When in Rome...

Do you know what this famous saying means?

It is the short form of:

When in Rome do as the Romans do

In Japanese, you'd say 郷に入っては、郷に従え (ごうにいってはごうにしたがえ). We use this to say that when you are in a new environment you should do what the local people are doing. It is such a common saying that it is often shortened to "When in Rome..."

The most common usage is you are travelling or somewhere new with your friend and suddenly you see some strange or different behavior and are not sure if you want to join in and try something new.

Al: What kind of meat is this?

Bill: I think it's whale meat...

Al: Whale!? I don't want to eat whale!

Bill: When in Rome...

Al: Well, ok. I'll try a bite.

----

Craig: What!?! Some kid just sprayed water on me!

Sam: Oh, I think it's Songkran the water festival. Just spray him back!   

Craig: Well, you know what they say: "When in Rome..."

Sam: "...do as the Romans do!"

Have a nice Golden Week,

Phil

  

He has a big mouth!

Today we will look at two similar idioms. The first is:

to have a big mouth

This has two meanings, the first is that someone can't keep a secret.

Bill: John, tell me what happened.

John: No way, you have a big mouth!

Bill: I swear, I can keep a secret.

John: No, everyone knows you love to gossip!

The second meaning is that you speak when you shouldn't, you don't know when to keep your mouth shut.

Tom: Terry has a big mouth!

Helen: Huh? What are you talking about?

Tom: I was talking to our boss about our project and she interrupted him to attack the project!

Helen: What?! Really?

Tom: Yeah, now the boss is rethinking it. That's 2 months of work down the drain...

The second idiom we will look at is:

to be a blabbermouth

This also means someone can't keep a secret. It doesn't have any other meanings.

Chris: Ted's a real blabbermouth.

Pat: Why do you say that?

Chris: Every time I tell him something private, the next day everyone in the office is talking about it!

So if you know someone that can't keep a secret you now have two ways to describe them! But remember these expressions are pretty negative so be careful.

Have a nice week,

Phil 
  

 

Abrasive

Abrasive is a great high level vocabulary word. It is a noun which means a substance that is rough or scratchy, like sandpaper, which is used to polish, clean or smooth surfaces.

It can also be used as an adjective:

Do not use abrasive cleaners on your non-stick teflon pan.

Because the original meaning of abrasive is one of a rough surface which is a bit painful to rub against your skin so when you use this word to talk about people it has a negative meaning. It means that someone's behavior is harsh or rough.

It's most often used with the word personality.

I don't like Chris, he has an abrasive personality. It rubs me the wrong way.

My new teacher is annoying her voice is high pitched and abrasive.

Have a nice week,

Phil

What can you do in Barcelona?

Hey everyone, for today's quick lesson we will look at a simple English expression you can use when traveling. 

What can you do in (city/country/area)?

In this question, you is talking about people in general. When you visit a tourist information office you don't say:

What can I do in New York? XXX weird English XXX

The staff don't know you, they have no idea what you like to do so you have to ask about what people usually do in New York....

Tourist: What can you do in New York?
Staff: Tons of things! You can visit museums like MOMA or the MET, see a Broadway musical or take a ferry to visit Ellis Island. 
Tourist: The ferry sounds nice, do you have any pamphlets?

So today's structure is the simple:

What can you do in _______?
You can...

You can use this with friends, people you meet while traveling, basically anyone you'd like to get advice about things to do in an area.

Have a good week,

Phil

I can do it for sure!

Hey everyone for the first real lesson of the month I am looking at the difference between for sure and definitely.

The meaning of these two expressions is the same, they are adverbs used to predict the outcome of an action. They mean you think there is a 100% chance something will happen.

It will definitely rain tonight.

Tomorrow's gonna be sunny for sure.

Since you use them to predict something you generally use them with future verb tenses. Definitely can be used in all situations but comes BEFORE the verb/action you are talking about.

He can definitely eat 10 hot dogs in 10 minutes.

My company can definitely fulfill your order on time.   

For sure is much more casual and it comes AFTER the action you are talking about, most of the time it is added at the end of a sentence. It sounds like something kids and young people say, so it is used in casual English. It is usually used to talk about yourself as well.

I'm gonna be on time tomorrow for sure.

I'll win for sure!

But can be used to talk about other people, usually friends or in a casual situation.

Tom will show up for sure. He told me he's coming.

Betty will marry him for sure. He's handsome & rich. 

Any questions? I think you definitely understand!

Phil 

    

English Learning Apps for kids - free this month~!

Hey everyone, this month kindergarten.com is giving away all their apps for free in honor of autism awareness month. It is a good chance to get apps to help you study English as well as teach your kids English.

Search the iTunes store or check out their website:

http://kindergarten.com/