TOEIC Practice Question of the Week

“We need to ________ the inconvenience to our customers from this renovation.” Fill in the blank. A. ensmallen B. minimize C. minimal D. smallify 「この改築によるお客様への不便を最小限に止めないといけません。」 AとDは「small」で言いたいことはわかりますが、実在する単語ではありません。BとCでは、Bが動詞でCが形容詞です。この場合「need...

Trivia of the Week: Thesaurus

The English language has many words with the same or similar meanings. But sometimes when writing, we can’t think of a different word so we use the same one over and over. This is not considered good writing. In this situation, we can use a thesaurus. It is a book...

Idiom of the Week: Second Wind

“Do you need to take a break?” “No, I’ve got my second wind.” If you are doing something tiring, such as working or running, you will, of course, start to feel tired. However, if you just keep going, you may start to feel less tired. This is called getting your second...

Word of the Week: Peculiar

“This bird can be identified by its peculiar call.” “Peculiar” usually means “strange”. “I was suspicious because the man’s behavior was very peculiar.” But it can also mean “unique”. “The brightly colored feathers are peculiar to the male of the species.”...