Category: Usage

To put one’s foot in it

“To put one’s foot in it” is an idiom. We use it to talk about someone saying something embarrassing without meaning to do so. If I say “I put my foot in it”, I...

Mind-boggling

When we say that something is mind-boggling, we mean that it is so large, complicated or extreme that it is very surprising and difficult to understand or imagine. For example: We often use the...

Unperturbed or imperturbable?

To understand the difference between unperturbed and imperturbable, let’s start with the meaning of “perturbed”, which is something like upset or troubled. We say that someone is “unperturbed” when they are not perturbed –...

Conscience

“Conscience” is pronounced something like “konshuns” ( /ˈkɑn·ʃəns/ ). If you would like to hear it pronounced by a speaker of British English, click here. We use it to mean knowing what is right...

What is a Joke?

As a noun, “a joke” is something that is said to make people laugh. And as a verb, “to joke” is to say something to make people laugh. Some examples: (In English there is...

Namesake

We mostly use “namesake” when two people have both the same first name and the same last name. The idea really originates from the custom (not as common now as it used to be)...

What does erroneous mean?

We use “erroneous” to mean “mistaken”, “false” or “containing errors”. It’s an adjective related to the noun “error”. We often use it with “information” (“erroneous information”) but can be used with many other nouns...

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is celebrated in many countries around the world. Different countries have different traditions. Here are some British traditions.

In the United Kingdom, ‘Christmas Day’ is celebrated on 25th December. Traditionally families gather together to exchange presents, to eat and to drink.