On the Sunny Side of the Street

The History of English in 10 Minutes

2013-03-19T15:13:00.000-03:00

GLOSSARY

CHAPTER 1

Jumble sale: a sale of miscellaneous second-hand articles, typically held in order to raise money for a charity or a special event.

Font: a receptacle in a church for the water used in baptism, typically a free-standing stone structure.

Ransack: go through (a place) stealing things and causing damage.

Thrust: push suddenly or violently in a specified direction.

Pillage: verb rob a (place) using violence, especially in wartimethe abbey was plundered and pillaged.

CHAPTER 2

Domesday book: is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086. The survey was executed for William I of England (William the Conqueror.

John Grisham: is an American lawyer, politician, and author, best known for his popular legal thrillers.

ad nauseam: is a Latin term for something unpleasurable that has continued "to [the point of] nausea".For example, the sentence, "This topic has been discussed ad nauseam", signifies that the topic in question has been discussed extensively, and that those involved in the discussion have grown tired of it.

Swine: pig.

Mutton: the flesh of fully grown sheep used as food.

CHAPTER 3

Plaque: an ornamental tablet, typically of metal, porcelain, or wood, that is fixed to a wall or other surface in commemoration of a person or event.

Dauntless: showing fearlessness and determination.

Besmirch: make (something) dirty or discoloured.

Lacklustre: lacking in vitality, force, or conviction; uninspired or uninspiring.

Hobnob: mix socially, especially with those of perceived higher social status.

Good riddance: to be happy when someone o something is gone.

The greeneyed monster: jelousy.

Break the ice: to relax a tense or formal atmosphere or social situation

as dead as a doornail: Dead, devoid of life (when applied to people, plants or animals). Finished with, unusable (when applied to inanimate objects).

to be given a short shrift: To make short work of - to give little consideration to.

to be hoist with one's own petard: Injured by the device that you intended to use to injure others.

Crossdressing: wear clothing typical of the opposite sex.

CHAPTER 4

labour of love: Work undertaken for the pleasure of it or for the benefit of a loved one.

Scribes: a person who copies out documents, especially one employed to do this before printing was invented.

To go the extra mile: to try harder to please someone or to get the task done correctly; to do more than one is required to do to reach a goal.

all things to all men : to satisfy everyone's needs.

fight the good fight: An evangelical call to believe in and spread the Christian faith.

filthy lucre: shameful profit.

go from strength to strength: Progress from one success to another higher level of success.

the root of the matter: The essential part or cause of something

the salt of the earth: Those of great worth and reliability.

fire and brimstone: The punishment of hell.

a leopard can't change its spots: The notion that things cannot change their innate nature.

a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush: It's better to have a lesser but certain advantage than the possibility of a greater one that may come to nothing.

a fly in your oinment: A small but irritating flaw that spoils the whole.

CHAPTER 5

Umplteenth: indefinitely many; a lot of.

Charades: a game in which players guess a word or phrase from a written or acted clue given for each syllable and for the whole item.

Tonsil: either of two small masses of lymphoid tissue in the throat, one on each side of the root of the tongue.

CHAPTER 6

Cummerbund: a sash worn around the waist, especially as part of a man’s formal evening suit.

Paunch: a large belly.

Crimson: a rich deep red colour inclining to purple.

Walkabout: a journey (originally on foot) undertaken by an Australian Aboriginal in order to live in the traditional manner.

Topple: remove (a government or person in authority) from power.

Gobbed: incorporate or take over.

CHAPTER 7

TB: tuberculosis.

CHAPTER 8

Ballpark: an area or range within which an amount or estimate is likely to be correct

Coleslaw: a salad dish of shredded raw cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables mixed with mayonnaise.

Breakeven: the point or state at which a person or company breaks even.

Bottom line: the final total of an account or balance sheet.

Blue chip: denoting companies or their shares considered to be a reliable investment, though less secure than gilt-edged stock.

(Gilt-edged stocks: stocks that are regarded as extremely reliable investments.)

White collar: relating to the work done or the people who work in an office or other professional environment. Also. denoting non-violent crime committed by white-collar workers, especially fraud.

Commuter: a person who travels some distance to work on a regular basis

Merger: a combination of two things, especially companies, into one

Downsiaing: 1 make (something) smaller. 2make (a company or organization) smaller by shedding staff

NHS: National Health Servise

CHAPTER 9

Char: partially burn so as to blacken the surface.

Poke: (on the social networking site Facebook) attract the attention of (another member of the site) by using the ‘poke’ facility.

Reboot: restart or revive.

CHAPTER 10

Fledged: completely developed or established; of full status.

Pilfering: steal.

Dan Brown: author of the novel, The Da Vinci Code.

Money

2013-02-25T17:20:00.000-03:00

Money

Money, get away.
Get a good job with good pay and you're okay.
Money, it's a gas.
Grab that cash with both hands and make a stash.
New car, caviar, four star daydream,
Think I'll buy me a football team.

Money, get back.
I'm all right Jack keep your hands off of my stack.
Money, it's a hit.
Don't give me that do goody good bullshit.
I'm in the high-fidelity first class traveling set
And I think I need a Lear jet.

Money, it's a crime.
Share it fairly but don't take a slice of my pie.
Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil today.
But if you ask for a raise it's no surprise that they're
giving none away.

"HuHuh! I was in the right!"
"Yes, absolutely in the right!"
"I certainly was in the right!"
"You was definitely in the right. That geezer was cruising for a
bruising!"
"Yeah!"
"Why does anyone do anything?"
"I don't know, I was really drunk at the time!"
"I was just telling him, he couldn't get into number 2. He was asking
why he wasn't coming up on freely, after I was yelling and
screaming and telling him why he wasn't coming up on freely.
It came as a heavy blow, but we sorted the matter out"

We are sinking

2013-01-04T12:01:00.001-03:00

- Mayday. Mayday. Hello. Can you hear us? Can you hear us? Over. We are sinking. We are sinking.
-Hello. This is John Koska.
-We are sinking. We are sinking.
- What are you thinking about?

Baby Jesus

2012-09-16T19:31:00.001-03:00

Gloria = G
Jay = J

G: Jay this came for you.
J: Oh Hi honey! What is it?
G: I called your secretary and told her to order you some crackers and those cheeses that you like,
the tiny little ones.
J: Thanks.
...
G: I know that I have an accent but people understand me just fine!
J: What the hell is this?
G: I told you Jay I called your secretary and told her to order you a box of baby cheeses.
Oh so that is my fault too!

American slang versus English slang

2012-08-09T19:00:00.003-03:00

Hugh Laurie and Ellen Degeneres played an exciting game of American slang versus English slang

Hair

2012-07-31T14:27:00.000-03:00

Glossary
deal: /diːl / noun. An agreement, especially in business, on particular conditions for buying or doing something.

laden:/ˈleɪdn/ adj. Full of something, especially something unpleasant.

crap: /kræp / noun. Taboo, slang. Something of bad quality

hurry up: phrasal verb. To do something more quickly because there is not much time

get out: to leave

lined up: to arrange for an event or activity to happen

Honey Pie

2012-07-31T12:59:00.000-03:00

Honey Pie (The Beatles)

She was a working girl
North of England way
Now she's hit the big time*
In the U.S.A.
And if she could only hear me
This is what I'd say.

Honey pie you are making me crazy
I'm in love but I'm lazy
So won't you please come home?

Oh honey pie my position is tragic
Come and show me the magic
of your Hollywood song.

You became a legend of the silver screen
And now the thought of meeting you
Makes me weak in the knees.

Oh honey pie you are driving me frantic *
Sail across the Atlantic
To be where you belong.

Honey pie, come back to me.

I like it like that,
Oohh, I like this kinda*, hot kinda music.
Hot kind of music, play it to me,
Play it to me Hollywood blues

Will the wind that blew *her boat
Across the sea
Kindly send her sailing back to me.

Honey pie you are making me crazy
I'm in love but I'm lazy
So won't you please come home?

Glossary

Hit the big time: to become successful

Frantic: /ˈfræntɪk/ adj. unable to control your emotions because you are extremely frightened or worried about something.

Kinda: kind of

Blew: /bluː/ verb. past tense of blow/bləʊ/ To move along or be carried by the wind

Honey Pie (The Beatles - 2009 Stereo Remaster)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hlItyQrgw80

Honey Pie (The King´s Singers)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZWM4bA9jcM