My Word of the Year: Pavo Real

Royal Turkey?

NO.

Pea Cock?

YES!

Pavo Real = PEACOCK!

Back to the Basics

When putting Math into words, we use the following:

Sizes and measurements: 4 x 6 reads "4 BY 6."

This is a "4 by 6" picture frame:

Multiplication: 1 x 4 = 4 reads "1 TIMES 4 EQUALS 4."

"When I was little, I could never remember 9 times 8."

Teen and Ty

On Monday we were talking about prices in restaurants.

Clara was talking about a place she went to in Palermo and said, "The place was really casual. A liter of beer was 50 pesos."

"50 pesos!?!" said Eugiene and Allison.

"Yes, 50 pesos," Clara said. "Why, do you think that's expensive?"

"Yeah, it's really expensive!" Eugiene and Allison agreed.

"What do you think is cheap for a liter of beer in a restaurant?" added Vicky.

"15 pesos," Allison said.

"That's what I said!!!!" replied Clara.

"No, you said 50," argued Eugiene.

So, what was the problem? The pronunciation of FIFty (50) vs. fifTEEN (15).

The stress of (50) is on the first syllable: FIF-ty.

The stress of (15) is on the the second syllable: fif-TEEN.

Common Mistake #1

I am agree. NO.

I agree. YES!

I am not agree. NO.

I disagree. YES!

Agree and disagree are verbs, not adjectives.

Triubute to the Chilean Miners

Yesterday, I couldn't remember the word derrumbe in English. Juan and Gustavo stared at me as my brain just worked and worked and worked, but the word didn't come.

We were discussing the Chilean Mining accident, and the word would be collapse, better expressed by the New York Times and other sources as a collapsed mine shaft.

Knowing that they have started to rescue the miners is wonderful news!

From the NYTimes:
Mario Sepúlveda, the second miner to be rescued and the narrator of the much-watched video that took viewers on a tour of the underground quarters, told Chilean journalists, "God and the devil fought over me, and God won."


For more news in English, click here.

It doesn't always impress you...

My students use the verb impress A LOT. More than they should, really. The problem is that they use the Spanish translation, impresionar, more often for more situations.

In English, we have lots of ways to say "me impesiona" or "me impresionó". And "It impresses me" is NOT always correct.

Situation #1.

You go to a friend's house and see the fattest cat you've ever seen in your life. This does not impress you. This shocks you.

Situation #2.

I visited the Berlin Wall in 2005. It did not impress me. It made a big impression on me.



Situation #3.

My father never cries. But when he crossed the finish line and qualified for the Boston Marthon, he cried. This did not impress me. This moved me.

(I didn't have a picture of my dad crying, but it moves me when Roger cries, too.)

Situation #4.
I met a girl my age who speaks five languages fluently. I heard her speak four of them while I was with her, and YES! This really impressed me.

By the way, someone who speaks 5 languages is pentalingual.

For more information, check out this link: http://www.wordreference.com/es/en/translation.asp?spen=impresionar

CV or Résumé?

If you tell a person in the United States that you are going to send them your CV, they might not understand you; the word résumé is most commonly used.

Curriculum Vitae is Latin and means, literally, “the course of one’s life.” British English uses this term.

Résumé is French and means "summary." American English uses this term.

Did you know? If applying to a job in the U.S., you DO NOT include your picture, age, date of birth, or marital status! You need only to put your name, address, and contact information.

Bouncer

I was watching the news yesterday morning and saw the word patovica. I had to think twice about the meaning. In English, the word is bouncer.

The Nike "Pipe"

On Thursday in class, we were talking about logos.

Juan told me that in Spanish, they call this:

pipa (Spanish)

pipe (English)

"Interesting," I said. "I can see why." But it's not the Nike Pipe in English. It's the Nike Swoosh.

Swoosh is an onomatopoeia (onomatopeya) - a word created to describe a sound. In this case, a rushing, swirling sound. Like water running or leaves circling.

One translation defines swoosh as pasar zumbando.

Interesting tidbit: Did you know that the Nike Swoosh designer, Carolyn Davidson, charged U$S 35 for the Nike Swoosh logo she invented in 1971?!

Sabían que...la chica que diseñó el logo, Carolyn Davidson, cobró solamente U$S 35 en 1971!

First: What is a tidbit?

This blog is for my students and any others interested in random pieces of information about the English language, especially in relation to my teaching in Buenos Aires. Students of past and present be warned: you may find yourselves in some of my examples or stories. But I won't call you out by name (unless you want me to).

So, I just defined tidbit for you: a piece of information or news

Example:

María: "I heard an interesting tidbit about Pablo."

Juan: "Oh yeah? What's that?"

María: "He's getting promoted to Project Manager."





More English tidbits coming soon!