COLOR YOUR ENGLISH (part 2)

Hi everyone...no time for chit chat...let's just get straight to the lesson! (mish fadyalkom!!)
This is part 2 of learning to use idioms with colors. Yoooo! Of course you'll ask AGAIN...ya3nee eh idioms? Idioms are like expressions. Then of course you'll ask, so what's the difference between idioms and expressions? (mana 3arfa...mish ha nikhlas!) Well, expressions usually only have one meaning and used within a context of conversation, but an idiom might be used in different ways. But in many cases the word idiom and expression are interchangeble.

Most of the English language is idioms! And this is when it gets more difficult to learn because there are no rules for idioms; you just have to learn them and memorize them. So, let's begin:

1. She was caught red-handed trying to steal a bottle of perfume.

2. Tonight we're going to paint the town red!

3. My grand-father loved his garden. He really had a green-thumb.

4. He decided to quit his job as a banker, out of the blue, and work as a DJ.

5. What's wrong with you? You look as white as a ghost!

6. You can't blackmail me! You have no proof of anything!

7. Middle class Americans are mostly blue-collar workers.

8. Upper class people are mainly white-collar workers.

9. You can apologize to me until you're blue in the face! I still won't forgive you!

10. The lawyer told me that this contract had too many gray areas.

ANSWERS:

1. red-haneded = caught in the action of doing something wrong. (AFASHTAK!!)
2. paint the town red = going out to celebrate an event or just going out to have a real nice time.
3. green thumb = someone who is very clever or talented in gardening. (mish shart ganaynee ya3nee, but someone who grows plants as a hobby).
4. out of the blue = suddenly with no warning.
5. as white as a ghost = someone who looks very pale from feeling scared.
6. blackmail = when you use information about someone against him.
7. blue-collar = workers as laborers. (3omal ya3nee)
8. white-collar = employees (but mainly el managerial posts. Collar ya3nee el kola beta3 el amees. Taba3an el MAFROUD el kola beta3it el mewazaf, nedeefa, wa beda, which reflects he is from the white-collar employees...mish 3amel. Wa taba3an notice in el 3amel fee America mish el 3amel zay hena fee masr.

Fee haga tanya ismaha blue-collar crime and white-collar crime. Murder, masalan, is a blue-collar crime. Embezzelment (ightilas, i think it is in Arabic..taking money from the bank and not returning it) this is a white-collar crime...ya3nee mehtaga nas ashyak shwyia!!

9. blue in the face = exhausted, tired from talking.
10. gray area = this is the area that can have different points of view and is not very clear.

Now, go learn these and maybe one day I'll test you and if you study hard, you'll pass with flying colors!

pass with flying colors = to pass a test of any sort with very high grades.

COLOR YOUR ENGLISH (part 1)

Hi one and all....(howa akeed just one...my poor blog!!)

There are lots of expressions used in English with different colors. Time to check out a few and learn what they mean:

1. He never did well in school or in his career. He's the black sheep of the family.

2. Last night there was a black out that lasted a couple of hours.

3. She blacked out before they even gave her the injection.

4. I only work on my blog once in a blue moon.

5. Some days I really feel blue.

6. When Hala got married, Sahar was green with envy.

7. The boss gave him the green light to cash the check.

8. The grass is always greener on the other side.

9. She was tickled pink when she first met him.

10. People don't like doing business in Egypt because of all the red tape.

ANSWERS

1. The black sheep is the odd person; usually the one not successful or an embarrasement to a family or a group. (ya3nee fadihit el 3alah!)

2. A black out is an electricity cut. Of course in Egypt, this is part of our daily life!

3. To black out (used as a verb) means to lose concsiousness... (ighma2) or to faint.
NOTE: A black out (this is used as a noun) is different than TO black out (used as a verb).

4. Something that happens very rarely.

5. Feeling blue = feeling very sad.

6. Green with envy. Hmmm, not easy to find a translation, but envy is a type of jealousy (gheera). But it's not always a bad jealousy; envy is just wishing you had the same thing too. So, if you're green with envy, it means you're jealous.

7. To give the green light, means to give your approval or your okay for someone to do something. Like the green light fee isharat el merour means for cars to go. (Bas taba3an fee Masr, the red light also means for cars to go wa kaman el yellow light!)

8. This is a whole expression, used as it is written. It means that you always think what another person has is better than what you have. It could be in anything..EXAMPLE: her house is nicer than mine, her lifestyle is better than mine, etc...

9. Tickled pink = very pleased, very happy (tickle means zaghzagh...yakatee!!)

10. Red tape...yakhrib beit el routine wa ili gab el routine!! It is the bureaucracy and paying too much attention to rules and regulations that often don't mean anything. It usually is involved with governmental rules.

Stay tuned with more colors to come!

And use this link also:

An Alphabet Exercise

Well, since I've been away from this blog too much, might as well add another post while I'm at it.

This coming exercise is a really good one for your English...Ya Rab!! I always give it to my students 3ashan yit akidu in ana Teacher_Ghilsa begad, mish hizar!!

Just choose a letter from the alphabet (you know what alphabet means, don't you, wala ha nibtidee nezam KG1?! alif, be, te...yea..that's the alphabet)and make a complete sentence with each word of the sentence beginning with that letter.

Let me get you started...let's take the letter 'C' for example. Can you make a sentence with each word beginning with 'C'?

masalan:

Cars Can't Catch Cold. (el cars ma takhodsh bard?!!)...
Ok, Ok....so it's not the greatest sentence in the world, but hey! Give me a break! It's got what I need to make a proper sentence:

A subject (car)
A verb (can't/auxillery verb & catch main verb)
An object (cold)

3ayzeen eh aktar min keda??

Tanee? mashee...mana fadyalkom el neharda!

Let's choose the letter 'G'


ya3nee mish sama3 7ad be oul...'ana ya miss, wenabee ana!!'

hat ouloulee: Girgis Gab Gargeer and I will tell you GHALAT!! English please!!!

How about this sentence: Green Gardens Grow Greatly
(ya salam 3aleki ya Teacher_Ghilsa....da eh el music da!!)

Subject (Garden)
Verb (Grow)
Object (Greatly/used as an adjective)

Yala...you still got 24 letters to choose from! Ibtidu with letter 'X'...hahaha!!

How many STUPID people do you know?

Hi....last time I was feeling miserable!! Now, I'm just angry...grrrrrrrrrr!!!

Be seraha, be seraha...I don't ever like to call people STUPID, but the truth is that some people are indeed stupid...el donya keda...feha el GHABEE wa feha el MISH GHABEE AIWE...but I really wonder if anyone, wa ana awil wahda, is intelligent.

Other words that you could use instead of saying STUPID:

1. He's a jerk.
2. He's an imbecile.
3. He's a moron.
4. He's thick-skulled. (like mokho tekheen)
5. He's a nit-wit.
6. He's a pudding-head. (hahaha! mokh mehalebeya khalis!!)
7. He's dumb.(silent 'b')
8. He's an idiot.
9. He's fat-headed. (Like thick-skulled)
10. And of course...he's an ass! (or we can be kinder and say he's a jack ass (homar...heeehawww, heeeehawww!!)

ya 3inee...el ragel itshahwar khalis...bas yestahil bardu!!

Feeling Miserable

Teacher_Ghilsa is feeling MISERABLE today. She's so sad and feeling ill. Why? Because too many people:

1. are wackos
2. can stab you in the back
3. can break your heart
4. wouldn't know a good thing if it hit them in the face
5. are pompous snobs
6. can't face the music
7. can't stand up to responsibility




1. crazy, sick in the head
2. when some one betrays you in anyway while you were not aware, then he has stabbed (the action of hurting someone with a knife) you in the back.
3. ye 7atem albak
4. (I like this expression). It means, 7ata lou el wahid galu eh...7ata min el sama2, he/she would not appreciate it.
5. Pompous ya3nee aleet...wa snob bardu aleet
6. lama 7ad lazem ye wageh haga bas mish 3ayez...(mish, mish ader...la howa mish 3ayez)
7. Same meaning almost as number 6. But just a more formal way of saying it.

Describe Your Personality

laziz wa kamil khalis ya nas....

Hello, back again to bother you some more. Can you describe your personality to someone? Are you, for example a shy person (khagoul)or maybe you're a generous person (karim.

Well, there are so many PERSONALITY TRAITS or CHARACTER TRAITS (sifat el shakseya). We can learn a few at a time.

Look at the diagram. I will describe in a sentence the personality trait and you guess which one I'm talking about.


1. He's always in a hurry to do things. He never takes his time. He's........
2. She only cares about herself and never helps others. She's..........
3. Hany only talk about how much money he has and how rich he is. He's......
4. When she was young she used to be so scared to talk to people. She was.....
5. He could not face her with the truth face to face, so he sent her an email. He's so .........
6. He's known her for a year, but never got her a present. I think he's........
7. Ali is very smart in business. He's ........
8. Sarah wanted to improve her English to get a better job. She's ........

ANSWERS:

1. Impatient (ma 3andoush sabr)
2. Selfish (ananee)
3. Boastful (aleet)
4. Timid (zay khagoul. Timid is like shy but timid leha dakhl be khof shwyia)
5. Cowardly (gaban!...nadl! ...hayawan!! oops!! sorry nisit nafsee shwyia! Cowardly only means gaban)
6. Stingy (hat oulee la ya teacher-ghilsa, howa maksouf bas. La ba'a..howa BAKHEEL. It is pronunced like this: stinjee)
7. Sly (makar or la'eem)
8. Determined (I don't know it in Arabic, but it's like qawee el iradah)

Of course notice that in English there is no feminine or masculine when talking about traits. All traits are used for both men and women.

There are so many character traits...
Go to the link to give you a lot more. It's all got a dictionary to help you.


http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/web/2000/kochan/charactertraits.html

AKH ya dahree, AKH ya rasee, AKH ya gismee!

Well, I haven't been to my blog in a long time! Sometimes we just get too busy even for blogging!

But man! I'm so tired! la...begad halkana! I'm beat!
So, I was thinking (for a change)would you know what to tell a doctor if you had to visit one? And what kinds of things do we feel when we're sick or not feeling well.

We know kilmit pain which = waga3 which = wawa!. La mish han boos el wawa!

But most small illnesses use the word ache mish pain. For example:

headache = soda3
toothache = waga3t el sinan (we don't say teethache even if more than one tooth is hurting. We say I have a toothache in both these teeth (masalan))
earache = waga3 fee el widn
backache = waga3 fee el dahr
stomach or tummy ache = waga3 fee el batn

If you want to use the word 'pain' then you must say:
I have a pain in my stomach
I have a pain in my tooth...etc...
Fa 3ala eh el dawsha dee? Why not just say I have a toothache. (balash waga3 alb!!)

(heartache) is not for heart diseases. Heartache in English = waga3t alb bil Arabic. (ya3nee balash dawsha wa waga3 alb!!).

Other small ways to say that you are ill:

In English, they say 'catch cold' or 'caught a cold' which = 'khat bard'. After you 'catch' it, you can just say I have a cold. Or I have the flu (influenza).

Symptoms of a cold: 3arad el bard:

temperature/fever = harara
sore throat = (lama zorak yewga3) I have a sore throat
runny nose = (manakheer sayba) WA PLS BALASH FALSAFA AND DON'T CHANGE IT TO I HAVE A RUNNING NOSE. HEYA ISMAHA RUNNY NOSE. A RUNNING NOSE IS A MANAKHEER BITIGREE!! LOU INTA MANAKHERAK BITIGREE...GOOD LUCK IN TRYING TO CATCH IT!!!!
Loss of apetite = no shaheya or nifs mazdouda.
sneezing = 3ats (achoo!!)I'm sneezing (bas mish I have a sneeze).
cough = coha I'm coughing or I have a cough.
throw up = (mish 3arfaha in nice Arabic...ana 3arfa lama el wahid yeraga3. Ikheee!)

Kol dol symptoms beta3 hetit bard!! Ma lou el wahid galu haga anyal min bard ha yehsalu eh!! El hamdlilAllah 3al kol sh'ea!!

Try this link. It's fun and interesting (benesbalee!)



http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/health.html

WEEKEND (body) SLANG!

Hellllllloooooooo...

Lots of English idioms (expressions) can be categorized. Some expressions use colors...EX...Why are you so blue? (= Why are you so sad?)Some expressions use animals...EX... He's as blind as a bat (= Can't see well, 3ama zay el witwat).

Today, let's get ready for some weekend slang using parts of the body...

1. You don't have to jump down my throat, just because I made a mistake!
2. Why don't you stop telling me what to do and get off my back?!
3. He doesn't have much money, but he's always shooting his mouth off about what he has.
4. When I needed her help, she turned her back on me.
5. How could you hit your brother? He's your own flesh and blood!
6. My new car cost me an arm and a leg.
7. Hey! Can you lend me a hand here?
8. She's my best friend, but we don't always see eye to eye.
9. I had my heart set on that promotion, but I didn't get it.
10. He'll never take your advice, so save your breath.

ANSWERS

1. Getting very angry with someone. (jump down (someone's) throat is almost like very slang Arabic...ma tidinee alamein bil mara!!lol)
2. To tell someone to stop interfering or to stop bothering you. (NOTE!! It's slang and not a polite thing to say).
3. Shooting (his, her) mouth off = talking too much about yourself (alata ya3nee)
4. Turn (my, your, his, her) back = not helping someone when they need you.
5. Any family member or relative (areeb) is flesh and blood.
6. very expensive
7. help someone. Can you lend me a hand = can you help me?
8. to agree on something or have the same opinion...(mish 3inee fee 3inak...to say 3inee fee 3inak, you can say: Look me straight in the eye and tell me.....)
9. To have your heart set on something = depending (ma3timida) or expecting (metiwaqa3a) something.
10. Save your breath = wafar ta3bak. It's used especially when someone won't listen to you or take your advice.

CAN/ FAN/ RAN/ TAN/ BAN/ MAN

Welcome to my blog today
Time to learn and play
Wahid shai wahyatak ya Abdou!
Would you like some tea too?

Rhyming words are great to practice your pronunciation. The title of this post is easy, and you can see that all the words rhyme and sound the same. Rhyming words be salahu el n'ot (pronunciation) and lou 3andokom shwyit dem bas, wa tista3milu dictionary...they will also increase your vocabulary.

Find words that rhyme with these following words. I'm not using any special words as almost every word in the language has at least 1 or 2 rhyming words:

1. boat

2. night

3. tall

4. table

5. jacket

6. simple

7. dancer

8. river

1. coat, float, note (the spelling does not have to be similar, el mohim the pronunciation), wrote,

2. flight, sight, site, height, right, write, bright, kite, might, light,

3. ball, mall, hall, fall, call, stall,

4. cable, fable, able, lable, stable

5. packet

6. dimple

7. prancer, (Mitsubishi Lancer...hahaha)

8. sliver, (yes! sliver mish silver... ana 3arfa ba'oul eh!) liver

(now use a dictionary for words you are not familiar with) or did you think I'm going to give you all the definitions?! HA!

NOTE!! Not all words that are nearly spelt the same are pronunced the same. Look at the words, RIVER and DIVER. They don't rhyme...oululee leeeeeeeeeeh? Because words are broken up into syllables (parts). The word 'RIVER' is two parts...RIV and ER. The word 'DIVER' is also two parts but broken up as DI and VER; the stress (and English is a stressed language) is on the letters 'di' (so the pronunciation of 'di' is different than 'riv'.)

Fihmtu haga? akeed no...lou bas 7ad ye olee ahot audio ezay hena....hartaaaaaaaaaah!!

But you can use this link (one of the many) that has an audio dictionary:

http://http://www.thefreedictionary.com/

EL EID FARKHA!!! Wala FARHA?

EL EID FARKHA...oops! I mean EL EID FARHA.... (too many days off, fadyalkom ya3nee)....is the feast a 'farha' or a 'farkha'..... whatever....but I know that English also has a lot of confusing words. How about studying a little to stop the confusion:

Affect/Effect:

Affect is the verb: (to influence or change someone or something). The noise affected my sleep.

Effect is the noun: (to have an impact on someone or something). His speech had an effect on me.

Accept/Except

Accept is a verb: (to agree or take something). I accept your gift.

Except is a preposition: (not including). I work everyday except Friday.

Lose/Loose (dee ili bit ganinee!)

Lose is a verb (to misplace something...ye daya3 haga ya nas!!) Don't lose my telephone number.(it's pronunced with a 'z' like 'luze')

Loose is an adjective: (something not fitting). His pants are too loose. (pantalon wasa3)

All ready/Already

All ready: (completely ready). Are you all ready for their test? Yes, I'm all ready. (gahza)

Already: an adverb that means before the present time. I didn't go to the movie with him because I already saw it.

It's/ Its (bardu 3al lista ili bit ganinee)

It's = It is. It's time to learn some English.

Its is a possesive pronoun. (belonging to something). The car is white and its chairs are black.

Lay/Lie (la...ghilsa begad...mish ana! lay wa lie!...wa ana bardu shwyia)

Lay is an irregular transitive verb (lay / laid/ laid - laying). It needs a direct object. It means to put something or someone down (usually in a horizontal postion). Don't cry. Lay your head on my shoulder ( ya 3inee, ya 3inee 3al romanceya!)

Lie is an irregular intransitive verb (lie / lay / lain - lying). It does not take a direct object. It means to rest in a horizontal position or to be located somewhere. I found this pen lying around.

NOTE!!!! (Lie also means to say something that isn't true but it takes the following form (lie / lied / lied - lying).

Been/Gone

Been is the past participle of 'be'. I've been to England twice. (it's understood that you have returned. A completed visit).

Gone is the past participle of 'go'. He's gone to England. (could easily be understood that he's not back yet).

Complement/Compliment:

Complement is a verb meaning to make something better or more attractive when combined. Her personality complements his very well. (la...mish ma3nitha in shakhseyitha ahla...ma3nitha shakhseyitha bit kamil shakhseyitu howa).

Compliment is a noun meaning a remark or comment that is nice. Women love to receive a nice compliment.

A lot/ Alot

A lot means a large number of people or things and can be used to modify a noun. I need a lot of time to help you learn English.

Alot .... doesn't exist in the English language! Mish me sad'inee? Tayeb rouhu shoufu fee el dictionary!

For more help on confusing words go to:

http://http://esl.about.com/cs/vocabulary/a/a_confused.htm