I was given a pamphlet last week about a community carnival in a part of Auckland, New Zealand. I noticed there was a lot of interesting vocabulary about fairs, in this case called a carnival, so I thought I would create a chart about it. This is an example of English that you may encounter […]
First, before we look at the meaning of this idiom, what is icing? Icing = a sugary substance used as coating on cakes or cookies (biscuits) to make them look better or to enhance its flavour. The meaning of Icing on the cake Simple definition: Something that makes a good situation even better or a […]
Did you know that the word STRESSED is DESSERTS spelled backwards? What does this mean? You don’t want to be stressed, do you? Well, to avoid this you have to reverse being stressed. And what happens when you reverse it? You come up with desserts. So, desserts are the solution to being stressed! In order […]
We have a new chart with 20 common verbs that are used when cooking. These verbs often appear in recipes or other cooking instructions in English. For a more detailed explanation of what each verb is, I recommend seeing our vocabulary notes about Cooking Instructions in English. UPDATE (2019): I have just updated my original […]
The Joke Waiter: How did you find the steak sir? Customer: Oh, I just moved the potato and there it was! Vocabulary To find = (verb) in the context of this joke ‘to find’ means to have an opinion on something. It can also mean to discover the location of something. Steak = (noun) a […]
The Joke Customer: Waiter, what do you call this soup? Waiter: It’s bean soup, sir. Customer: I don’t care what it’s been. What is it now? Vocabulary Bean (noun) = a common vegetable To call (verb) = to name Soup = cooked food in a liquid form Been = Past participle of […]
Desert the dessert in the desert! Desert can be a verb and a noun though with two completely different meanings. To Desert means to leave without intending to return. It can also mean to abandon. A Desert is a dry place which receives very little rainfall. The verb is pronounced with the stress on ‘sert’- […]
Burgers and Sausages Many people wonder why a hamburger is called a hamburger when it doesn’t contain any ham – it only contains beef (or it should only contain beef, you never know what is really in it!). But a hamburger doesn’t relate to the meat it contains but rather the place it came from […]
To spill the beans = to confess; reveal a secret, to tell the truth, usually accidentally. To Spill (verb) = to cause something to fall out of a container, such as water from a glass Beans (noun) = the kidney-shaped seeds of certain vegetables such as peas To spill the beans is similar to let […]