing those kids?

D: It was not a big deal. I'm a firefighter, I was just doing my job.

Any questions?

Phil

We need to Talk...

Today we're going to have a quick cultural miscommunication lesson. Back when I first started dating my wife she sometimes emailed me the sentence "We need to talk" this always filled me with dread and caused me a lot of stress...

...do you know why? In English, when someone says "We need to talk" it is 95% of the time followed by BAD NEWS! So these words are REALLY strong in English and shouldn't normally be used.

For example:

Boss: John come into my office we need to talk.

John: Did I do something wrong? Am I getting fired???

Boss: No, no but you are getting transferred to our Arkansas office.

John: Arkansas... uh... OK...

The most common usage of this phrase you'll see in movies or TV shows is before someone breaks up with someone. In most cases when your boyfriend/girlfriend says this your partner thinks you will break up with them~!

Jill: John about your transfer to Arkansas...

John: Yeah, Jill?

Jill: We need to talk... I can't do a long distance relationship...

John: What? Are you breaking up with me??!?!

Jill: Sorry but long distance relationships never work out.

John: This week sucks!

So PLEASE don't use the phrase "We need to talk" lightly, instead try to say what you want directly or use the weaker"I have to tell you something" BUT remember try and be SPECIFIC.

"I have to tell you something" could also make people feel bad news is coming. If you say "I have to tell you something about my job" or "I have to tell you about my new hobby" then people won't feel any worry.

Ed: Hey Tina, I have to tell you about something. Do you have a minute?

Tina: Sure, what's up?

Ed: I'm gonna open up my own coffee shop.

Tina: Cool~!

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

What's a keel?

A keel is the spine of a ship, it is the middle part of the bottom frame. You can see a picture here:

http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4037

You can learn more on wikipedia in English here or in Japanese here.

Anyways, keel is used in a few popular idioms and phrases.

The most common is to keel over. This is like when a boat capsizes and flips over so the keel is on top. It means to collapse suddenly, usually it is used when someone faints or drops dead unexpectedly.

I was eating lunch with my boss when he suddenly keeled over grabbing his chest. He had a heartattack!

When my Mom saw my scary costume she keeled over in a faint!

My friend has diabetes and her blood sugar was low so she fainted and keeled over. I gave her some sweets and she woke up.

The other expression is on an even keel or keep something/someone on an even keel. It means things are going smoothly, calmly and without trouble. It comes from when a ship is sailing on calm waters the keel is flat and even.

My married life's been on an even keel lately, it's great!

We need to keep our company on an even keel in this tough economy.

After keeling over from overwork last week, I decided to take things a bit more slowly to keep myself on an even keel.

Have a nice sunny Saturday~!

Phil