Yesterday, this phrase came up in conversation and my coworker remarked, “Wait, why is below par a bad thing?” In golf, you win with a low score, so you want to be below par. But, what is par? In golf it is the expected score. But the meaning has changed over time. The golfing definition … Read More
The Story Sometimes I talk to much and sometimes I don’t say the right thing. I think that is something a lot of people can relate to. In English, we call this putting your foot in your mouth. In today’s story you will learn how I dropped the ball while talking to our new director. … Read More
While marking essays this week, I found myself suggesting that the writer take out certain words to make their sentence structure. This is an example of less is more. In particular, I suggested removing unnecessary intensifiers and redundant words. The most common intensifier is ‘very’. It is a useful word, but it is overused. A … Read More
Belteshazzar Recently, my friend, David, sent me a message about writing on the wall. He had recently seen an article on Rembrandt’s Belshazzar’s Feast (1635 – 1638). It reminded him of a biblical story from his youth. The story is about the writing on the wall. The story starts with King Belshazzar having a great … Read More
This past week, I got the short end of the stick at work again. I had to correct essays for an online program. There were 20 essays and it takes me about an hour to give feedback on each one. I like to give thorough feedback to help the writers learn rather than just give … Read More
My first co-teacher used to give another teacher a ride to work sometimes but she would always sit in the back seat. It was a strange thing to me. A person of higher social status should sit in the rear passenger seat. The second most important person sits in the seat behind the driver. Finally, … Read More
This is one of those funny things about language. The way that a word is used is not always the way you think. This morning, the director of my institute came in to our office to greet us. We mentioned that we will be putting up Halloween decorations this morning and she responded, “I’m expecting.” … Read More
To say the least is an understatement. It is like saying, “this is least amount that I can say. I actually could say a lot more.” It suggests that the situation is actually more extreme than the statement says. It comes from the larger phrase, “to say the least of it.” Example: They just got … Read More
Something that has bothered me in Korea is the use of “Cheer up.” It is not often used in Western countries because it is a little condescending. You are telling the other person that it is up to them to feel better. It is just not that easy to feel happy from a two-word sentence. … Read More
Have you ever been in a situation where you were talking about someone and then they showed up? What did you do? Well, a lot of English speakers will say, “speak of the devil!” in this situation. The phrase comes from a longer one, “speak of the devil and the devil shall come.” In British … Read More
