Phrase of the Week: Let Down

“I’m really nervous about the play. I don’t want to let everyone down!” “Is the rope tied on properly? Okay, let him down slowly.” To let someone down can be literally to allow them to go lower in physical space. But it often means “to disappoint someone”. If...

TOEIC Practice Question of the Week

“Your copy of the game will be delivery on the release date.” Find the mistake. A. copy B. delivery C. release D. date 「お客様のゲームは発売日にお届けします。」 間違いはどこでしょうか? Release date は「発売日」で問題ありません。 Copy はこの場合 DVD などに書きこまれるデータを買うことになるので、そのディスクはみな copy と呼べます。 Delivery は will be...

Trivia of the Week: Smith, John

In English, a person’s given name comes before their family name. But when writing a list of names, for example the list of students in a class, we often put the family name first, followed by a comma and the given name. We use the family name to put people in...

Idiom of the Week: Chinese Water Torture

“My aunts showed us a slideshow of their vacation. It was like Chinese water torture.” We describe something long and painfully boring by comparing it to “Chinese water torture”. Chinese water torture is a method of torture in which the victim is immobilized and water...