pet peeve

PET PEEVE (pɛt piːv)

something that bugs you, irritates you or drives you nuts, but doesn’t necessarily bother anyone else around you

pl coś, co wkurza

de das Hauptärgernis

Here are some of my pet peeves (or bugbears) in random order (from: http://www.getannoyed.com/)

1) TV shows and commercials ads with ringing doorbells or phones, which make you into thinking the sound is coming from your house.

2) When it’s raining and you turn your car off before you turn the wipers off, and they stop in the middle of the windshield, so you turn the car back on, the wipers off, and then the car off.

3) When someone tries to talk to you when you have headphones on.

4) When I’m having a coversation with someone, & I’m in the middle of telling a story and some rude idiot comes walking up and starts a conversation with the person I’m talking to…as if I’m not even there!

5) Mispronunciation of words.

6) Grocery clerks that want to bundle the receipt with my change. Hand me the money separately so I can put it in my pocket, and then hand me the receipt or place it in the bag.

7) Taking forever to leave a parking space while others are clearly waiting for it.

8) People who let dogs that jump up on everyone loose in public.

9) Drivers who don’t use a turn signal.

10) People who sit next to you on public transportation (or in my case – the cinema) even when there are other seats available.

11) People who whistle!

Do you agree with me? What are your pet peeves?

 

brag

BRAG (bræg) BOAST (bəʊst)

to proudly tell other people about what you have done or can do or about something you own, especially in order to make them admire you

pl chwalić się

de prahlen

a tad

A TAD (tæd)

a little, to a small degree

Example: She may be a tad short but she got a top modelling job.

pl nieco, odrobinę

de  ein bisschen

A visit to the zoo

Jake was hard-working and overambitious. Some could also say that he was overconfident. He worked freelance and was expecting a pay rise so he was in a good mood all morning. What’s more, he just made up with his girlfriend. They broke up after they had a row about his hideous chair, but now they are back together. He didn’t feel down any more.

He needed to buy something so he went to the shop. The whole place, which is quite spacious, was crammed with people. The shop assistant told him to pay a lot of money but Jake knew how to haggle. He got a discount and made a great bargain.

On his way back, he decided to go to the zoo. The zoo in his city was very expensive. Fortunately, he wasn’t poor any more. He was wealthy and he really wanted to see the new snakes exhibition. He was a little anxious around snakes and other wild animals. He hated roaring lions and grinning hyenas. But this time he decided to laugh in the face of danger and, not cowardly at all, he entered the zoo. On his way he saw giggling girls and he burst into laughter. And that was the last thing he did. There was a poisonous snake on the loose. Jake felt a painful bite and died within one minute.

Vocabulary:

overambitious – excessively ambitious (pl zbyt ambitny; de überehrgeizig)

overconfident – excessively confident (pl zbyt pewny siebie; de zu selbstsicher)

freelance – a person who sells services without working on a salary basis for one employer (pl niezaleźny, pracujący na własny rachunek; de freiberuflich)

pay rise – an increase in the amount of money you are paid for doing your job (pl podwyżka; de die Gehaltserhöhung)

make up – be reconciled after a quarrel (pl pogodzić się; de sich versöhnen)

have a row – have an argument (pl pokłócić się; de streiten)

hideous – extremely ugly (pl szkaradny; de abscheulich)

feel down – feel sad and depressed (pl mieć chandrę, dołek; de sich niedergeschlagen fühlen)

crammed with – completely full of (pl zapełniony, zapchany; de vollgestopft)

haggle – argue in order to agree on the price of sth (pl targować się; de feilschen)

discount – a reduction in the price of sth (pl zniżka; de der Rabatt)

bargain – a lower than usual price (pl okazja, dobry interes; de das Schnäppchen)

wealthy – rich (pl zamożny; de wohlhabend)

anxious – worried because sth bad may happen (pl zaniepokojony; de besorgt)

roar – make a deep loud sound (pl ryczeć, huczeć; de brüllen)

grin – smile showing your teeth (pl szeroko się uśmiechać; de grinsen)

giggle – to laugh nervously or foolishly (pl chichotać; de kichern)

poisonous – capable of harming or killing by or as if by poison (pl trujący; de giftig)

be on the loose – be free from confinement (pl być na wolności; de frei herumlaufen)

within – inside (the limits of) (pl w ciągu; de innerhalb)

knock somebody’s socks off

KNOCK SOMEBODY’S SOCKS OFF

to completely surprise or please someone very much

pl zachwycić kogoś, powalić kogoś na kolana

de jdn umhauen

be raring to go

BE RARING TO GO

to be ready and excited to begin doing something

Example: After the coach gave a great team talk, the players were pumped up and raring to go.

pl palić się, żeby zacząć działać

de es kaum erwarten können, etwas zu tun

win sb over

WIN SB OVER

to persuade someone to agree with you or to be friendly to you, often when they were opposed to you before

Example: You’ve cooked a wonderful meal, but you will have to do much more to win me over.

pl przekonać kogoś, pozyskać kogoś

de jdn auf seine Seite bringen, jdn für sich gewinnen

 

phrasal verbs exercises

Match:

1. run out of                    A. raise/educate

2. bring up                      B. endure/tolerate

3. get by                        C. learn

4. put up with                 D. finish

5. pick up                       E. manage

Complete the sentences with one of the five phrasal verbs.

1. I don’t know how they………………… They have six children and he doesn’t earn very much.

2. She is very clever. She……………………. how to use the computer without any training.

3. We had to come back early from holiday because we……………………….. money.

4. Passengers are having to……………………. long waits at airports because of a strike.

5. They………………..that child very badly. She is so spoilt!

Source: “Think First Certificate” Jon Nauton

Monica’s meeting

Monica was in a hurry. She was completely snowed under with work and she also had to look after her friend’s dog. She needed to do everything fast because she wanted to be on time for the meeting on the rooftop of a very luxurious building. Yesterday they were texting and they made plans to meet for brunch so Monica was driving very fast for fear of being late. Her friend was usually very busy and impatient and he didn’t like waiting. Monica didn’t even notice that she had forgotten her shoes and that she was barefoot. She had beautiful nude high-heels but unfortunately she had left them at home.

Then, she got stuck in traffic. Since Monica suffered from road rage, she got furious. “Oh, I’m just wasting my time” – she thought. Fortunately, she had a special button in her car. She pressed it and her car became bigger and had no problems with getting out of traffic. It saved the day.

Several people observed it. It was a phenomenon they hadn’t expected. One man even had a camera with zoom lens and he took a photo.

After that, Monica had no problems with arriving just in time to find her toy boy in front of the hotel door. They kissed and went inside.

Vocabulary:

be in a hurry – to do sth quickly because you don’t have much time (pl spieszyć się; de in Eile sein)

be snowed under with work – to have too much work (pl być zawalonym pracą; de mit Arbeit zugeschüttet sein)

rooftop – the outside of a roof of a building (pl dach; de das Hausdach)

luxurious – very expensive and comfortable (pl luksusowy; de luxuriös)

to text – to send and receive a written message on a mobile phone (pl smsować; de simsen)

brunch – a meal that combines breakfast and lunch and is usually served in the late morning (pl późne śniadanie – posiłek pomiędzy śniadaniem a lunchem; de der Brunch)

for fear of – out of fear of (pl z obawy przed; de aus Angst/Furcht vor)

barefoot – without any shoes or socks on (pl bosy; de barfuß)

stuck in traffic – to be caught in a traffic jam (pl utknąć w korku; de im Stau stecken)

since – because (pl ponieważ; de da, weil)

road rage – violent behaviour by a driver towards another driver (pl agresja drogowa; de aggressive Fahrweise)

furious – very angry (pl wściekły; de wütend)

save the day – to do sth that prevents the situation from becoming unpleasant or unsuccessful (pl uratować sytuację; de die Lage retten)

phenomenon – an event or situation that can be seen to happen or exist (pl zjawisko; de das Phänomen)

zoom lens – a piece of equipment that you fix to your camera so that you can take photos of things that are very close or very far (pl obiektyw o zmiennej ogniskowej ;de das Zoom-Objektiv)

toy boy – the younger boyfriend of an older person (pl młody kochanek ;de der Toy Boy)

daffodil

My favourite flower 🙂

DAFFODIL (ˈdæfədɪl)

a yellow flower that blooms in the spring and that has a center that is shaped like a long tube

pl żonkil

de die Osterglocke