21 unusual English expressions from around

the world
Posted on April 11, 2016 by Daniel Vincent

One of the most enjoyable aspects of learning a

language is getting to know its idioms and expressions. Indeed, it’s an area of language where
the culture of the speakers can really make itself known. With English spoken in so many places
around the world, it’s no surprise that the language has a wealth of entertaining sayings and
slang, some funny, some rude, some clever and some bizarre. We’ve picked out 21 unusual
English expressions from around the world to give you just a taste of this variety.

21 unusual English expressions from around the world

An omnishambles (something that has been managed or has turned out badly in every possible
way) UK. First they mixed our rooms up, then the toilet flooded, and when we finally got to the
beach it started raining. The entire holiday was an omnishambles!

Go off like a frog in a sock (go beserk, go crazy). AUSTRALIA. Blimey, mate – if she sees the
mess you’ve made, she’ll go off like a frog in a sock.

A Bronx cheer (a loud sound, like blowing a raspberry, that expresses derision or contempt).
NEW YORK. The crowd let out an enormous Bronx cheer when the quarterback fumbled the
ball a second time.

Catch no ball (I don’t understand) SINGAPORE. Tell me that again. Catch no ball, lah.

Do the needful (do whatever you need to do to make it happen). INDIA. This plaintive little
expression might come in handy if you ever need to deal with bureaucracy in India, where it’s
often used in formal emails.

The whole nine yards (everything available, everything possible, the whole way). US. The
scholarship covers course fees, accommodation, even some living expenses – honestly, the whole
nine yards!
Donkeys’ years (a very long time). LONDON I haven’t seen Jeff in donkeys’ years. Although
widely understood around the world, this expression really has nothing to do with the lifespan of
donkeys at all. It’s actually an example of Cockney rhyming slang – donkey’s ears for years –
that has been misinterpreted.

I don’t give rocks (I don’t care at all). SOUTH AFRICA. I don’t give rocks what you think! I’m
doing it anyway.

Pack a sad (throw a tantrum). NEW ZEALAND. Don’t tease him like that or he’ll pack a sad.
You know what he’s like.

Put the heart crossways in someone (give someone a fright, a heart attack). IRELAND. Jesus,
don’t be sneaking up on me like that, will you? You put the heart crossways in me.

My teacher is sitting on my head (my teacher is putting pressure on me). INDIA. In super-
multilingual India, it’s not unusual for people to translate idioms from one language to another.
This one comes from Hindi. My teacher’s really sitting on my head. He’s given us three essays
to write by Monday.

What’s for ye’ll no go past ye (what will be will be, qué será será) SCOTLAND. Don’t be
fretting now, love. What’s for ye’ll no go past ye.

Go for/out for a rip (go out for a drive somewhere and have a great time, usually with beer
involved) CANADA. A: Hey buddy, wanna go for a rip? Just got the keys to my new truck. B:
Hell, yeah!

Out of whack (misaligned, wonky, broken, askew). US. Looks like you put those shelves up in a
hurry! They’re a bit of whack. In the UK, skew-whiff has a similar meaning.

Lekker (cool, tasty, sexually attractive). SOUTH AFRICA. This word comes from Dutch via
Afrikaans. A: Did you see that guy at the bar? B: I know, man – so lekker!

Get off the grass (an expression of surprise or disbelief). NEW ZEALAND. A: Guess what! Jill
and I are getting married. B: Get off the grass! I bet she thought you’d never ask her!

Y’daft apeth (you idiot, you fool). MANCHESTER Don’t just stand there, y’daft apeth! Help
me! Daft is a synonym of stupid and apeth comes from ha’p’orth, an abbreviation of
halfpennyworth, i.e. an insignificant amount.

Go to see a man about a dog (go to the toilet). UK. A: Are you leaving already? We’ve just
ordered dessert. B: No, I’ll be right back. Just going to see a man about a dog. A good example
of British reticence when it comes to talking directly about anything vaguely awkward. Which is
in stark contrast to our next one…

Syphon the python (for men – pee). AUSTRALIA. I’d better go syphon the python before I
burst, mate.
What’s occurrin’? (How are you?) WALES. This is a typical way to greet someone in the
country, a little like What’s up?

Bob’s your uncle (that’s all there is to it/that’s all it takes) VARIOUS. It’s really easy to use.
Just plug it in, push this button and Bob’s your uncle!
21 idioms from the world of sport
Posted on June 1, 2016 by Daniel Vincent

Euro 2016 is just around the corner, with double

the usual of number of teams taking part in one of football’s most exciting tournaments. Whether
you’re a die-hard footie fan or just have a passing interest, whether you’re rooting for host
country France, cheering on title-holders Spain, or waving the flag for one of the 22 other
contending nations, you’re bound to hear a lot about the beautiful game over the coming month.
To help guarantee that you’re on the ball during the conversation and to help make sure that you
always know the score, we’ve put together 21 idioms from the world of sport. Let’s kick off,
then, with kick off!

21 idioms from the world of sport:

1. to kick off (football) – to start something, as in ‘Let’s kick this party off!’, but it can also
be used to describe a violent situation erupting, as in ‘Suddenly a huge fight kicked off.’
2. the ball’s in your court (tennis) – it’s up to you to make the next move or decision in a
particular situation.
3. to cover all your bases (baseball) – to prepare thoroughly to deal with a potentially risky
or difficult situation.
4. down to the wire (horseracing, from the wire across the track at the end of a race) – at
the very last minute or just before something is due.
5. get a head start (horseracing, from the act of letting a horse start ahead of their
opponents) – to be given an (unfair) advantage early on.
6. to give a blow-by-blow account of something (boxing) – to describe all the details of
something that has happened, missing out nothing.
7. it’s (just) not cricket (from cricket, unsurprisingly, which has always been associated
with sportsmanship and gentlemanly behaviour) – Unsportsmanlike, unfair,
unacceptable.
8. below the belt (boxing, where blows below the belt are against the rules) – (to say)
something particularly underhand, cruel or unfair to someone.
9. jump the gun (racing sports in general) – to start something before it’s the correct time
to do so.
10. not up to par (golf, ‘par’ being the set number of strokes a golfer is expected to need for
a specific hole or a specific course) – below the necessary standard, not as good as
should be expected. This goes with par for the course, which means ‘normal or
expected’.
11. to show someone the red card (football) – to be dismissed or thrown out of a position of
responsibility for unacceptable behaviour. Of course, there’s a lot more football
vocabulary than just the red and yellow cards.
12. skating on thin ice (ice-skating) – to be in a risky situation.
13. out of my league (sports in general) – to be superior to you in some way. This is often
said to express the idea that the person you are keen on romantically is more attractive
than you are.
14. throw in the towel (boxing) – to give up when you can no longer deal with a difficult
situation or no longer want to carry on fighting or struggling for something.
15. to be first past the post (horseracing) – to win something by getting to the end first.
‘First past the post’ is also used to describe electoral systems where the candidate or party
that gets the most votes is elected.
16. out of your depth (swimming) – not having enough skill, experience or knowledge to
deal with a particular situation.
17. to let the side down (sports in general) – to act in a way that embarrasses or causes
trouble for your team or for the group of people you are part of.
18. to be (thrown) in at the deep end (swimming) – to start something difficult, like a new
job, without any preparation.
19. to move the goalposts (football) – to change the rules of a particular situation midway, in
order to make it more difficult for somebody to achieve a certain goal. If your goal is
learning English, try these football-related activities.
20. no holds barred (wrestling) – with no restraints.
21. to have had a good innings (cricket, where an innings is the period a team is at bat) – to
have lived and enjoyed a long life (often said of someone who has just died).
30 useful English idioms and expressions
Posted on July 15, 2015 by Daniel Vincent

Like any language, English is full of idioms and

phrases that give it life and colour. Understanding them will help you follow conversations in all
sorts of settings and situations, while being able to use them – appropriately – will impress your
native-speaker friends and make your own conversation sound that much more natural and
fluent. There are far too many to list in one article, but here we look at 30 useful English idioms
and phrases in various contexts. A literal definition (in italics) precedes each one.

30 useful English idioms and expressions:

Do you have something really difficult and challenging to do at work? If so, you’ve got your
work cut out for you. Or maybe you’ve taken on far more work than you can practically do. If
so, you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. In either case, the worst thing to do is to
procrastinate, you need to tackle the difficult situation you’re in and start work immediately; that
is, don’t drag your feet but take the bull by the horns and get a move on.

Meanwhile, does it annoy you when your boss constantly checks that you’re doing your work, so
that if feels as if he’s always standing behind you, looking over your shoulder? If so, then it gets
up your nose that he’s always breathing down your neck. If you try to talk to him about it, does
it become clear that you both have very different opinions about the issue? If so, then when you
have a word with him about it, it becomes clear that you don’t see eye to eye.

Or is a friend or colleague ignoring you for some reason, maybe because you’ve said something
to offend them? If so, they’re giving you the cold shoulder. Whatever the problem, it’s always
better to talk about it rather than ignore it. If there’s a very obvious problem that everyone
pretends is not happening because they don’t want to address it, it ends up being the elephant in
the room, which is one of my favourite of all English idioms and phrases.

The last time you took an exam, did you stay up all night the night before, studying until the very
last minute? If so, then you pulled an all-nighter. But maybe it was worth it and you got perfect,
or nearly perfect marks, in which case you can say you passed with flying colours. Or maybe
during the exam you couldn’t remember anything you’d learned as your mind went blank. When
you finally got into bed the next night, exhausted from all that studying, did you fall asleep
immediately and then sleep undisturbed until morning? If so, you were out like a light and you
slept like a baby.

The last time you went on holiday, did it cost you an incredibly large amount of money? If so, it
cost you an arm and a leg. In fact, after spending all that money you probably had no money at
all, in which case you were flat broke. Hopefully it was worth it, however, and you had an
absolutely wonderful time, because then you can tell your friends, in another one of our useful
English idioms and phrases, that you had the time of your life.

Or is your life going nowhere, always the same old boring routine? Then you’re stuck in a rut
and you need a change. Are you tired of living in a very isolated area, far away from the nearest
town or village? No wonder! Nobody likes being stuck in the middle of nowhere or the back of
beyond. Maybe you know you should move elsewhere, but are unable to decide whether or not
to do so, in which case you’re in two minds about moving.

Perhaps all you need to feel better is to meet up with friends, head into the city and enjoy
yourself flamboyantly; that is, paint the town red. If you’re feeling incredibly hungry and could
eat a horse, find a nice restaurant. But don’t get too drunk, however; if you get wasted,
bladdered, plastered, tanked or any of the other dozens of synonyms for inebriated, you’ll only
end up with a nasty hangover, in which case you might have to resort to a hair of the dog to feel
better. And if you don’t know what that last one is, you can look it up here.
10 unusual expressions in English and where
they come from
Posted on November 3, 2015 by Daniel Vincent

Part of the fun of learning a language is getting

to know its idioms and expressions, but there are many whose meaning is far from clear and
whose origins are obscure. Today we look at 10 unusual expressions in English and where
they come from.

Unusual sayings in English:

1. to kick the bucket

A euphemism for ‘to die’. One theory suggests it comes from the days when prisoners were
executed by hanging. An upturned bucket, or some other kind of pedestal, would be placed under
their feet as they were strung up to the gallows and then kicked away to make them drop. More
likely, however, it comes from an old secondary meaning of ‘bucket’, which was the beam used
to hang animals up for slaughter in a farm. The dying animals would spasm as they struggled,
hence ‘kicking the bucket’.

A: I’d love to travel around the world one day.

B: So would I. There’s loads of places I want to see before I kick the bucket.

2. Break a leg!

It might surprise you, but this expression is used to wish someone good luck. It comes from the
world of the theatre, where superstition has it that wishing someone good luck will bring them
disaster, whereas cursing them will have the opposite result.
A: Ready for your presentation?
B: I guess so. I just get really nervous speaking in public.
A: You’ll be fine. Break a leg!

3. to have two left feet

The meaning of this expression is fairly transparent. It describes a person who is hopeless at
dancing. The reason for two left feet as opposed to two right feet probably has to do with the
age-old stigmatisation of left-ness.

It’s really embarrassing at parties when my boyfriend hits the dance floor. He’s got two left feet.

4. to make a (right) pig’s ear of something

Poor old pigs – they’re not renowned for their good looks. Their ears are especially unattractive,
and this expression means to make a complete mess of something. It comes from a very old
proverb ‘you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s (a female pig) ear’.

I knew I shouldn’t have tried mending my jacket myself. Look at this – I’ve made a right pig’s
ear of it.

5. to have a butcher’s

This strange expression is short for ‘have a butcher’s hook’, and means ‘to have a look’. It’s an
example of Cockney rhyming slang, in which certain words or expressions are replaced by
words they rhyme with. Other examples are ‘apples and pears’ for ‘stairs’, ‘brown bread’ for
‘dead’ and ‘dog and bone’ for ‘phone’. Cockney rhyming slang was originally a cryptolect (a
kind of code) used by market traders and criminals in the East End of London when they didn’t
want the locals (or the police) to understand them.

A: I don’t think I can finish this Sudoku puzzle. It’s way too hard.
B: Let’s have a butcher’s. Maybe I can do it.

6. under the weather

To feel unwell. This was originally a nautical expression. Sick sailors would be sent to recover
below decks, where they would literally be ‘under the weather’.

A: You coming out tonight?

B: I don’t think so. I’m feeling a bit under the weather.

7. to play it by ear

Another one of our unusual expressions in English that features a part of the body, this one
means to deal with a situation as it develops, without making any concrete decisions or plans
beforehand. It comes from the ability to play music without having to read a score.
A: Should we book a taxi for tomorrow night?
B: No, we don’t know how many of us there’ll be yet. Let’s just play it by ear.

8. the bee’s knees

If something is the bee’s knees, then it’s excellent. Some say it goes back to Jazz Age, and was
used to express the feeling of being so excited that your legs shook rapidly, like the twitching
legs of a bee. Another theory says it comes from ‘the be-all and end-all’, which was corrupted to
‘the B’s ‘n’ the E’s’, and that it was originally used sarcastically of someone with a very high
opinion of themselves. ‘Who does he think he is, showing off like that? Thinks he’s the B’s ‘n’
E’s!’ These days it can be used, if somewhat quaintly, in praise of anything.

A: How was that concert you went to?

B: Oh, it was the bee’s knees. I loved it.

Alternatively, if you don’t want to sound too old-fashioned, I suggest using a different
expression with the same meaning; just swap the bee for a dog and the knees for another part of
the creature’s anatomy.

9. to drive someone up the wall

If you drive someone up the wall, you drive them so crazy they end up wanting to climb out of
wherever they are and escape.

I wish my neighbours wouldn’t play reggaeton all day and night. It’s driving me up the wall.

10. to go cold turkey

To quit something addictive completely and without any preparation, rather than reducing it
gradually. Although it is often used to talk about quitting alcohol, tobacco or drugs, its usage has
widened to include stopping any addictive behaviour abruptly. One theory says it comes from the
goose-bumped skin and cold sweats that a person recovering from alcohol or drug addiction
suffers. Another suggests it developed from an old American expression ‘to talk cold turkey’,
meaning to speak plainly and directly, hence the idea of getting straight down to the business of
quitting.

A: I think I’m spending too much time on social media these days. I might need to cut down a bit.
It’s not healthy.
B: Cutting down never works. Just delete your accounts and go cold turkey.
12 surprising facts about the English
language
Posted on October 7, 2015 by Daniel Vincent

From the proverbial raining cats and dogs to Shakespeare’s many signatures, today we look at
some lesser known facts about the English language.

12 surprising facts about the English language:

1. Although the official language of 56

countries around the world, English is not the official language of the United Kingdom; that
is, it has no legal official status, although it is, of course, the de facto official language. The same
is true of the United States, New Zealand and Australia. The languages with legally official
status in the UK are Cornish, Welsh, Irish, Ulster Scots, Scots and Scottish Gaelic.

2. Among Facebook’s language settings, you can chose ‘English (Pirate)’, which turns your
status update into ‘what be troublin’ you?’ your friends into ‘mateys’, your likes into ‘fancy this’
and your searches into ‘scour fer scallywags, ports and various sundries’. Landlubbers needing
to find their way back to the shores of ordinary English have to go to ‘adjust ye riggins’ and
click on ‘tongue’.

3. Despite the fact that ‘e’ is the most common letter in the language, novelist Ernest Vincent
Wright once wrote a novel of 50,000 words – Gadsby – that did not include a single letter ‘e’ – a
no doubt amazingly wondrous orthographical act but fully and thoroughly lacking a point.
Shakespeare’s Signatures (Public Domain)

4. Shakespeare couldn’t spell his own name. Or at least, he never spelled it consistently. There
are six surviving signatures by the Bard of Avon, and he spells his name differently each time:
Willm Shakp, William Shaksper, Wm Shaksp, William Shakspere, Willm Shakspere and William
Shakspeare. However, this is partly because it was common practice at the time to abbreviate
names in signatures and partly because English spelling had yet to be standardised. A teacher of
mine used to call him Old Billy Waggledagger instead. Can you work out why?

5. There’s a reason why we don’t eat pig and cow but we do eat pork and beef. It harks back
to the Middle Ages, when Norman French was the language of the nobility in England and
English itself the language of the peasantry. On the farm the animals were referred to by their
Anglo-Saxon names, but by the time they reached the dining table they were being tasted and
talked of in French.

6. English is, by international treaty, the official language of seafaring and aviation. All pilots
on international flights must be able to understand and use English to a specified level, while
Aviation English itself is highly regularised and codified to ensure efficient mutual
communication and safety in the skies.

7. Even though ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’ is one of the best-known English idioms, very few
people actually say it these days or even know where it comes from. The most commonly
accepted explanation is that English homes in the past had thatched roofs, and domestic animals
such as cats and dogs would often hide in them, only to be washed out of the thatch, or to flee it
in search of better shelter, during times of torrential rain.

8. The so-called ‘Queen’s English’ is not the ‘standard’ variety of English in the United
Kingdom. What people usually mean when they refer to ‘the Queen’s English’ is a variety
known as Received Pronunciation (RP), which can very loosely be described as the standard
English spoken in the south of England, especially the Home Counties around London. It is
sometimes known as ‘BBC English’. The pronunciation the Queen uses for public address is
actually extremely idiosyncratic (and very easily parodied). No one but the Queen speaks like the
Queen – one simply doesn’t, one might say – and anyone trying to do so would sound
ridiculously pretentious.

9. English has more pronouns than y’all learned in school. Unlike many languages, modern
(but not Old or Middle) English lacks a distinct pronoun for the second person plural (at least as
far as ‘standard’ English goes). ‘You’ is used to address both one person and more than one
person (compare Spanish ‘tu’ and ‘vosotros’). This obvious gap has been filled in numerous
creative ways by different groups of speakers. Most of you will be familiar with the US pronouns
‘you guys’ and ‘y’all’, while in the UK it’s not uncommon in certain regions (and within my
own family) to hear ‘youse’ or even ‘you lot’. In some parts of the north of England, the
otherwise obsolete familiar second person pronouns ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ are also still alive.

10. Perhaps not one of the most surprising facts about the English language, but one in four of
the world’s population speaks it either fluently or to a useful level as a second language, with
non-native speakers currently outnumbering native speakers by four to one. This reflects not only
English’s status as a true world language, but the growing need for non-speakers to learn it in
order to be able to operate in an increasingly globalised world.

11. A new dialect of English has been developing over recent years in London known as
Multicultural London English (MLE), which is spoken mainly by young working class
Londoners and which contains many elements of Caribbean, African and South Asian English,
as well as traditional Cockney.

12. hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is a word in English meaning ‘fear of long words’.

Although it’s obviously a term that has been coined for ironic effect, it’s based on the genuine
medical term sesquipedalophobia. Neither term is helpful if you have to explain your condition
at the doctor’s, especially not if ‘Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious’ is playing on the radio.
20 words and phrases English owes to
Shakespeare
Posted on January 18, 2016 by Daniel Vincent

‘To be or not to be’ – that’s the one line from

Shakespeare that everybody knows. But the question is, do you know just how many other
words, phrases and idioms he gave to the English language, either by coining them himself or by
popularising them through his poetry and plays? This year marks 400 years since the Bard of
Avon’s death, and yet even those who don’t know his work probably quote him on a daily basis.
Today we’re looking at 20 words and phrases English owes to Shakespeare.

20 words and phrases English owes to Shakespeare

A foregone conclusion (Othello) – said when the outcome of a situation is clear from the
beginning.

The truth will out (the Merchant of Venice) – meaning that the truth will eventually come out,
no matter what you do to try to hide it.

Good riddance (Troilus and Cressida) – said when you are happy or relieved to be rid of
something or someone.

I haven’t slept a wink (Cymbeline) – meaning not to have slept at all.

The be all and end all (Macbeth) – meaning the whole thing, the only alternative worth
considering.
Eat me out of house and home (Henry IV Part 1) – to eat a lot of somebody’s food, especially
when staying with the person whose food it is.

A wild goose chase (Romeo and Juliet) – meaning a hopeless quest.

Too much of a good thing (As You Like It) – used to warn against excess. Too much of a good
thing can be bad for you.

To wear your heart on your sleeve (Othello) – meaning to show your emotions, especially
romantic feelings, openly.

Brave new world (the Tempest) – used, sometimes ironically, to describe a utopia.

(To wait with) bated breath (the Merchant of Venice) – to wait excitedly or nervously for
something to happen, with your breath subdued (sometimes spelled ‘baited’).

There’s method in my madness (Hamlet) – meaning that beneath apparently chaotic behaviour
there is some kind of order.

There’s the rub (Hamlet) – from the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy, this expression means the
particular obstacle or problem that makes it impossible to do something (in Hamlet’s case, it’s
the fear of what might come after death that prevents him from committing suicide).

The green-eyed monster (Othello) – meaning jealousy (jealousy and envy are associated with
the colour green in English, as in ‘green with envy’).

Bedazzled (the Taming of the Shrew) – meaning greatly impressed by something or someone, as
if they have blinded you with sunlight.

(To be) in stitches (Twelfth Night) – this is used to describe uncontrollable laughter,

Dead as a doornail (Henry VI, Part II) – meaning not just dead but completely dead!

The world’s your oyster (The Merry Wives of Windsor) – this means being able to do anything
you want because you have the opportunity to do so, either through talent, looks, luck, power or
money.
 (To have a) spotless reputation (Richard II) – used to describe
someone, especially someone in a position of power, who has never done anything blameworthy
or morally wrong.

To make your hair stand on end (Hamlet) – used to describe something very scary.
Top 20 books for learning English during the
summertime
Posted on June 15, 2016 by Daniel Vincent

Whether you’ll be spending the summer at the beach or

simply lazing around on the grass at home, why not take the time to practice your English and
enjoy some great books in the language? We’ve put together a list of the top 20 books for
learning English during the summertime, a mix of comedy and drama, horror and history, sci-
fi and romance, plus a whole lot more. You’ll find something for young and old alike, and, with
our graded and active readers, something to suit you perfectly, no matter what your level of
English.

Top 20 books for learning English during the summertime

1.- The Beach (Alex Garland) – One night, while travelling in Thailand, Richard is given a map
with directions to a mysterious beach, part of a beautiful lagoon hidden far off the beaten track.
He sets off in search of this paradise, meeting other travellers along the way. Not long after
finding the beach, however, the hard reality behind the idyll soon becomes apparent. Find out
what happens with our graded reader.

2.- Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen) – Mrs Bennet has one aim in life: to find good husbands
for her five daughters. When rich, handsome Mr Bingley and his eligible friend Mr Darcy come
to town, the Bennets could not be more excited. But witty, strong-willed Elizabeth Bennet, the
second eldest daughter, takes a dislike to the snobbish, aloof Mr Darcy, and a comic masterpiece
ensues.
3.- Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll) – The Mad Hatter, the grinning Cheshire Cat, the King
and Queen of Hearts and a pipe-smoking caterpillar are just some of the fantastic characters that
Alice encounters when she falls down the rabbit hole into the trippy, nonsensical Wonderland.
Here you can find our graded reader.

4.- A Midsummer Night’s Dream (William Shakespeare) – This evergreen tale of midsummer
madness and magic sees four young lovers, a comical band of terrible actors and a famous
donkey running riot in the topsy-turvy world of an enchanted forest outside Athens, all
manipulated by fairies and strange potions. Tackle the Bard’s well-loved comedy with our
graded reader here.

5.- The Great Gatsby ( Scott Fitzgerald) – It’s the Roaring Twenties, and New York’s wealthy
and beautiful flock to party at the Long Island mansion of the fabulously rich but mysterious Jay
Gatsby, the man who seems to have everything but in fact wants only one thing: to find Daisy
again, the woman he has loved and pined after for five long years.

6.- 1984 (George Orwell) – Winston Smith, the hero of this 20th
century classic, lives in a dystopian society where everything is watched and controlled by the
ever-present eye of Big Brother. Language is controlled, thought-crime is punished and torture is
routine in Room 101 of the Ministry of Love. Is love even possible in such a world? Winston
eventually finds out.

7.- To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) – Life in a sleepy Alabama town is largely carefree for
six-year-old Scout Finch until her father, Atticus Finch, a local lawyer, is called on to defend a
young black man falsely accused of raping a white woman. Very soon the town’s prejudice and
bigotry makes itself known, and Scout learns that the world is not as charmed or as charming as
it seems.

8.- Captain Corelli’s Mandolin (Louis de Bernières) – It’s 1941 and the conquering Italian
army, led by mandolin-playing Captain Corelli, have just arrived on the Greek island of
Cephallonia. Corelli falls in love there with the beautiful Pelagia, but there are rivals for her
affection in this sweeping tale of love, loyalty, friendship, betrayal and war.

9.- The Catcher in the Rye (J. D. Salinger) – Rebellious teenage narrator, Holden Caulfied, gets
kicked out of high school, heads to New York and spends three days wandering moodily around
the city, dancing with older women, meeting up with his ex-girlfriend and talking and thinking a
lot about sex, all the while trying to come to terms with his past and desperate not to become a
“phony” like the adults he sees around him.

10.- The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde) – When Basil

Hallward paints a portrait of the handsome young Dorian Gray, Dorian is so taken with his own
beauty that he makes a wish to stay young and beautiful forever while the painting grows old
instead. The wish comes true, but not without some terrible consequences for Dorian and those
who love him.

11.- A Room of One’s Own (Virginia Woolf) – In this blazing essay, the author of To The
Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway makes a powerful case for women’s financial, intellectual and
creative independence, reflecting on the fate of Shakespeare’s imaginary sister in rich, beautiful
prose.

12.- Logan’s Run (William Nolan and George Clayton Johnson) – Logan lives in a future
society where resources are maintained by ensuring no one lives longer than the age of 21.
Logan is a Sandman, responsible for policing the law and catching anyone who tries to ‘run’ and
escape their early death. But what happens when he decides to run himself? Find out with our
Pearson Active Reader.

13.- Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte) – Set on the bleak, windy moorlands of Yorkshire, this
dark novel tells the story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliff, who fall passionately in love,
and the revenge that Heathcliff wreaks when Catherine abandons him for someone else.
 14.- The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle) – Time and again the great fictional detective, with his famous powers of observation and
formidable logical reasoning, cracks crimes and solves mysteries in Victorian London, to the
enduring admiration of his friend and companion Dr Watson. Three of his most famous cases can
be enjoyed in graded English here.

15.- The Big Sleep (Raymond Chandler) – The LA underworld is a seedy place and Philip
Marlow is the no-nonsense private investigator called in to handle what at first looks like a
straightforward blackmail case. But as you’ll find out in our Active Reader, Marlow soon works
out there’s more to the case than meets the eye.

16). The God of Small Things (Arundhati Roy) – Everything changes in a day for young twins
Rahel and Estha when their English cousin Sophie Mol comes to stay with them and their family
in a small town in India. Tragedy unfolds and the twins soon learn what happens when the ‘love
laws’ are broken, the laws that “lay down who should be loved. And how. And how much.”

17.- Great Expectations (Charles Dickens) – Pip, the hero of this, one of Dicken’s most popular
novels, is a poor orphan whose life is transformed completely and forever by two encounters,
one with an escaped convict, Abel Magwitch, and the other with the eccentric spinster, Miss
Haversham, along with her beautiful adopted daughter, Stella.

18.- Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) – When young Swiss scientist, Victor Frankenstein, succeeds
in bringing to life a creature fashioned out of old body parts, little does he know how monstrous
the creature will turn out to be, or how lonely and in need of love.
 19.- The Tomorrow Mirror (Nicola Prentis) – Everything is
normal for schoolboy Jason until, looking in the mirror one day, he is surprised to see a bruise
under his eye. He has no idea how it got there, nor does it hurt, and stranger still, none of his
school friends can see it at all. But when a ball hits him in the eye later on, it suddenly becomes
visible to them, and starts to hurt him as well. Find out what’s going on with our Active Reader.

20.- I, Claudius (Robert Graves) – Ancient Rome is brought to vibrant life in this historical
novel, which tells the story of murder and intrigue in the Imperial household from the point of
view of lame, stuttering, quietly intelligent Claudius, who is destined one day to take power.
50 of the most useful English abbreviations
and acronyms
Posted on September 23, 2015 by Daniel Vincent

How well do you know your FAQs from your

BPMs? Would you know when to RSVP? Don’t worry if these strings of letters seem baffling to
you. Today we’re taking a look at 50 of the most useful English abbreviations and acronyms
to help you navigate everything from official documents and friendly invitations to
casual conversations in a nightclub.

English abbreviations and acronyms:

BYOB – Don’t turn up to a party empty-handed when you’ve been told to BYOB, else the hosts
and the other guests will be dry and unhappy indeed. BYOB stands for bring your own
beer/bottle/booze. ‘Bottle’, of course, means a bottle of wine or spirits, and ‘booze’ is a slang
term for alcohol.

DOA – dead on arrival. You might hear this abbreviation in hospital-based TV shows, when the
victim of an accident or a crime gives up the ghost before they reach ER. Hopefully, you’ll never
have to use it yourself. Oh, and BTW (see below), ER stands for Emergency Room, which is the
US term. UK hospitals have A&E (Accident and Emergency) wards instead.

DOB – date of birth, one of the most common English abbreviations found on official forms and
documents.

AD/BC – Not a tribute rock band. You’ll see these two used with dates. The first stands for the
Latin phrase Anno Domini (In the Year of Our Lord) and refers to dates after the birth of Christ,
while the latter, self-evidently enough, is used for dates Before Christ. Recently, however, the
secular equivalents CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era) are becoming
increasingly popular.
AKA – also known as. This is used when referring to people who have a penname, a stage name,
or some other type of alias, such as Reginald Dwight (AKA Elton John), Stefani Joanne
Angelina Germanotta (AKA Lady Gaga) or Eric Arthur Blair (AKA George Orwell).

ASAP – as soon as possible, something your boss might add to the end of an email when she
wants you to finish that report as quickly as you can.

AWOL – absent without leave. Originally a military abbreviation used of soldiers or marines
who had gone off somewhere without permission, ‘to go AWOL’ is now used casually about
friends who have temporarily gone missing. Here are Jack and Ben, in a club, talking about their
friend Tom:

Jack: Where’s Tom? It’s his round.

Ben: Looks like he’s gone AWOL again. Typical! Always does a vanishing act when it’s his turn
to get the drinks in.

BO – body odour. This never means someone who smells like jasmine and roses. If someone has
BO, you’ll be pinching your nose to avoid the smell.

BRB – If you’re chatting to someone online, or

via whatsapp or similar, and you need to take a sudden call or make a quick trip to the bathroom,
this is the abbreviation to use, as it tells the other person that you’ll be right back.

BTW – by the way. This is a common online abbreviation. ‘By the way’ is used to introduce a
topic to the conversation that is not directly related to what is being said but which the speaker
has just remembered. A good synonym is ‘incidentally’.

DIY – do-it-yourself. This might sound like an order you might bark at someone, but in fact it
refers to decorating your home by yourself or doing your own refurbishments or repairs, rather
than employing a professional.

EFL/ELT/ESL – Ask your English language teacher what these three related abbreviations
mean. One of them is in the name of this very blog. No points for guessing what the E and the L
stand for.
BA, MA, BSC, MSC, PhD etc. – these are all academic abbreviations that describe the type of
degree one is taking or has acquired. Respectively, they stand for Bachelor of Arts, Master of
Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy. There are many others.

CC and BCC – These email abbreviations harken back to a time when copies of letters were
made using carbon paper. CC means carbon copy and BCC means blind carbon copy.

ETA – estimated time of arrival, used to let people know when you think you’ll arrive.

FAQ – frequently asked questions. A common abbreviation on company websites, it’s cleaner
than it sounds.

FYI – for your information. This is often used in work emails when forwarding information that
does not require a response. However, it can also be used sarcastically. Here are our revellers
Jack and Ben again:

Jack: Surely you weren’t out partying again, were you? You look wrecked, man.
Ben: No, mate. FYI, I was up all night studying.

IMO – in my opinion, another common internet abbreviation. You’ll also see IMHO, which can
mean either in my honest or in my humble opinion.

LGBT – lesbian gay bisexual transgender. This rainbow-esque abbreviation often adds a Q for
queer and an I for intersex, giving it as many letters as there are colours in the flag it’s associated
with.

BLT  – Not a series of sexualities this time, but a sandwich made up of bacon, lettuce and
tomato, plus a slathering of mayonnaise.

EDM – electronic dance music, such as house, trance and techno – the kind that has lots of BPM
(beats per minute).

LOL – laugh(ing) out loud. These days, LOL is one of the best-known and most useful English
abbreviations, both online and in text messaging and in social media, so much so in fact that it
has entered the spoken language as both a verb and a noun. You might hear someone with a
GSOH (good sense of humour) say they ‘lolled’ at something funny, or even that they did
something ‘just for the lulz’, meaning ‘just for the fun of it’. It can also mean lots of love.

NEET – This fairly new abbreviation is used to refer to a young person who is not in education,
employment or training, a state of affairs which is not that neat.

OMG! – Oh my god! This very old expression of surprise or disgust has become one of the
better known online abbreviations.
P.S. – post scriptum. Although seen less and less frequently now that we have email and editing,
these two letters still constitute a widely understood abbreviation for adding something to a
finished letter. There are hundreds of others from Latin still in common use.

PTO – If you see this at the bottom of a document, make sure you follow the instruction to
please turn over and read the other side.

RIP – Technically from the Latin requiescat in pace, it’s more commonly understood to stand
for the English words rest in peace. You’ll find it on gravestones and tombstones.

RSVP – For the French répondez s’il vous plait (please reply). If you receive an official
invitation to an event that includes this abbreviation, make sure you let the organiser know
whether you’re going or not.

TBA – to be announced. If you’re planning a get-together but haven’t yet chosen the venue, this
is the abbreviation to use. Also TBC – to be confirmed.

 VIP – very important person. You’ll hear this used of those rooms in clubs and boxes in
stadiums that are reserved for the rich and famous. It’s always pronounced fully as V.I.P. and
never as ‘bip’, as it is in some languages.

TGIF – thank god it’s Friday. This needs little explanation.

YOLO – you only live once. Yolo someone to

encourage them to carpe that diem and seize the day, otherwise they might suffer from FOMO
(fear of missing out), that disturbing aspect of the human condition that makes you feel that
everyone is having a better time of it than you are.

TL;DR – too long; didn’t read. This is used on internet discussion forums when someone has
posted something longwinded and verbose. Hopefully you won’t be thinking TL:DR of this blog
post. LOL!