Category Archives: Language & Terms

QUESTION: Emiliano from Spain, and friend of the podcast, is reading a book in English and wants to know if the sentence “You have a job to do” is correct or if it should be “You have a work to … Continue reading →

If you enjoy words and have some time, you might want to hang out (spend time) at www.lexicalist.com for a while. Lexicalist calls itself a “demographic dictionary of modern American English.” You won’t learn much about the meanings of words … Continue reading →

QUESTION: Yana from Russia wants to know the meaning of the phrase “mind over matter.” ANSWER: Mind over matter refers to the ability to use the power of our thinking, or of our brain, to overcome (succeed in dealing with) … Continue reading →

In Jesus Christ Superstar, a rock opera and movie from the 1970s, there’s a song called What’s the Buzz? In the song, the apostles (disciples, Jesus’ followers) ask Jesus the same question again and again: What’s the buzz? Tell me … Continue reading →

QUESTION: Benjamin in Thailand wants to know what this sentence means: “You give me the creeps!” ANSWER: To give (someone) the creeps means to make someone feel frightened or uncomfortable. For example, if you ride the subway every morning and … Continue reading →

A teacher, Robert, just sent me a link to something called 50 Questions, which is a website where you are asked to answer 50 questions about yourself and what you are doing (or have done recently).  I’m not sure what … Continue reading →

QUESTION: Zoltán from Hungary wants to know what these two expressions mean: “to owe my life to him” and “to make an honest woman of her.” ANSWER: When you owe something to someone, it means that you are indebted to … Continue reading →

QUESTION: Jing Li from New Zealand had the following questions: “In (the TV show) Prison Break in the first season, Michael and Sara had a conversation: Michael: I thought you were a nice girl. Sara: Oh Michael, we all know … Continue reading →

An anagram is a word or phrase that is formed when you rearrange the letters of another word or phrase.  Here are a few words and phrases.  Can you figure out a good anagram? 1.  DORMITORY – This is a … Continue reading →

QUESTION: Heitor from Brazil had this question: “I studied English a long time ago and when some people speak to me in English I usually say that, “I lost my English.” What I want to say is that my English … Continue reading →