Hallowe'en

Hallowe'en (October 31 - the last day in October) is not a statutory holiday, but it is a day when traditionally kids wear masks and/or costumes and beg for candy.

The name comes from the Old English: All Hallow's Eve

All Hallow's Day was November 1 in Old England.

The 'eve' (evening) of All Hallow's Day is the day before November 1.

Christmas Eve (December 24) is the day before Christmas.

going downhill

... 'going downhill' is an expression meaning: 'getting worse'.

For example: The world economy is going downhill.

CHEESEY

'CHEESEY' means 'cheap and bad'.

For example:

It was a cheesey movie. The special effects were cheesey.

It was a cheesey concert.

You can't fight city hall

is an expression that means:

If you don't obey the government, you will get in trouble.

stories

All the buildings here are about 24 stories high.

There is no 13th floor in buildings,
because there is a superstition that the number 13 is bad luck.

PASSIVE VOICE with 'get' (casual)

PASSIVE VOICE

waterproof

This is a common children's nursery rhyme ( a rhyme which children learn in nursery school):

Rain, rain, go away,
Come again another day.


There is a "heavy rain" warning today.

-

The ending "-proof" on a word means "difficult to do".

A waterproof coat is a coat where the water cannot soak through easily.
A waterproof watch is a watch where the water cannot get into the watch; but if it is very wet, water might get in.
A bulletproof vest is a vest that policemen wear. Bullets cannot go through. But sometimes it doesn't work.
Shatterproof glass is special glass that is hard to break. It is used in car windshields and at hockey rinks.

Occupy Wall Street

...
"Occupy Wall Street" is the protest where people are living in tents on Wall Street.
Wall Street is the street in New York City where the stock market and big financial corporations are located.

"Occupy Wall Street" is now abbreviated "OWS". There are other protests now, for example, "Occupy Bay Street" in Canada, "Occupy Tokyo", "Occupy London", etc.

ER and EE

...

'EMPLOYER' is the person who employs someone; 'EMPLOYEE' is the person who is employed.
'PAYER' is the person who pays; 'PAYEE' is the person who receives the payment.

'FIANCEE' (male or female) is the person to whom one is engaged.

The 'ee' ending comes from the French language; it is similar to 'ed' in English.

maple

It is cold and rainy today. The maple leaves are turning red.

The maple leaf is on the Canadian flag.

The plural of 'leaf' is 'leaves', but Toronto's hockey team is called the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law is a saying: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong."

It means: to have the worst luck.

For example, if you have an appointment and your car gets a flat tire,
you can say: "Murphy's Law".

1

If you have one true friend in this world you are rich beyond measure.

holding up the wall

'''

"holding up the wall" is slang for "leaning against the wall" or "standing around doing nothing".

wake up

'wake up' means: to become completely awake

'eat up' means: to eat all the food

'man up' is an expression that means: be a man, don't be soft or weak

'sit up' means: sit tall with your back straight

'type up' means: to type a complete piece, for example: I'll type up an essay tonight.

adding 'up' to a verb usually means: to do the thing completely

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

... is an expression that means:

Somebody might think that something is garbage, but somebody else might think that it is valuable.

For example: You might think that an old toy is garbage, but maybe I can use it while teaching English.


A similar expression is:

One man's meat is another man's poison.

DIY

... DIY (pronounced "D I Y") is an acronym for "Do-It-Yourself".

This expression is used to mean that you do repairs (or something) yourself, instead of hiring a repairman (hiring someone else) to do it.

When saying acronyms, the emphasis is usually on the last letter.

Money doesn't grow on trees.

This is an expression that means:

We should be careful not to spend money on unnecessary things.
It is hard to get money.

3-ring binder

A binder for holding loose-leaf paper is called a "3-ring binder" because it has 3 rings.

The green thing in the photo is a "3-hole punch". It is a device for punching 3 holes into paper so that it can fit into a 3-ring binder. You can also buy 3-hole paper with the 3 holes already punched in it.

The wooden stick is a ruler. It is one foot long (12 inches). A normal piece of paper in North America is 11 inches by 8.5 inches. We call this "8.5x11" ("eight an' a half by eleven") paper. Longer paper is called "legal paper", because it is used by lawyers for legal contracts.

they moved the goalposts.

This is an expression which is used like this:

My boss told me to sell 100 units, but when I sold 100 units, he told me that I should sell 200 units. He moved the goalposts.

in the same boat ...

... is an expression that means: in the same situation. This expression comes from the idea that if one person makes a hole in a boat, everyone will sink.

for example: we're in the same boat. -means- if one gets hurt, we all get hurt.

We're all in the same boat on Greek default. -means- If Greece defaults on its debt, the whole world economy will go down.

mosaic

A 'mosaic' (mo-ZAY-ik) is a piece of art made from small pieces of tile stuck to a wall or to a board. (A mosaic can also be made of pieces of glass, or some other material).

"average Joe"

"average Joe"
is slang for "an ordinary person".

("Joe" is a common name.)

I'm just an average Joe. - means - I'm not someone special, I'm just an ordinary person.