ESL Vocabulary and Idioms

Difference between several words

fraserpan — Mon, 29 May 2006 08:30:13 GMT

What's the difference between words like director, administrator, manager, etc.? Thanks!

specially / make waves

Pb03 — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 07:57:58 GMT

Hi everyone,

My questions today are two things: one is related to the usage of the word "specially" and the other, meaning of the phrase "make waves."

If you have any idea about them, would you comment some for me & probably others who read this.^^

Thanks a lot~

pb

--
Q1 :

Is it usual way to use the word "specially" in front of a sentence, meaning 'especially or in particular' ?

ex)
Aside from food, Eastern and Middle Asian pop culture trends are making waves in the West. Specially, Forbes introduced that Korean popular music characterized by Latin rhythms and hip-hop beats D is one of trends spreading across the world.

Q2:
Can the phrase "make waves" be used in a positive situation?
Or how do you think it should be understood in the sentence above?

Asking help

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 06:15:41 GMT

Dear Friends,
I wrote "US$5/meter long". Is it correct ?
Thanks.

material

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:09:40 GMT

Hi,
What does 'material' in this part of a definition mean?
film: dark plastic-like material which can record images.

approval of / approval for ?

anglista2008 — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 10:26:28 GMT

Hi there,

Here's a fragment of my email. Before I started writing it, I checked the word "approval" and my dictionary says that one can use "of" or "for" after it... but I couldn't come up with a well-sounding English sentence using "approval of" or "approval for". Would it be allright to say in English "[...] for your approval for studying at your University" or "[...] for your approval of studying at your university" ?

As far as I understand correctly, now, after you have received the documents, we have to wait for your approval and permission to study at your University ? Will the approval be sent by post?

Best wishes,

Concern Over

Armsys — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:59:24 GMT

What does it mean by "concern over"?
eg. Concern over global oil price.
Armstrong

get raves

changeling — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 11:26:16 GMT

Hi everybody!

There is a phrase - to get rave reviews. Would it be correct to change it a little bit and say: Make this salad for your family and get raves.

Thanks in advance

4-lane road

An Jiyoung — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 12:57:15 GMT

There is a bridge with 4-lane road.

The road on the bridge is 4-lane. Each two lanes towards opposite driving direction. In this case, do you say 4-lane road in English?

How do you call if the 4-lane road is one way?

I would like to know how to explain the road or highway with lanes?

Thank you for your help.

Expand your vocabulary and feed the world!

Annvan — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 21:35:46 GMT

Hope I'm allowed to do this here... (and maybe someone has already done this), but can I recommend this site: www.freerice.com

(Edited to make this thread a sticky-- MM)

better still & better yet

Selecter — Sun, 01 Oct 2006 09:19:37 GMT

Do these mean the same? If not, what is the difference in translation and grammar? If you can, please give me some examples. Thank you!

enjoy confidence of all

Ansiite — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 05:14:47 GMT

In this passage I have highlighted the sentence, which seem to me very confusing. Can anybody help me to understand it? Thank you in advance!!!

The requirements for impartiality, independence and neutrality for humanitarian actors are paramount amongst their concerns. This is not least because their own security could be put at risk if they are seen as favouring civilians in need that are associated with one group rather than another, or are located in one region rather than somewhere else, or if they are closely associated with the work of peacekeeping troops and become a target in themselves. Thus humanitarian and relief agencies jealously protect their neutral stance in conflict settings, whilst military operations are deployed in support of particular political aims. This means that if they are enjoying the confidence of all, and the associated security this is meant to result in, then association with military actors is deeply problematic.

mixed record

Ansiite — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:20:00 GMT

Could anybody explain what does "mixed record" mean? The whole sentence reads as follows:
"The African Union strongly relies on support from the UN and the EU for deployment of its troops in crisis areas and in practice it has a mixed record with respect to the protection agenda"

Thank you in advance!

to jump ahead

WBB-EF — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 15:06:53 GMT

Hi,

What does "jump ahead" mean in this context? Thanks for your help.

Professor:...Now, as I am thinking about what I am going to be saying, my muscles in my throat are responding. So thinking can be mesured as muscle activity. Now, the motor theory... yes?

Student: Professor Green, did he happen to look at people who sign? I mean deaf people?

Professor: Uh, he did indeed, um, and to jump ahead, what one finds in deaf individuals who use sign language when they are given problems of various kinds, they have muscular changes in their hands when they are trying to solve a problem. Muscle changes in the hand, just like the muscular changes going on in the throat region for speaking individuals.

...

The meaning of a sentence

Stenka25 — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 14:12:13 GMT

StartFragment>

I can't make out the meaning of the next sentence.

I can't even make out the structure of the sentence.

Help me!

The case was family solved.

Point...

Madhulk — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 21:39:01 GMT

Oliver to Clark after he saves him: If you hadn't ran off,
you could've picked your own name. You don't wanna play for the team,
that's fine. Be smart about it. Meaning to be more careful?

Clark: Point taken. Meaning "I've learned my lesson and be more careful"?

reminder

Anonymous — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 10:37:22 GMT

What does to stand a reminder mean ?

For sure, we have at least one member who is in need and all of us could stand a reminder.
We can all stand a reminder of the way that technology, for better or worse, gives our messages a wider audience
We could stand a reminder that people aren't fools to think that there's truth to be sought outside conventional media

thx!

cash in on sth

Anonymous — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 20:03:13 GMT

Some debate also exists as to whether right-wing groups deliberately target soccer fans as recruits or whether soccer fans are drawn into the groups because of the opportunities they offer for violence. Robins is drawn towards the former argument, citing the leafleting campaigns of the 1980s, while David Canter⁵ argues that the right-wing groups merely cash in on soccer violence, rather than instigate it. One would have to conclude that there are elements of truth in both theories.

merely: altogether . cash in on soccer: gain profit from soccer . rather than: instead of

what does this sentence mean?

Thank you! :)

On...

Madhulk — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 19:32:21 GMT

- Pizza?
- You're on. It means "I accept", right? Not "It's your treat".

if the job paid better.

JCDenton — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 13:11:17 GMT

Hi guys,

Can you please help me with the understanding of the next situation? Context: Two detectives are knocking on the door of the man, who they want to talk with. Really beautiful housekeeper woman came open door.

Detective: Are you Mrs. Davies?
Housekeeper: Me? No. Name's Belle. I might've been somebody's wife if the job paid better. I work here. Help out with cleaning and cooking.

Guys, maybe I'm stupid, but I'm missing the point of what she said...:-(( Please did she mean..

1) I might've been somebody's wife if I would have more money from my current job (being a housekeeper)...??

2) I might've been somebody's wife if being married would bring more money into the womans pocket..??

Please guys what do you think?

many thanks for help and nice weekend to all.

Best regards

Small sentence(listening)

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 22:59:08 GMT

What he's saying?

http://myfreefilehosting.com/f/42168f55f8_0.63MB

Thanks in advance

idiom: be out of sorts

JCDenton — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 22:17:27 GMT

Hi guys,

Can you please help me with how to use this idiom? I learned this phrase during the translation of one episode of Cold Case. It means feel slightly ill or slightly unhappy. But guys, if you look at these two definitions you should agree with me that they're absolutely different. To be frank, I don't know how to use it in the normal life....Just imagine the situation, that someone invited you for the party and you're excusing yourself from that party, for example via email, where you wrote: "Sorry, I can't come to your party. I feel a little out of sorts. ". How that other person will distinguish what your feelings are? I mean, how can he determine whether you feel really slightly ill or just not in the mood to celebrating something...????

many thanks in advance, that idiom seems to be used very widely, so I want to learn it.

Best Regards

JCD

for all I know

eagerness — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 19:29:30 GMT

Could anyone please give me an explicit meaning of the subject phrase?

Thank you in advance for your insight and time.

We will act on your request and reply within one business day

Osee — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:46:20 GMT

The tiltle comes from a webpage of a bank. I feel the use of act on is weird. Do you think so? And further, how about just saying We will reply your request within one business day? What's the difference between these sayings? Thanks.

Sofa VS Couch

Deepcove — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 04:04:15 GMT

When I was in Canada, I heard most people say 'couch' to mean 'sofa', actually, i never heard Canadians use 'sofa'. Is sofa an outdated word? Or is this a Canadian thing? Which word is used in US or UK?

The Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary give couch this definition:

couch (SEAT) Show phonetics
noun
a sofa

material and impelled

Anonymous — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:04:12 GMT

Hi,

1. I have difficulty using the words 'material' and 'materials'. To me 'materials' are what you need for an acitvity.

Why don't we need to use 'materials' here when what can be used seem to be materials.

*** Activities (title or name of book) is ideal for fun, supplementary practice material, and comes with the quality of some of ...

2. Why not 'compelled' here?

Impelled by the roles of economic globalization, English may become ...