Phrase of the Week: I Don’t Care For It

“Try this new tea.” “Hmm. No, I don’t care for that at all.” By adding “for” to “I don’t care”, you change the meaning. To not care for something is to not like it or dislike it. For example, “I don’t care for action movies.” 「新しいお茶飲んでみて。」 「ふーん、いや、好きではない。」...

TOEIC Practice Question of the Week

“Please ____ a list of the issues we need to address before the project can move forward.” Fill in the blank. A. complete B. commit C. compile D. compost Aの「完成する」はありえますが、もっと自然な言い方があります。Cの compile は「集める」という意味があります。 Bは commit a crime で「罪を犯す」、 commit resources...

Trivia of the Week: Hope Springs Eternal

“He still hasn’t given up? He’ll never get that terrible book published.” “Hope springs eternal.” Have you ever heard the phrase “Hope springs eternal”? “Hope” is easy to understand. “Eternal” means “forever”. “Spring” here is not the season, or “jump”, but more like...

Idiom of the Week: Quality Time

“I’ve been working so much overtime to finish this project that it’s hard to spend any quality time with my family, even on the weekends.” “Quality time” is special time spent together with people you love. We usually think of quality time as time spent doing...

Word of the Week: Clear

“It’s not clear what he wants me to do.” “The water was so clear you could see the fish at the bottom of the river.” “Clear” means “obvious” or “easy to understand”. It also means “transparent” or “see-through”. If someone is speaking too fast and the words run...