執筆者 Modern English | 2012年06月09日 | Phrases
“Strike while the iron is hot,” is an old proverb. It tells us not to miss an opportunity by waiting. When we have a chance to get something done, we should go ahead and do it! This proverb is the same in both Japanese and English. It comes from blacksmithing. A...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年06月02日 | Phrases
“The girl plucked up her courage and asked the boy out on a date.” Sometimes we need to have a lot of courage. In English, when we need courage, we usually “pluck” or “muster” it up. “The hero mustered up all his courage and entered the dragon’s cave.”...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年05月26日 | Phrases
“I keep going to interviews, but I can’t get a job!” “You’ve got to stand out from the crowd! Hundreds of people are job-hunting right now.” When everyone else is dressed in black and grey, a man in a sky blue suit stands out. Another way to say something stands out...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年05月19日 | Phrases
“Her voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me.” “Chalkboard” is another word for “blackboard”. It’s a board on which we write with chalk. If you scrape your nails across a chalkboard, it makes a terrible, high-pitched sound. If a sound is really irritating to you,...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年05月12日 | Phrases
“How do I look?” “That dress suits you very well.” A piece of clothing or a color may suit one person better than another. What color looks best on you? 「どう？似合う？」「とてもよく似合っているよ。」 服や色はある人には似合い、ある人には似合わないということがあります。あなたはどの色が一番似合いますか？...
執筆者 Modern English | 2012年04月28日 | Phrases
If you tell a story that is close to the truth, but not quite true, you are stretching the truth. A: How do you say “carrot” in Japanese? B: Um… A: Don’t you know? You told me you spoke Japanese. B: I may have stretched the truth a little....
