No sweat.

For the last lesson of the month and as summer is ending we will look at two idioms/expressions that use the word SWEAT. In Japanese, it means 汗, あせ. Idioms or expressions that use this word tend to be Guy's English. Women don't usually talk about sweating so they rarely use these expressions...

No sweat.

This simply means no problem. It comes from the fact that doing something is easy and won't cause you to sweat.

Jill: Can you help me fix my car?

Jack: Sure, no sweat. I'm good with cars.

----

General: How did the mission go?

Soldier: No sweat. Everything went according to plan.

I'm sweating like a pig.

This is used when you want to say you're sweating like crazy or sweating a lot. It is very casual and kind of crude so it's usually used between close male friends.

Warren: Wow, it's 42C! 

Dick: Yeah, I'm sweating like a pig.

Warren: Me too, let's go somewhere with air conditioning.

Dick: Good idea.

If you use this expression to talk about someone else it is HIGHLY NEGATIVE so be careful. In this situation men or women may use it.

Nancy: My new boss is always sweating like a pig.

Fiona: Eww... gross!

Enjoy the upcoming cooler weather~!

Phil

Close but no Cigar

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in awhile but I've been busy with many things since I got back from Europe. Including my other blog: Kansai Beer Lovers & it's Facebook Page. But I thought it was high time(which means the appropriate or urgent time) that I get off my lazy butt and post some English tips~!

Today we are looking at the popular saying close but no cigar. This came from the days when carnival games would give out cigars as prizes in the US during the early 20th century. It basically means you almost won. It means you came close to succeeding but no prize for you.

In terms of usage it is most often used by your opponent. This is something the carnival staff would say when you nearly won the game.

Al: I knocked down 3 glasses one more and I get the biggest prize!

(throws the ball and misses)

Carnie: Close but no cigar, better luck next time kid.

Carnie is North American slang for someone who works at a carnival.

You could also use it when talking to yourself or friends to describe nearly getting what you want or almost winning.

Glen: Did you get the promotion?

Harry: Close but no cigar, I got a raise though.

Glen: Not bad!

--------
(playing a crane claw game at an arcade)

Dan: Almost there, just a little more... now.

(misses the Nitendo DS)

Dan: Oh! Close but no cigar. Ok one more try...

In Japanese it means: もう一歩の or すれすれの. You can find more about this expression on weblio or on phrases dot org. Another good example would be when talking about online auctions on ebay or similar sites...

Tim: Did you win the auction for that new pc?

Jim: Nah, close but no cigar... I lost by just 25 cents!

Tim: That sucks dude.

Ok everyone that's it for now. I'll leave you with a song by Weird Al Yankovic called "Close but no Cigar!

Practice your onomatopoeia~!

Hey everyone, sorry for the lack of posting last month but I was busy traveling. Today we will look at onomatopoeia are words that are based on sounds. For example, squeak is the sound of a rusty door hinge and boom is the sound of a bomb exploding.

This is a cute funny video that starts of listing a bunch of English onomatopoeia for animals and then asks the question "What does the fox say?" because it is true in English no one seems to know what sound a fox makes... maybe because they're so quiet?

Enjoy the video!




A cow goes moo moo.

A bird goes tweet tweet. (which is where the word twitter comes from)

A dog goes woof woof or bow wow.

A cat goes meow meow.

A pig goes oink oink.

A chicken goes cluck cluck.

A duck goes quack quack.

Have a nice day,

Phil

Wanna go for a dip?

Hey everyone, summer vacation has started so I am not sure how often I will be posting on this blog so here  is a small lesson.

to dip

This is a verb that means to go down briefly. It can be used in many ways:

When he slow-danced with me, he dipped me & we kissed. It was romantic!

I dipped my toes into the pool to check the water's temperature.

Don't dip your chips into the dip twice! No double-dipping!

You can see in the last example that dip can also be a noun. The first meaning is a kind of sauce that you dip your chips or vegetables in to give it some extra flavor.

The second meaning is a short swim. This is a word we often use during the summer. So if someone asks you:

Wanna go for a dip?

They mean:

Do you want to go for a quick swim?

Have a great summer vacation!

Phil

Let's grab a bite!

Way back in 2010 I did a two part series on the word bite. During this summer vacation you can revisit that lesson here.

The most useful expression is:

to grab a bite

Bite means ひとくちin Japanese. Kids often say:

Wow, that looks good! Gimme a bite!

which in Japanese would be:

ううわー美味しそう！一口ちょうだい！

When someone uses grab a bite they are talking about having a quick light meal.

Wanna grab a bite together sometime?

This is a casual invitation to a date.

I'm hungry, let's grab a bite somewhere.

This means let's take a break and eat something.

Another interesting use of bite is an idiom you can use when you are full.

Man, I'm stuffed. I couldn't eat another bite.

or

I'm so full if I eat another bite I'll explode!

Have a nice weekend,

Phil

What's he like?

Today I'm gonna look at three very similar questions that non-native English speakers can easily mix up.


What's he like?

This is asking about PERSONALITY. Let's look at some correct responses:

He's dependable (頼りに出来る). <----> He's undependable.

He's really funny & outgoing.

He's pragmatic (practical).

He is a bit scatterbrained (in Japanese おっちょこちょい).

What does he like?

This is asking about his PREFERENCES. It is often used by shop staff when someone is gift shopping.

He likes golf.

He loves playing tennis.

He enjoys reading.

He's always gardening.

What does he look like?

This is asking about his APPEARANCE.

He's tall and good looking.

He's short & stocky.

He has blue eyes and short blond hair.

He has dark brown hair & a small nose.

He's average height & wears glasses.

Notice that we use is + adjectives and has + nouns or noun phrases.

Have a great week!

Phil

Some words are older than they appear...

This is a great article about many slang words which are much older than most people think.

Check it out:

http://www.mentalfloss.com/article/51857/16-words-are-much-older-they-seem

Enjoy,

Phil