執筆者 Modern English | 2015年11月24日 | Words
Your spine is your backbone. It’s made of vertebrae. Animals that have backbones are called vertebrates. Animals without them are invertebrates. Metaphorically, having a spine allows you to stand up for yourself. “Don’t be spineless. Show those...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年11月17日 | Words
A knot is what we create when we tie two strings together. Knots are so important that there are names for many different kinds of knots, and they often appear in metaphors. A problem that’s difficult to solve is “knotty”. When two people get married...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年11月10日 | Words
“Boo! Did I scare you?” “Boo” is what you say when you jump out and startle somebody who didn’t know you were there. You can also see it in the name of the game “peekaboo”. Peekaboo is not scary, but it does involve hiding and...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年10月27日 | Words
“I don’t like spiders. They’re creepy.” “That abandoned house on the hill is so creepy. I bet it’s haunted.” Something that’s creepy is a little bit scary. It makes you feel scared or just uneasy. 「蜘蛛が嫌い。気持ち悪いよ。」...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年10月20日 | Words
“I had to walk two miles to the store.” “How far is that?” “Two miles is equivalent to 3.2 kilometers.” If something is “equivalent” to something else, the two things are equal. “Equal” might be easier when...
執筆者 Modern English | 2015年10月13日 | Words
“Ow, that hurts!” “My stomach hurts.” In English, “hurt” is a verb. If someone steps on your foot, that hurts. People can also hurt you emotionally. You can describe this with yourself as the object (“It really hurt me when...
