執筆者 Modern English | 2016年05月19日 | Trivia
Snails are small slimy animals with hard curly shells. If it doesn’t have a shell, it is a slug. Snails can be found in a wide variety of places, including desserts and deep in the ocean. Some kinds have both lungs (to breathe air) and gills (to breathe water). ...
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年04月28日 | Trivia
The trombone is a brass instrument with a telescoping slide that can be moved back and forth to change the pitch. Its name comes from “big trumpet”, as it is similar to a trumpet except for using a slide instead of three valves to change the length of the tube....
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年04月21日 | Trivia
Spaghetti is a common food from Italy. Spaghetti noodles are made from wheat flour and water. The name spaghetti comes from Italian for “little strings”. Many people prefer their spaghetti to be cooked “al dente”, or still a little firm. “Al dente” means “to the...
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年04月14日 | Trivia
“Water is the smart phone’s kryptonite, so we made ours waterproof!” Kryptonite is not a real thing. It’s a fictional rock that is the only thing that can defeat Superman. Superman is so popular and well-known that kryptonite has become a metaphor for the weak...
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年04月07日 | Trivia
A palindrome is a series of words that is spelled the same both forwards and backwards. In Japanese, “kitsune-tsuki” is a palindrome. In English, phrases such as “race car”, “taco cat”, “never odd or even” and “Was it a car or a cat I saw?” are palindromes. (Spaces...
執筆者 Modern English | 2016年03月31日 | Trivia
What’s English for a plastic bandage you can put on a small cut? Not Band-Aid—that’s a brand name. It’s just so popular that many people don’t know any other name for that kind of bandage. This has happened to many brands. Kleenex has become a word for any facial...
