comic strip

...

English Conversation (Japanese) - Part 1

English Conversation (Japanese) - Part 2

not so much ...

"not so much" is an expression that is used in the following structure:

1) a sentence about something positive
2) a mention of something else, ending in the expression "not so much."
This means that the second thing is very bad.

For example:
 The weather yesterday was nice. Today, not so much.

Here's a paragraph from the news:

A Conference Board of Canada report puts Canada's three oil-rich provinces - Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador - on top of the world in terms of economic performance. The rest of Canada, not so much.

ENGLISH CONVERSATION - Watching TV

http://www.herostratus.ca/ESL.htm

Energizer Bunny

My web page for learning English is:

http://www.herostratus.ca/ESL.htm

"Energizer Bunny" is an expression from a TV commercial.

It means: something or someone who keeps moving for a long time, or lives for a long time.

"passed away" ...

My website for learning English is here:
http://www.herostratus.ca/ESL.htm


"passed away" is the polite expression for "died".
For example: He passed away in 2012.
Usually it is too direct to say: He died.

Here's a fun video:

The original link is here:

https://www.google.com/doodles

BBQ

"BBQ" is an abbreviation for "barbecue".
It means: meat that is cooked over a slow fire.
For example: BBQ chicken

PRESENT PERFECT PROGRESSIVE (CONTINUOUS) TENSE

ENGLISH EXPRESSION OF THE DAY - Phrasal Verb - to eat up

"to eat up" is a phrasal verb that means: to eat all of something
for example:
 The mouse is eating up the cheese.
or
 The mouse is eating the cheese up.

A phrasal verb is a verb + a preposition,
for example:
  verb - eat
 preposition - up

phrasal verbs

verb + preposition

to eat up
= to eat all of
something

Eat up your food!

The mouse
ate up all the
cheese.

Eat up your food!
Eat your food up!

Eat the spaghetti up!
Eat up the spaghetti!

I ate the spaghetti up.
I ate up all  the cheese.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE - PRACTICE

Here's a video where I read a news article out loud ...

up the creek ...

... is an expression. It is short for "up the creek without a paddle."

It means: in big trouble

A creek is a small river.
If you are up the creek without a paddle, you have no way to get home.

Good news / bad news ...

click here to see video

Good news / bad news ... is a kind of joke in English, where the bad news is usually worse than the good news.

For example:
 I have good news and bad news. The good news is that it's not raining. The bad news is that it's snowing.

(Actually, this is an old photo ... it's not snowing today :)

Abstract Art

... means: art that doesn't look like anything.

(The opposite is: Realistic Art)

COBOL

... is an old computer programming language.
It stands for "COmmon Business-Oriented Language.
Here's an example:

       program-id. Program1 as "ConsoleApplication1.Program1".

       data division.
       working-storage section.

       77  K PIC 99 VALUE ZERO.

       01  STR.
           05 A PIC X OCCURS 10.

       procedure division.
       000-BEGIN.
           MOVE "ABCDEF" TO STR.
           DISPLAY STR.
   
      *****EXAMINE STR REPLACING ALL "D" BY "X".
           PERFORM 2000-EXAMINE 10 TIMES.        
     
           DISPLAY ">" STR "< PRESS THE ENTER KEY:".
           ACCEPT K.
         
           goback.


       2000-EXAMINE.        
           ADD 1 TO K.
           IF A(K) = "D" THEN MOVE "X" TO A(K).

       end program Program1.

---

       program-id. Program1 as "ConsoleApplication1.Program1".

       data division.
       working-storage section.

       01  IN-RECORD.
           05  BIRTHDATE PIC 9(8).
           05  THENAME   PIC X(72).
         
       01  TAPE-REC.
           05  BIRTHDATE PIC S9(7) COMP-3.
           05  NAME      PIC X(76).
         
           HEX
           0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
           OOO0 0
           OOO1 1
           OO10 2 BASE 2
           OO11 3 BASE 2
           O100 4 BASE 2
           O101 5
           O110 6
           O111 7
           1000 8 BASE 2
           1001 9
           1010 A
           1011 B
           1100 C
           1101 D
           1110 E
           1111 F
     
       01  DETAIL-LINE.
           05  BIRTH-DATE PIC 9(8).
         
       procedure division.

           goback.
         
       end program Program1.

Bob's your uncle. ...

is a rare old British expression that means: Everything will be ok.

This expression comes from an old British general named Robert (Bob) who always took care of his troops.

prick up your ears ...

... is an expression that means: (you) hear something and listen carefully

ham

... is the meat of a pig.

It is also slang for a bad actor, or someone who acts badly ... someone who overacts.

For example: He told the policeman that he wasn't speeding, but he was hamming it up too much.

AfterUpdate event

'event' is computer jargon meaning: something that happens in a computer program.

Here's an example:

Option Compare Database

Private Sub Form_AfterUpdate()

    Dim theDatabase As Database ' DEFINE A DATABASE VARIABLE
   
    Set theDatabase = CurrentDb ' SET IT TO THIS HERE DATABASE
   
    ' EXECUTE AN SQL COMMAND TO ADD A RECORD TO LOGFILE
    theDatabase.Execute "INSERT INTO tblLOGFILE (LogDesc) " _
                        & " VALUES ('" _
                                  & PlanetName _
                                  & "' & ' updated'" _
                                  & ")"
               
    theDatabase.Close ' CLOSE THE CONNECTION TO THE DATABASE
   
    Set theDatabase = Nothing ' CLEAR OUT THE MEMORY USED BY IT
   

End Sub

dumpster ...

... is slang for a container that is used to hold garbage.
"Dump" is old slang for a place where garbage is thrown.