JUST FOR KICKS (16): THE LANGUAGE LOVERS CORNER
(Notes for language teachers and advanced students of the English language)
By Oriel E. Villagarcia, at TOOLS FOR TEACHERS,
newtoolsforteachers@yahoo.com.ar
I. FURTHER MEANINGS OF FAMILIAR WORDS
Today’s word is BOMB.
The meaning we teach elementary student is a device meant to explode and
kill/injure people or things. This word can be used as a noun or as a verb.
Notice the following, however:
1. The play was a bomb (failure, flop, used about plays, films or events in
general. Am. Engl. usage).
2. Their latest CD is the bomb (excellent. Mostly, Am. Engl., infml).
3. The party went down/like a bomb (it was a success. UK. infml.).
4. Iran announced that they now have the bomb (nuclear weapon).
5. That new car must have cost you a bomb (a lot of money. UK infml)
6. If a vehicle goes like a bomb, it goes very fast (UK infml).
7. If you drop a/the bomb, you say or do something which is shocking or
unexpected.
8. In Am. Engl., when talking about sports, a bomb is a long pass (football), a
long shot (basketball) or a long home-run (baseball).
9. If a car is bombing down the road, it is moving very fast (mostly UK)
10. If you bomb your exam, you fail (Am. Engl., infml).
11. A plan, a book, a play or a movie may bomb, i.e. be a failure (mostly, Am.
Engl. infml).
12. If you are bombed, you are experiencing the effects of alcohol or drugs.
II. WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS
Match the words on the left with the prompts on the right. Remember, the words
on the right are not definitions. They are prompts that will help you do the matching.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
ravenous
brazen
obsequious
adamant
steadfast
miscreant
finicky
a. fastidious
b. unyielding
c. changeable, unpredictable
d. very hungry
e. shameless, impudent
f. subservient
g. firm, not wavering
Find the answers at the bottom of this issue. Please remember to check these words in
more than one dictionary if possible.
III. TO CUDGEL YOUR BRAIN
Consider the following words and make groups showing how they are related. For
example, cat and kitten go together since a kitten is a young cat.
COW
DRAKE
DUCK
BULL
SHEEP
STALLION
CALF
MARE
LAMB
GOSLING
GANDER
FILLY
EWE
FOAL
COLT
HEN
GELDING
RAM
PULLET
HEIFER
OX
GOOSE
HORSE
Find the answers at the bottom, as usual.
IV. A VERY SPECIAL “UP”
All of the following words begin with the letters UP. On the basis of the clues
provided, name the word in question.
Example: UP......... worried --------UPSET
Please remember once more that we are dealing with clues, not definitions.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
UP.........direct, not hiding, honest
UP.........loud complaint by angry people, commotion.
UP.........result, outcome.
UP.........appealing to the rich, upmarket
UP.........haughty, arrogant, snobbish
UP.........getting attention in detriment of another who is more
important.
7. UP.........worried, nervous, opposite of relaxed
Answers way down below.
ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONS ABOVE
Answers to WORDS AND THEIR MEANINGS
ravenous
brazen
obsequious
adamant
steadfast
mercurial
finicky
very hungry
shameless, impudent
subservient
unyielding
firm, not wavering
changeable, unpredictable
fastidious
Answers to TO CUDGEL YOUR BRAIN
The groups are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
cow, heifer, calf, bull, ox
horse, stallion, filly, colt, foal, gelding, mare
goose, gander, gosling
duck, drake
sheep, ewe, ram, lamb
hen, pullet
It is now up to you to find out how the different words in a group are related and how
they differ. If you are not familiar with some of the words, please look them up in
your dictionaries.
ANSWERS TO A VERY SPECIAL “UP”
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
upfront
uproar
upshot
upscale
uppity
upstage
uptight
TIME TO SAY GOODBYE
We hope you have enjoyed this, our sixteenth issue of JUST FOR KICKS. Your
feedback and comments are appreciated. Please refer to the TOOLS FOR
TEACHERS workshops announcement for the month of March, elsewhere in this
e-bulletin.
We would like to announce our forthcoming EASTER COURSE, which will be
focussing on CONTEMPORARY COLLOQUIAL and USEFUL TIPS TO
ENHANCE YOUR TEACHING PRACTICE. We would love to meet some of the
readers of JUST FOR KICKS. Details of the EASTER COURSE will be published in
the next issue of WELCOME TO ENGLISH AND FUN.
We would also like to take this opportunity to thank ENGLISH AND FUN for
having invited us to contribute this section, and to wish them and you, our readers,
a fantastic academic year!
Oriel E. Villagarcía holds and M.A. in Linguistics for English Language Teaching from the
University of Lancaster, and was on the Advisory Panel for the MACMILLAN ENGLISH
DICTIONARY (MED), First Edition. He is a British Council and a Fulbright Scholar, and
he did graduate work at the University of Texas. He is available for workshops on language
or methods throughout the country and abroad. He can be reached at
newtoolsforteachers@yahoo.com.ar