It must have seemed that I’ve been six feet under not posting for a while. I hope I’ll be able to publish posts regularly from now on but don’t expect too much because it’s holiday time.

Let’s see….what about the idiom I used at the beginning of the post six feet under.

It means that someone is dead and buried. To bury is a verb which describes the act of putting a lifeless human body in the ground and cover him with soil.This act is usually accompanied by a ceremony with close friends and members of the family. This ceremony is a funeral.

There’s a series running on HBO a private TV network in the U.S. called: Six feet under.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEK7-yZovUM

Vocabulary:
soil = the surface and material of the ground

The young woman in the video below falls off her platform shoes which have a very high sole and make you look taller. These are especially worn by women with a good sense of balance.

The man in the TV-show says that it was embarrassing. This means that something makes you feel very uncomfortable.

Well, see it for yourself. If I were that model I’d be embarrassed as one can be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0eINGyJHz8

Vocabulary:
models = often good-looking women posing for something
latest fashion = newest stuff designer have created
catwalk = a place where cats walk on  a cats here means hot women

Here are some examples when and how it’s used:
“As a matter of fact, people dislike saints on earth: perfection is for those in heaven.”
See the rest of the article

“Yeah, I do want a medal as a matter of fact!”
See the rest of the article

You see, it’s a nice sounding expression which isn’t difficult to apply.

Have a nice day.

Vocabulary:
to apply = to use, to put on
saints = people who are mentioned as holy (churches or cathedrals are sometimes called after them)
For example THIS one.

When you something in such a way that it intones the opposite. That is sarcasm.

Best explained with examples:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qzeflmJvEU

This little excerpt from the US series “The Big Bang Theory” shows sarcasm. I think there’s nothing more to explain about it, is it?

But, if you need some further explanation…here we go:

“The use of remarks which clearly mean the opposite of what they say, and which are made in order to hurt someone’s feelings or to criticize something in an amusing way.” (Cambridge Advanced Learners Dictionary)

It is amusing indeed. I love sarcasm.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_roCWpvbhbg

Don’t forget by iron you can also mean the chemical element Ferrum which belongs to the metals in the periodic table.

wallet = case you keep your money in
rush = hurry
bump into to = meet by coincidence

Many other things wouldn’t be explained today without modern science. They were mysterious mysteries a certain time ago. Nowadays we’re facing other mysteries we do not understand. For example most of us don’t understand how something can be at one and another place at the same time. Well, it’s called Quantum Physics and just a bunch of people truly try to understand it…it’s quite simply a mystery…

Hugh Laurie: Mystery

By the way, this song is a very good example for the usage of tenses.

Present Perfect: Until now and still continuing.
All my life has been a mystery.
You and I have always lived in a different country.
You’ve been dead now let me see….

Present Simple:
As a human being you are history…

Past Simple: finished action
Why did I write this song for you?

Vocabulary:
nowadays = these days, in the time we are living in, not like in the past
violent dislike  = you do not like someone very, very much
We never meant to be… = We just don’t match together, there’s no sense for us two together
mean = to have a purpose or sense (This signal means you have to stop.)
human being = a man or a woman
be history = be dead now, belong to the past, not any longer existing

Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Then we want to express that it takes a long time to create something. You can’t achieve everything immediately, it needs time and effort to build something up.

A conversation with that expression could look like this:
Tom: God, it sometimes seems like I’m just planning and planning and make no progress at all.
Jane: Oh, come on, Rome wasn’t built in a day and you have to take your time too until you make some progress.

And here Morcheeba:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FmognvrztU

Vocabulary:
build something up = make/create something
progress =  to get better and better / to come to the next level

An accent is a variation of a language. It’s the way people from an specific area, country or group talk like. An accent most likely contains bits of the sound of your mother tongue. A native speaker of English can immediately hear it, when someone talks with an accent.

But not just for speakers of English as the second language  an accents matters. For people who live in the UK an American sounds very different too.

Example:
She speaks with a strong Irish accent.
He speaks English very fluent and almost accent-free.

There isn’t a real English you could really learn. It’s more important you can make yourself understood than to practice speaking like Prince Charles or 50 Cent. Language as you use it defines your character and your background as well.

Here we have an interesting video with some accents of English

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UgpfSp2t6k

Vocabulary:
likely = highly probable, happens quite sure
develop=a process from one state to another, “develop to the next level”

So, you sue someone for something.

For example:

• You can sue McDonald’s if you come across a spider in your Happy Meal.
• “I’ll sue that idiot, he has stolen my car!”

Weird-Al Yankovic:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3T61KgEObA

See the entire video here.

Vocabulary:
court =  trials take place there and crimes are judged
to come across = find coincidentally, find/see something without looking for it

Writing formal letters isn’t easy. You have to watch your language and avoid using contractions or slang expressions. Imagine that you work for a company in the US and you have to write an e-mail to a vendor in Spain.

If you would use a sentence like: “We need our next delivery in a New York minute, you know”, you will a) not be taken as a professional employee and b) The recipient  of the message may not understand the collocation you have used.

So, keep in mind that for formal letters you should use no contractions and no collocations the recipient may could not understand.

From The IT Crowd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EBfxjSFAxQ

In the video above you can hear a very good example of a beginning for a formal e-mail. Moss writes to an unknown recipient as follows:
Dear Sir or Madam

And to finish his e-mail he uses a very common sentence:
Looking forward to hearing from you.

The expression “Looking forward to..” is always followed by an infinitive.

Vocabulary:
a New York minute = very fast
premises = land and the buildings on it with their offices…