Provoking Phrasal Verbs 5

Abide by and ache for

Hello there!

After two weeks of not posting anything I decided it's about time I did something about it! I was quite busy reading, learning the lines of our Academic Oracy Skit, rehearsing and also teaching. But enough about me! It's time for some phrasal verbs. From now on I will start posting them alphabetically. I don't mean I will do all PV starting with A and then to move to B, I simply want to organize myself, so this week it'll be two starting with A and the next it'll be two starting with B, and so on. And yes, I got the idea from Cabin Pressure. And yes, I've been listening to it for the past few days. Again!

So the first phrasal verb abide by is largely connected with law and rules. It means to obey and respect, e.g. law, rules, decisions, etc. Right now as I am sitting in the library I abide by the rules they have here. I am silent, my phone is on silent mode, etc. Because while in library one wants to

My second phrasal verb to ache for means to desire and long for something or someone. Right now I'm aching for one particular video connected with Shakespeare and our university... I must have it!!!

This is it for now... Please let me know if you are aching for sth or sb in the comments below.

Splendid Similes 13

As Large as Worlds. As Old as Time. As Patient as a Brick.

a question for you: Who is Terry Pratchett talking about, using these similes? 

I came across these when I was reading The Light Fantastic, one of the first books I ever attempted to read in English. I failed, of course, because Terry Pratchett is not easy to begin with, and even more so when your English skills are not perfect yet :) Nevertheless, I did read the first few pages and wrote down each and every word that I did not understand. I still have them, it's about 5 pages containing such words as "tortoiseshell", "embarrassingly" and "scoured". I had no chance whatsoever.

Therefore I am even more happy that now I am able to read it, and once (when I have the time - haha, fat chance) I might even try to tackle this particular one again. Wish me luck!

But first, who is Terry referring to? The options are:

a) The Discworld

b) Great A'Tuin

c) The Luggage

Any guesses? :)

Splendid Similes 12

As Fresh as a Daisy

This is what the weather is supposed to be like right now. Sometimes it is so, because the temperature has dropped a little, and apparently no scorching summer si coming - yet. So we could all be enjoying the beautiful spring breeze, organising picnics in parks and sitting on benches and breathing in the atmosphere. If it wasn't for the fact that instead of a beautiful, mild spring, the outside is

As Cold as Ice.

Don't get me wrong, I am all for occasional spring showers. And I am certainly glad that this winter wasn't nearly as severe as the last one. But still I kind of hoped that I would be able to put my winter coat aside in April. Well, apparently not. Nevermind, perhaps it will make the Czech guys so cold that they will decide not to stick to our horrible Easter traditions this time. 

Provoking Phrasal Verbs 4

To blurt out and to speak out

Hi everyone! 

Communication is one the essential parts of our lives and I bet that every single one of you has blurted something out and I hope that you've at least once spoken out for somebody or something.

To blurt something out means to say something suddenly and thinking about the effect it will have, usually because you are nervous or excited. Some people can't keep a secret and they blurt everything out in front of the people that are not supposed to hear those things. I am not such a person, but when I was a bit younger I used to blurt things out out of excitement. Now I am wiser (hopefully) and can keep myself calm and thus I do not give away other's secrets. I am not saying I am perfect and that it cannot happen to me, but I am usually in control of what I am going to say.

To speak out means to state your opinion firmly and publicly about something, especially in order to protest against or defend something. When I speak out for someone, it is usually for my family and friends. When someone verbally or otherwise attacks one of the members of my family and friends, I tend to defend them. Or when I see that someone is being bullied I try to speak out for them and thus help them. I know it is sometimes difficult to speak out for someone or something because we might get hurt in the process, but it really is a good thing to do. So please anytime you see injustice, bullying, etc. please just

This is it from me today, have a nice day and let us know about your experience with blurting something out or speaking out for somebody or some good cause in the comments below.

Splendid Similes 11

As Cool as a Cucumber

Hello there! So, after going through loads of similes, I discovered that I haven't done this classical piece, which "as cool as cucumber" undoubtedly is. So, without further ado, here it is: (it is also quite simple) :)

When you are as cool as a cucumber, it means that you are very calm - so it is cool in the sense of not showing emotion. The origin is where the second meaning of "cool" comes to play, as does the fact that cucumbers are usually very cool (meaning cold), which, by the way makes them an ideal summer food or a juice ingredient. This site even claims that the inside of a cucumber can be up to 20 degrees colder than its outside temperature!

But as for me, I must admit that I don't like to use this imile very much. It's just that when you want to say that someone is really cool and then you compare them to a cucumber... Well, to be honest, I always end up with the image of a cucumber with sunglasses, acting really "cool". So no, it doesn't work for me. Does it work for you? Let me know in the comments!

Yeah, and the image in my head looks something like this:

Provoking Phrasal Verbs 3

Snow under and wind down

Hello, hello!
It's time to post some phrasal verbs. At this point you may be thinking that these two phrasal verbs have something to do with weather, but I have to disappoint you... These two actually have nothing to do with weather. What a surprise!

 Let us start with the phrasal verb snow under. When you are snowed under, it means that you have too much of something to deal with. There are times when I feel snowed under, especially during exam periods when I don't have time for my hobbies or anything else. But when it's over I always make up for it by reading books, visiting friends, going to theatre, etc.

This Weeping Angel from Doctor Who isn't snowed under, but it surely is under the snow. But don't feel sorry for him, he is a dangerous creature.  When you see one of those, just don't blink! Blink, and you're dead!

As for the second phrasal verb, wind down, it has at least three meanings. All of them are more or less same with slight difference. First, it can mean to end or finish something gradually. The second meaning is very similar - to gradually reduce work before stopping completely. The last one is my favourite - to relax after a period of excitement or worry. 

How are you guys? Are you snowed under? If yes, please make sure that this weekend you will wind down a little bit. Let us know in the comments below!

Splendid Similes 10

As Fresh as the Air in Spring

Hello again! As you can see, with each week my self-discipline in regards to keeping deadlines is getting worse and worse. But I am determined to keep posting anyway - and since Provoking Phrasal Verbs are to be posted tomorrow, we are probably about to have one post a day until Friday :)

Now, as for today's simile - I think that I hardly need to explain this one to you, do I? Everyone knows the fresh, crisp (we should do a post on this word, it has so many meanings!) sensation you are looking forward to the whole winter and that you are starting to miss with the first few hot days of summer - at least if you are like me, who loves spring and would be perfectly happy if there was a constant tempreature of 20°C throughout the year.

I don't know why, but I have got this feeling associated with the song Rouse Your Dream by Elvenking. If you're into folk metal, you can listen to it ;)

And yeah, it's true that the fresh spring was almost here, but these days it looks more that winter is coming (anyone looking forward to the next GoT season?). Anyway, I'm done blabbering, apparently the sleep deprivation is taking its toll. May the force be with you!

Incredible Idioms 9

To Throw Caution To the Wind

I came  across this lovely idiom while reading this tremendous book called Is It Just Me? by my favourite comdeian ever, Miranda Hart. She reffered to a reader who would read her book on the floor of a book store as throwing caution to the wind - and it gives a hint what this idiom is about.

To throw caution to the wind simply means to stop being cautious and give something a try. You ignore the dangers, you don't worry and just do it, dammit! I guess that usually it is used in situations describing socially or  emotionally risky situations, not that much the moments when you are in physical danger. But to support this claim of mine I would have to perform a corpus-based research and, well, I'm not gonna do that, sorry, chums! :D

Source

Well, anyways, let's crack on to some examples, shall we? 

I guess I definitelly threw caution to the wind that week before my state exams, when I went to see a lecture by my favourite writer. This is the daring, adventurous life I'm living. Brave, you say? Oh, stop it. But thank you!

And it was definitelly throwing caution to the wind when I decided to apply for Eramus, move out from my apartment, quit my job and just go to Norway, what the heck!

But I have to admit I am usually quite heedful and guarded, so I would never throw caution to the wind and drive under the influence of alcohol or consider being in a car with a drunk driver. No, thank you very much, I value my life quite highly.

What about you? Are you cautious types or you don't give a damn and throw caution to the wind all the time? Let us know in the comments below!

Provoking phrasal verbs 2

To end up and to lie ahead

Hello to everyone! I didn't make it on time once again. Hopefully you'll forgive me. I was trying to figure out a way this post could be funny and interesting, but I am afraid that's not gonna happen. Phrasal verbs are indeed a little boring and there is not much to write about. So I decided to talk about two of them.

The first phrasal verb is (as you surely noticed) to end up. To end up means to be in a particular place or state after doing something or because of doing it. For instance, I had many plans for yesterday, one of them was blogging, but after one call I unexpectedly ended up teaching English for three hours. And of course, I did a lot of other things.

The other phrasal verb is to lie ahead. If something lies ahead, it is going to happen to you in the future. I have so many things lying ahead of me right now and listing all of them would take me a lot of time. But the two most interesting are a visit from the US and Canada (Oh Yes), and the translation of nine children stories into English. The first mentioned is really exciting and the second one means plenty of work, but I am looking forward to it.

How about you?
Do you often end up doing something unexpected?
Is there anything lying ahead of you?
Let us know in the comments below and have a lovely day!

Splendid Similes 9

As Mad as a Hatter

Good evening to you, and, though one day late, happy St. Paddy's! I hope you didn't end up the same way as me, as I realized that although green is my favourite colour, I do not own any green clothes anymore and had to do with my green scarf. But nevermind!

There is also one more reason to celebrate, at least for the Czech people. The reason is that next week there will be a concert of Danny Elfman's music to Tim Burton's films, and both gentlemen are going to be there! Tim Burton is also opening an exhibition in Prague on Friday and having a signing session (to which "only" 3000 people got tickets, well done to those who managed!)

So as a tribute I figured I would tackle this simile to which all of you must have heard the explanation while Alice in Wonderland was in cinemas, because it was all over the place, but nevertheless!

When you say that somebody is as mad as a hatter, they are completely crazy (obviously). Wiki says that the reason for choosing hatters specifically is that they used mercury when making hats, which accumulated in their bodies and eventually caused dementia caused by mercury poisoning. Quite depressing, huh? But more than fitting for slightly creepy Tim Burton movies, I guess. Have a nice, mercury- and madness-free week!

Incredible Idioms 8

Losing One's Marbles

I came across this idiom in a book Compulsively Mr. Darcy. Elizabeth was losing her marbles when being around this über hot OCD CEO man Mr. Darcy. Not sure what she meant by that? Well, here is the thing. If you lose your marbles, you are going a bit crazy. It can be because of stress from school - for example I was definitelly losing my marbles because of my Old English lessons. It can be because of some irritating people - aren't  you losing your marbles when trapped in a train with an annoying friend from high-school? I know I was when he kept talking rude bullshit about everyone and everything and thought he was being funny. But Elizabeth is simply losing her marbles around Mr. Darcy because he is SO attractive and she is being overwhelmed by his manly sexiness. Or sexy manliness. Or whatever, you can imagine, I guess.

As for the origine of the phrase, it seems it is not agreed upon. I have found two different opinions - one ascribes the origin of the phrase to a play from 1902, where marbles, little marble balls that children used to play with, were used idiomatically to express anger. As you would be angry to losing your marbles to your competitor in a game, this connection makes sense. The meaning of the phrase has evolved in time, from meaning mad in its angry (American) sense to mad in its crazy (British) sense.

The other source provides a different explanation. Apparently, marbles were thought quite important for people, as their wits are. So losing one's marbles was seen as losing something vital and the connection to one's sanity was at hand. 

So, what about you? 

When do you tend to lose your marbles?

And what explanation of the origin of the phrase sounds more appealing to you?

And - most importantly - did you use to play marbles when you were children?

Let us know in the comments below!

Provoking Phrasal Verbs 1

To Piece Together

Hello everyone! Now it's my turn to post something. As you may have noticed, we've started a new category - Phrasal verbs. Non-native speakers of English tend to hate them at first, because they are so illogical most of the time. But I, for instance, grew fond of them because they make English such a fascinating language.

Phrasal verbs might not be as incredible or splendid as idioms and similes, but if you want to speak English very well, or pass as a native speaker, you really need to learn and use them. I will be posting phrasal verbs every Wednesday (or Thursday) so hopefully you will start to like them after a while.

This week post is about one nice phrasal verb to piece something together. When you piece something together you learn the truth about something by considering all the separate bits of information you have. For example, police or any law enforcement agency usually learn the truth by piecing together all the information they have in order to catch a killer or a thief, etc. There are many great series about law enforcement agencies and agents where you can come across this lovely phrasal verb such as NCIS, Criminal Minds, Rizzoli and Isles and so on. If you are not a fan of violence, but you love solving crimes then I reccomend very witty, smart and funny show White Collar.

So this is it for today and have a nice rest of the week!

Splendid Similes 8

As Thick As Thieves

Hi y'all! Long time no see. At the beginning of this post I would like to thank our dear Freya for keeping this blog alive (and also for suggesting this simile!), and state that we are now planning to post regularly! Yaay! Of course it would not be me if I didn't start this by posting my article a day later than planned. But we hope that we'll push ourselves and won't give up so easily :)

The simile I'd like to talk about today is "as thick as thieves". If you know the one that says "as thick as two short planks," this might confuse you a little, because the meaning is in no way similar. Whereas "as thick as two short planks" means really stupid (something Douglas from Cabin Pressure might say about Arthur), "as thick as thieves" means being very friendly - in a sort of secretive, sneaky, surreptitious way. (Don't you love alliteration?)

The simile, as this article marvellously illustrates, has its origin in the behaviour of thieves and other people living on the edge of society. They were (and still are, I suppose) always plotting something together, conspiring and having secrets - which is exactly what two good friends do together. Sometimes it might even seem that two best friends have a secret code language when they speak to each other (as thieves also did). One example of such thickness could be Hamlet and Horatio - or,  Miranda and Stevie! If you watch Miranda, you know they are exactly the sort of friends you would describe as being as thick as thieves. And if you haven't watched it, I strongly recommend you do so right now! Because it's ......

(Oh and yes, I have gone crazy about gifs, thank you sir very much sir best wishes kind regards!)

Incredible Idioms 7

To bounce off the walls

So normally, when we see or hear that something is bouncing off the walls, we imagine this:

But it is also an idiom. To say that somebody is bouncing off the walls means that somebody is very excited about something. Like me and a bunch of my friends before this amazing Bran concert. Well, and also afterwards. We are still talking about it. And swooning over them.

You can watch and listen to two of their songs here:

The whole Bran concert experience actually started a very lovely conversation with an excessive usage of gifs. It was SUCH FUN!

I haven’t found anything on the history of this idiom, but one can guess that a ball bouncing off the walls kind of resembles a very excited person. Maybe it’s not your case, but when I get very excited I can’t just sit around and do nothing. I walk or in a way jump and really look like some ball weirdly bouncing off the walls.

My creativity is at the end. I hope I didn’t bore you very much.

Incredible Idioms 6

Wear One’s Heart on One’s Sleeve

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome on board this flight from Incredible Idioms 5 to Incredible Idioms 6. You may have noticed that once again we borrowed something from Cabin Pressure, but to our defense – we love Cabin Pressure series. These past few days I’ve been doing nothing creative, so I decided to put an end to it and write something. Go me!
                As the title suggest, I am going to write about the idiom wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve. Why this one? Because while watching several interviews with Tom Hiddleston I stumbled upon one that was truly inspiring. In that particular interview he says: “Never stop. Never stop fighting. Never stop dreaming. And don’t be afraid of wearing your heart on your sleeve - in declaring the films that you love, the films that you want to make, the life that you’ve had, and the lives you can help reflect in cinema. For myself, for a long time… maybe I felt inauthentic or something, I felt like my voice wasn’t worth hearing, and I think everyone’s voice is worth hearing. So if you’ve got something to say, say it from the rooftops.” 

In this great message he manages to use the incredible idiom wear your heart on your sleeve. All dictionaries agree that it means to show and declare one’s feelings and emotions openly. And to follow Tom’s advice I am declaring that I love him!

What interests me more is the origin of this idiom. During my research I found out that it may derive from the custom of the middle age. And you can guess which one. Yeah, jousting matches. You know when knights used to wear the ribbons or some cloth tied to their sleeves. The ribbons from their ladies. Just like Guinevere gives one to prince Arthur in this video:

But what is even more interesting is that this idiom was first used by Shakespeare in the play Othello.
Iago:
It is sure as you are Roderigo,
Were I the Moor, I would not be Iago:
In following him, I follow but myself;
Heaven is my judge, not I for love and duty,
But seeming so, for my peculiar end:
For when my outward action doth demonstrate
The native act and figure of my heart
In compliment extern, 'tis not long after
But I will wear my heart upon my sleeve
For daws to peck at: I am not what I am.

So this is it from me today. I think this is more than enough. I sincerely that from now on I will be posting more often. Till the next time...