Companies are always looking for new ways to advertise their products and services. I recently read about a new one.

When you go to a nightclub in the U.S., you pay the cover charge (money or fee for entering) and you get a stamp on your hand. The stamp is a temporary mark that is put on your skin (usually the back of your hand) using a rubber block that has been put briefly in ink. This stamp allows you to go in and out of the nightclub all evening without paying again.

Now, companies are using these stamps to advertise. Instead of their normal stamp, companies pay the nightclub money for each person they stamp with the company’s message. For example, a taxi company puts the name of their company, their phone number, and the message “don’t drink and drive” on their stamp. The customer who drinks too much can find the taxi company’s phone number right on their hand. Other companies are even using the stamps to give discounts and to advertise other promotions (special offers).

Interesting idea. I wonder what other body parts companies will be advertising on next. Have you heard of any interesting or new ways companies are promoting their products or services?

~ Lucy

Many students of English choose an “English” name for themselves when they begin to study English. These names are often used in professional settings as well. As far as I know, no one has actually studied how people go about choosing their names, and what reasons they may give. Have you chosen an English-sounding first name? If so, how did you chose it and why?

I was reminded of this issue when I read a recent article in the New York Times, “In U.S. Name Count, Garcias Catching up with the Jones.” It gave the most popular last names in the United States, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (the U.S. government office which counts people and studies the demographics or characteristics of people in the U.S.). The U.S. is often called a “country of immigrants,” and the last names we have are in some ways related to our immigration history. As immigration changes, the popularity of certain last names shift (change in position) over time.

Here are top ten most popular last names in the U.S. as of (at the time, at this point) 2000, in order:

• Smith
• Johnson
• Williams
• Brown
• Jones
• Miller
• Davis
• Garcia
• Rodriguez
• Wilson

Most of these names have been popular for a century or more in the U.S., and reflect our British heritage (history). But notice that Garcia is #8, and Rodriguez #9. These are popular last names in many Spanish-speaking countries. The U.S. has seen a dramatic (large) increase in Latino Americans, people from countries such as Mexico. The names increasing in popularity the most are Latino/Hispanic names, which reflects our changing population.

If you want to know if your last name is among the 5,000 most popular names in the U.S., go to the New York Times website and search for your last name. Unfortunately, neither McQuillan nor Tse are among the Top 5,000. Maybe next year!

The title of this article a little joke related to a popular expression in English, “keeping up with the Joneses.” To keep up with means to stay in the same position, not to fall behind or get behind in rank or importance as someone else. If you have one student who walks very slowly, the teacher may tell her to “keep up with” the rest of the class. Because Jones has always been such a popular name in the U.S., it is used here to mean your neighbor or someone you know who may have more money or possessions than you (a bigger house, a better car, etc.). Some people worry about trying to be as rich or as powerful as the people around them. The headline, then, says that the (name) Garcia is “catching up” (approaching in popularity) or keeping up with the (name) Jones in terms of popular last names.

~Jeff

A couple of weeks ago, I finally went to Philippe restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. I say “finally,” because Philippe is an L.A. institution (long-established and respected business) and I’ve heard about it from many people for many, many years.

It has been open since 1918 and the owners of Philippe claims (says, but we don’t have evidence) to have invented or created the French-dipped (or spelled, “French dip”) sandwich. It is a popular sandwich in American restaurants and it is made with sliced meat, usually beef, on a long roll or piece of thick bread. The meat is dipped or put quickly in a brown sauce to give it more flavor. As everyone knows, the French dip, like the French fry, does not come from France. We Americans just like to think we cook as well as the French. Of course, no one who has tasted a French fry could doubt it.

At Philippe’s, you order at the counter, the long flat area where the workers are on one side and the customers are on the other. You stand and wait for your order at the counter, and when you get it, you sit down at one of the long, communal (shared) tables. Here are some pictures I took while I was there. (That’s not me with the grey hair behind the man wearing the white T-shirt. I’m a little older.)

As you can see, it’s a very informal restaurant and it even has sawdust (powder wood) on the floors. In the old days, sawdust was put on the floors because it soaks up or absorbs moisture (liquids) well, such as spilled drinks. This makes it easier to clean up. These days, some restaurants and bars still put sawdust on their floors, but I’m not sure if it’s to make cleaning easier or to give their place an old-fashioned (old style, not modern) feel.

There are many old photos and pictures on the walls of famous baseball players, movie stars, and other well known people. I’m really glad I finally made it to this wonderful L.A. landmark (historic place)!

~ Lucy

Today’s English Cafe #114 talks about vanity plates, specialized license plates that you can put on your car. One of the interesting things about these plates is that they often try to spell a word using the fewest letters possible, since there is not much room on a license plate. Here are some examples and what they mean:

Above you see “PIGPN” – this means “pigpen.” A pigpen is the place where you keep pigs, and is supposed to be very dirty. If your mother tells you your room is a “pigpen,” she wants you to clean it up!

This one says “WHOLUVSU” – this means “who loves you.” We sometimes write love “luv” and of course “u” is used for “you,” since they have the same sound.

This plate used a symbol of the heart to communicate the idea of love. It probably means “pure lover.” The adjective pure sometimes means sole or exclusively, the only thing you are.

Have you seen any good vanity plates? Let us know!

~Jeff

P.S. Some of you may have noticed that today’s city, Boston, was also talked about in English Cafe #45. I tried to talk about different things, however, so I hope you will learn even more about this great city.

P.P.S.  UPDATE – I want to thank two listeners who posted comments to say that “PURR” lover is probably someone who likes cats.   To purr means to make a noise like a cat.  The actual noise is usually “meow.”  Since I don’t have any cats, I didn’t think of that possibility!

In a recent poll (questionnaire of people’s opinions) done by a major technology company, 35% of adult computer users in the U.S. and the U.K. don’t back up their data (stored or saved information). That means that they don’t make an extra copy of their data in case the original is lost or damaged. What may be even more surprising is that 50% of the people who lost data in the past still don’t perform backups.

I admit that for many, many years, I never backed up my data, even after more than one of my computers crashed (stopped working completely). I don’t know if I liked living dangerously, believed it would never happen again, or was too lazy to back up. I think it was probably all three reasons. Now that I work on the podcast, I have to do back ups or else all of our work is in jeopardy (danger). But some days, even though my computer is set to automatically back up, I forget to turn on the extra hard drive where the files are stored. I guess I’m still as lazy as I’ve always been!

~ Lucy

I was interviewed by a website in the Czech Republic about ESL Podcast. If you are interested in reading the interview from earlier this year, you can read it here. The questions and answers are all in English.

I talk about the podcast in general and specifically about the nature of (the basic principles of) language acquisition, related to the post last week on learning phrasal verbs.

~Jeff