Thursday, May 6, 2010

Out and about

Today, a non-exhaustive list of the most interesting nouns (substantives) that can be created out of the word "out"

  • Outbound
  • Outbreak
  • Outburst
  • Outcomes
  • Outfit
  • Outgoing
  • Outlast
  • Outlaw
  • Outlet
  • Outline
  • Outlook
  • Outpost
  • Output
  • Outreach
  • Outrun
  • Outset
  • Outshine
  • Outside
  • Outskirts
  • Outspoken - outspokenness
  • Outward
  • Outwit


And, as an extra-jab of words, two adjectives with "out":
  • outspokenness
  • outstanding

And nooooow : find the best definition for each of them!
Good luck!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

5 May 2010

Words of the day:


to dawdle:
intransitive verb, pejorative, regular.
To walk very slowly.
to dawdle over something
Related article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/8662249.stm (a man stops the traffic by pressing repeatedly on the pedestrian crossing button and dawdling on the pellican crossing - to protest against big trucks going through his little town)


to drown
transitive verb, regular.
The action of dying in water

First meaning: to be drown / to drown oneself.
Abstract meaning: I will drown myself in coffee! (My manager, this morning, via SMS)



Sunday, January 31, 2010

To keep pace with / to give rise to discontent

It's quite hard to keep pace with the increasing demand for our lovely Jabs of the day: if ever a day we skipped to post the expected daily new term, I know we'd risk to give rise to big discontent within our loyal readers.

To keep pace with smthg: to strive to move/progress in line with something else.

To give rise to discontent: to provoke/let negative feelings arise in someone.

Friday, January 29, 2010

hocus pocus

It's the name of a famous French hip-hop band, it's also a strange English word meaning :

trick, shrewdness


Context : someone making clever plans shows "shrewdness" ; he is able to find simple solutions in a spontaneous and clever way, he has some tricks in mind that he can use to solve problems. You can have tricks in various situation such as : cooking, mechanics, computing...

WHIM/TO BE AT THE BECK AND CALL

"I can't stand this life; run here and there, bring me a coffee, buy me cigarettes: I'm basically at the whim of my boss!!"
-"Well, It's normal at work to be at the beck and call of somebody.. But listen, if you could turn over a new leaf, what else would you do, as the whim takes you?"
"Hmm, let me think.. purely on a whim, I think I'd take up a belly dance course!"
"I'd rather see you snowed under work than watching your belly floating. You'd have to find yourself a new sexbuddy."
"oooooh, It was just a whim! I am not serious, mate!"

WHIM : a sudden desire or idea, especially one that can not be explained.
TO BE AT THE BECK AND CALL OF SOMEBODY : to be always available to satisfy somebody's needs and do whatever someone's ask.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

keep your spirit up/keep me going

Carole, don't turn to Cognac just to keep your spirit up! Please concentrate on the memories of the last months: I'm sure they'll keep you going!


keep your spirit up: try to be in a good mood and cheer up.

keep someone going: help someone to resist in bad times, support him.

Crash a party

Did you crash the Sara's party?

Crash a party: when someone come to a party uninvited.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

NOD OFF

First you invite me to the cinema and then you nod off and start snoring, is that a date for you???


nod: moving the head up and down in order to agree/disagree with something.
nod off: suddenly fall asleep and leave the head falling towards the chest.

to come to TERMS with

We won't come to terms with the absence of heating in this house: we'll fight to death to have it. Just get ready... :)

Monday, January 25, 2010

Deceive

23 YEARS OLD BOY ALMOST DECEIVED BY A 19 YEARS OLD BLACK PANTHER

deceive : to dupe someone, to approach somebody with an excuse and not openly disclosing (revealing) your real intention.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Hitchy / Scratchy

Grattachecca's arm was hitching, he therefore asked Fichetto to scratch it for him.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Hassle / Arshole

This boy is such an arshole, it's quite a hassle to have friends like that.