Blog
Picture of the Week: Bay
Horses have been important to humans for a long time, so there are many special words to describe them. This horse's coloring is called "bay". It means a reddish brown horse with black mane, tail, and legs. 馬はずっと人間にとって大事な動物なので、馬に関する特別な言葉がたくさんあります。この馬の色を bay と呼びます。bay...
Phrase of the Week: Take Turns
"Let's try this new video game I got." "But it's only single player." "That's okay. We can take turns." When something can't be shared by more than one person at the same time, you can still share it by taking turns. On the playground at school, the swings are...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
"Five different designs and a rainbow of available colors provide a narrow range of options." Find the mistake. A. different designs B. of available C. colors provide D. a narrow 間違いはどこでしょうか？ 5通りのデザインと好きな色を選べるので選択肢が多いことをアピールしていますが、narrow は｢狭い」という意味です。代わりに broad や...
Trivia of the Week: John Doe
John Doe is a name used for a man whose name is not known—for example, if a man is found dead with no identification, or he has amnesia and his identity is unknown. For a woman, the equivalent name is Jane Doe....
Idiom of the Week: Ball and Chain
“Want to go out drinking after work?” “I’ll have to ask my wife.” “I see. How is the old ball and chain doing, anyway?” We have an idea that a man loses his freedom when he gets married. So you might occasionally hear his wife referred to as his “ball and chain”, like...
Word of the Week: Coax
“I coaxed the kittens out of the hole using some tuna and took them home.” To coax someone is to try to get them to do something in a gentle manner. Perhaps they are scared or suspicious, so if you try to force them, they will run away or freeze up, so it’s better to...
Picture of the Week: Candy Heart
Candy hearts with short romantic messages are called “conversation hearts”. They are sold as “Sweethearts” in the U.S. and “Love Hearts” in the U.K. These candies have been around since the year 1901. ロマンチックな短いフレーズを書いたハート型のお菓子を conversation hearts...
Phrase of the Week: Ever Since
“Ever since lightning hit the tree in the yard, rainy weather makes me nervous.” “Ever since I fell off a horse as a child, I’ve been afraid of them.” We use “ever since” to show that something started at a certain point in the past and has been going on a relatively...
TOEIC Practice Question of the Week
“Our new webpage should have an ____ design and give visitors an impression of high quality.” Fill in the blank. A. elegant B. inelegant C. elephantine D. serpentine anの後なので母音で始まるはずです。つまりDはアウトです。Cは「象みたいな」の意味なので微妙です。BとAは反対語で、Bの最初の in は「～ではない」という意味です。Aの elegant...
Trivia of the Week: Typing Speed
How fast can you type? In English-speaking countries, typing speed is measured in words per minute (WPM). Of course, the actual number of words you can type per minute depends on the text you are typing. If it has many long words you won’t type as many per minute....
