Happy Teacher's Day

Today's Expression - March

IDIOM	MEANING	SENTENCE
once in a blue moon	to occur extremely rarely or only once in a life-time	My brother only rings home once in a blue moon. I wish he would ring our parents more often
grass is always greener on the other side	a place that is far away or different seems better than where we are now	He realized that the grass is always greener on the other side when he saw that his new job wasn’t perfect and had its own problems too
a golden opportunity	a great opportunity that might never come again	This is a golden opportunity to make a business deal with that big company.
to catch someone red-handed	to catch someone in the act of committing a crime, usually a theft	The manager caught the new employee red-handed taking money out of the box.
Pour your heart out	express one’s feelings and troubles freely	When she needs to pour her heart out to someone, she goes to visit her grandmother.
Have a soft spot	If you have a soft spot for someone or something, you particularly like them.	My grandfather has always had a soft spot for fast cars.
On tenterhooks	A person who is on tenterhooks is in a state of anxious suspense or excitement.	I have been on tenterhooks all week waiting for the results.
Over the moon	If you are over the moon, you are absolutely delighted	We were all over the moon when we heard the good news.
At one's wits' end	you are at your wits' end, you are very worried or anxious about something, and you don't know what to do.	When her son dropped out of school for the second time, Susan was at her wits' end.
Kill two birds with one stone.	If you kill two birds with one stone, you succeed in doing two things at the same time.	I killed two birds with one stone and picked the kids up on the way to the station.
Acid test	To refer to something as the acid test means that it will prove how effective or useful something is.	acid test of a good driver is whether he or she remains calm in an emergency.
Deliver the goods	If a person delivers the goods, they do what is expected of them or what they have promised to do.	We expected great things of the England team, but on the day they simply failed to deliver the goods.
Half the battle	expression refers to a significant part of the effort or work needed to achieve something.	We've already obtained a loan for the project - that's half the battle
Root and branch	If an action is performed thoroughly or completely, it is done 'root and branch'.	The government set up to Destroy the organization root and branch.
rain or shine	(describing something scheduled) no matter what the weather is.	We're leaving tomorrow, rain or shine
under the weather	Ill, sick, unwell	Ted was feeling under the weather yesterday, so he decided not to go to work.
pay the piper	face the consequences for something you've done	I stayed up too late tonight. Tomorrow I'll have to pay the piper
live from hand to mouth	survive on very little money; have only enough money to pay for basic needs.	Chuck and Alice are living from hand to mouth since Chuck lost his job.
hit the books	study	wish I could go to the movies, but I've got to hit the books

Using Punctuation Marks Correctly

Here is a guide on how to use punctuation marks correctly in your writing by Keith W. Wright.

Signalling emotions

Use appropriate punctuation marks to express anger, sadness, wonder and more in writing.

WHEN speaking, one’s facial expressions and the tone and volume of voice serve to express emotions. In written text, marks and signs serve this purpose, making punctuation marks a useful tool for building a quality textual structure.

Exclamation mark

An exclamation mark is used after words, phrases and sentences that are grammatical exclamations in that a special emphasis or emotion is intended when they are expressed. An exclamation mark is followed by a capital letter except when it is used to end a quotation as in (d). For example:

(a) Help! My pet cat is stuck in the tree.

(b) Good heavens! Is that the time?

(c) Alas! By the time the fire brigade arrived, the house was totally destroyed.

(d) “What an amazing place!” cried the excited student as she entered the museum.

Inverted commas

Inverted commas or quotation marks are used to indicate the actual words spoken in direct speech and for quotations. Either single or double marks may be used but modern usage tends to favour single marks, unless one piece of direct speech or a quotation occurs inside another as shown in (b) and (c).

(a) ‘As it is still raining,’ the tour guide said, ‘we shall wait awhile before we leave.’

(b) ‘We shall now sing “Advance Australia Fair”,’ announced the choir conductor.

(c) ‘I distinctly heard him say, “I will be there on time”, but where is he?’ she asked.

In handwritten material, as it is difficult to italicise, inverted commas can be used to distinguish the names of books, poems, plays, songs, paintings, houses, properties, restaurants, ships, as well as foreign, slang and other highlighted expressions. For example:

(a) Have you read ‘The Tale Of Two Cities’?

(b) You may have to ‘cop’ a lot more criticism before the course is finished.

It is important to remember that inverted commas and quotation marks enclose the actual words spoken or quoted.

This includes all the punctuation marks – commas, semicolons, question marks, and so on – associated with the text.

(a) ‘Early in the morning, we are leaving for Cairns for a holiday,’ Mr O’Brien said.

(b) ‘Early in the morning,’ Mr O’Brien said, ‘we are leaving for Cairns for a holiday.’

(c) Mr O’Brien said: ‘Early in the morning, we are leaving for Cairns for a holiday.’

Parenthesis or brackets

A parenthesis is a word, clause or sentence inserted into a passage as an ‘aside’ that enhances the statement but which is not grammatically essential. The parenthesis can be enclosed by commas, dashes or brackets, both rounded and square. For example:

(a) It was, as I warned everyone, a hard fought match.

(b) The Murphy family (including the grandparents) is coming to visit us.

(c) All the team (as well as their coach [Tony Ashton] and club committee members) will spend a week at the Gold Coast (Palm Beach) after the National Games.

(d) A cheque for $50 (fifty dollars) will be sent to you as a full refund.

(e) In the Exercises (see Page 123) there are some typing errors.

(f) Can you explain to me - as I would really like to know - why the shops are closed?

Keith Wright is the author and creator of the 4S Approach To Literacy and Language (4S) — a modern, innovative and proven method of accelerating the learning of English.

A Dishy Mum

Thursday May 5, 2011 (The Star)

THIS is certainly no way to treat one’s mother after all she’s done. – David

Today's Word - March

WORD	MEANING	SENTENCE
Backbone (n)	courage, fortitude, or strength	He would make a good manager, if he had a little more backbone.
blame(v)	The state of having caused a bad event.	The blame for starting the fire lays on the arsonist.
Beggar (n)	A person who begs.	It is common to see beggars who ask for money, food, or other items in a large city.
Boast (v)	to brag; to talk loudly in praise of oneself	I wish she wouldn’t boast about her family so much.
Brave (adj)	strong in the face of fear; heroic	“This may hurt a little, so try and be brave,” said the dentist.
Buffet (n)	Food laid out on a long table and diners serve themselves	The buffet is a good idea for the occasion because we don’t have enough people to help.
Background (n)	A part of the picture that depicts scenery to the rear or behind the main subject	The photographer let us pick a background for the portrait.
Bombshell (n)	something that is very surprising, shocking, amazing or sensational	The chairman dropped a bombshell when he said he was resigning.
Balanced (adj)	even	He believed he rarely got sick because of his well-balanced diet.
Beneath (adv)	below or underneath	The ship disappeared beneath the waves.
Border (v)	The outer edge of something.	The road was bordered with trees.
Bake (v)	To cook (something) in an oven	On her birthday, he baked her a cake.
Broad (adj)	wide in extent or scope	We drove the whole day on a broad roads.
Bargain (v)	anything bought cheap	She was too fond of her most filthy bargain
Believe (v)	To consider likely.	I believe it might rain tomorrow.
Breathe (v)	To inhale.	I hate having to breathe in other people’s cigarette smoke.
Backward (adj)	the direction towards the back	Our teaching methods are backward compared to some other countries.
Branch (n)	The woody part of a tree arising from the trunk	He fell from the branch of that tree yesterday.