Blog
Idiom of the Week: Hold Your Horses
Son: Hurry up, Mom, let’s go! Mother: Hold your horses, I have to change clothes before we go see Grandma. “Hold your horses” means “wait a minute” or “slow down”. Before everyone had cars, people used horses to go places or carry things. Maybe we still say “hold your...
Word of the Week: Hiss
“Come on, Whiskers, you have to take this pill. Don’t hiss at me! Ouch!” A hiss is the sound of air escaping. Snakes hiss. Cats hiss when they are angry or afraid. A gas leak might also make a hissing sound. People are said to hiss when they whisper angrily....
Picture of the Week: Northumberland
Northumberland is England’s most northerly county. It borders Scotland to the north and Cumbria to the west. Northumberland has the lowest population density in England, at only 62 persons per square kilometer. (Osaka has 11,836.) Northumberland used to be part of the...
Phrase of the Week: Brain Freeze
Jenny: Oh no! I have brain freeze! Mandy: That’s what happens when you eat your ice cream so fast. Brain freeze is the feeling you get in your head when you eat or drink something cold too fast. It feels as if your brain has frozen. ジェニー：いやあ！頭がきんきんする！...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
Finding errors in the text before it goes to print is ______ of the proofreader. A. a responsibility B. the responsibility C. responsibility D. all responsibility 印刷する前に間違いを見つけるのが校正者の責任です。 Aは少し不自然です。いくつかのうちの一つの責任とはとれますが、その場合「one...
Trivia of the Week: Calico Cats
Calico cats are cats with three colors of fur. The colors are black, orange, and white. Calico cats are almost always female. This is because the genes for black fur and orange fur are both found on the X chromosome, and male cats, like male humans, have only one X...
Idiom of the Week: In the Ballpark
Husband: Lily, you play entirely too many video games. How much have you spent on games this year? Wife: Oh, something in the ballpark of $500. That’s not so much! The ballpark is a place to play baseball. You need a lot of space to play baseball, so it’s a wide open...
Word of the Week: Spot (as in see)
The thief tried to sneak into the museum, but a guard spotted him climbing the wall. “Spot” usually means a patch of color, but as a verb it can mean “to see” or “to catch sight of”. If you are looking around trying to see something, and you finally succeed, you have...
Picture of the Week: Polar Bear
For about 6 weeks beginning in October the polar bears migrate to Churchill. They won’t have eaten all summer and come to Churchill to await the freezing over of Hudson Bay. Only then can they venture out onto the ice to catch seals and eat. 白くま...
Phrase of the Week: Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’
Son: Look, Dad, I can balance on the railing! Dad: You're cruisin' for a bruisin', son. Get down from there before you hurt yourself. "Cruise" is a type of travel. Boats cruise, especially cruise ships. Some cars have cruise control, a feature that keeps their speed...
