Some funny words.

Hi Crew!

That's what I used to call my team when I was coaching baseball and soccer. Crew! My baseball teams were mixed sometimes so crew fit better than 'people'. When I was coaching just girls I always said 'crew' also since it sounded better than girls or ladies.

So, that isn't a funny word but 'chock a block' is. So is 'cheek to jowl'. Oh, and there is also 'packed like sardines'. Did you get an idea of that all of these words mean? Crowded, they all mean crowded. "We were packed like sardines in that elevator!" "There we were on the bus,cheek to jowl, during rush hour". There is another word for the same thing, 'chock full'. The car was chock full of people. These are fun words, not really things you would find in a book but you would hear them here in Canada. 

Here are some more:
butter me up - make me feel good by complimenting me

stick in the mud - a person who can't seem to have fun or relax

Then there are words from Aesop's fables. Is Aesop a universal writer? Has everyone heard of the Tortoise and the Hare? "Slow and steady wins the day". I was speaking with someone today and she said that she would learn English a little at a time, and I said that this is the correct way to do it. A little bit at a time. But you know I had a Latin teacher in high school, Mrs. Sunderland. She always said that the human brain is a fantastic thing. If you cram enough into it, the things you put in will come out when you need them. And that, crew, is true. 

Over the years, from five years of Latin through hundreds if not thousands of books and thousands of movies, the stuff keeps coming out when I need it. So for English, read, listen, speak, write, do whatever you can and you'll soon find that "what goes in will come out sooner or later" and you will be a confident speaker/writer/listener of English.

A long blog but I hope you enjoy it. Several people have told me that they enjoy my blogs. Well, I can tell you that you don't enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy writing them!