6 More Weird English Words You Won't Believe!

7. Poppycock

Have you ever listened to somebody trying to talk about something that they know absolutely nothing about? Like, you know that what they’re saying is completely untrue, yet they insist on continuing to talk? Or where someone has told you some so-called facts that are totally wrong?

It’s highly likely that they’re talking poppycock!

No laughing! Poppycock has nothing to do with poppies (a type of flower) or cocks (a male bird and a slang term for a man’s intimate body parts!)
Poppycock actually came from the Dutch word pappekak, which is made from pap (soft) and kak (poop!). It’s been part of English since the 1800’s.

A: “Hey, did you know that if you keep your eyes open when you sneeze your eyes will fly out?”
B: “What a load of poppycock!”

8. Flummox

If you’re now feeling very confused you are also flummoxed(adjective)!

To flummox a person (verb) means to confuse them a lot.

It came into the English language in the middle of the 19th century. It was taken from dialects used in some parts of the UK.

9. Curmudgeon

Are you trying to find just the right word for someone who’s very bad-tempered and grumpy? Curmudgeon (noun) might be just the word that you’re looking for!

Dating back to at least the 16th century, this word has been used for a long time.

 “I don’t like our English teacher … he is a real curmudgeon!”

 

10. Lackadaisical

How about if you want to describe that someone’s lazy and has no enthusiasm or determination? Lackadaisical (adjective) would be perfect in this situation!

It’s been in use since the 1700’s, although where it came from isn’t clear.

For example,

“My sister has no job and is doing nothing to find one. She is so lackadaisical.”

 

11. Woebegone

Another terrific adjective. Can you guess what a woebegone person looks like?

It’s easy to break this word into two parts – woe (extreme sadness) and begone (an old-fashioned word that means surrounded by something). So, woebegone means “surrounded by sadness.” It comes from Middle English, English that was used during the Middle Ages.

The next time your friend looks sad, you can ask them,

“Why do you look so woebegone?”

12. Frankenfood

Very new when compared to all the others on the list, the word Frankenfood(noun) came into existence in the 1990’s.

It’s used informally for genetically modified (GM) foods. GM foods are those that have been scientifically altered in some way, that haven’t grown naturally.

Frankenfood is a combination of the words Frankenstein and food. Frankenstein is a story about a scientist, Dr. Frankenstein, who creates a monster in his laboratory.

You might hear people say, for example,

“I’m not eating there! They use Frankenfoods!”

 

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After a short break and a new hip your Chinwag 'mini lesson' has returned.

6 Weird English Words You won't Believe.

1. Kerfuffle (noun).   

If somebody asked you the following question, would you know what they meant?

“What’s all the shouting for? Why are you making such a kerfuffle?”

It means to make a fuss or a bother, usually when people have different points of view. Imagine two of your friends having a minor disagreement over something and making quite a bit of noise – doesn’t kerfuffle sound like a great way to describe the situation? They might also be making a hullaballoo too…

2. Hullaballoo (noun).

“Did you hear all that hullaballoo in the office today?”

A word that really sounds like what it means, hullaballoo (noun) is the loud noises and shouting that people make when they’re angry.

It’s been part of the English language since the middle of the 18th century.

3. Cacophony (noun).

Another word related to noise, a cacophony (noun) is a mixture of horrible sounds. Imagine birds screeching, alarm bells ringing and babies screaming…and you’ve got yourself a cacophony!

4. Ragamuffin (noun).

Ragamuffin, comes from the English that was used during the Middle Ages.

You’ve probably heard the word rag, right? A dirty and scruffy piece of old cloth. So it’ll make sense to know that a ragamuffin is a person who wears dirty and scruffy clothes – clothes that are just like rags! It’s usually used for children, and you may also sometimes hear it used to describe scruffy-looking animals.

“I send my children to school dressed smartly, and they come home like little ragamuffins!”

5. Whippersnapper (noun).

Nothing to do with whips or snaps, say whippersnapper (noun) quickly and you’ll create a funny and harsh sound!

Although this term is a little bit old-fashioned today, it’ll certainly make people smile if you use it. It’s been part of the English language since the 17th century and is a mixture of two terms. One referred to a lazy person who had no ambitions. The other term was used for young people who lived on the street and did bad things, like stealing and tricking people.

The meaning has changed over the years, and today it’s used for a young person who’s too confident and perhaps a little cheeky!

6. Gobbledygook (noun).

Created from the meaningless sound that turkeys make, gobbledygook was originally an American English word. It was created in the 1940’s to mean words that are nonsense or have no meaning. It also describes when people use too many technical words and so other people can’t understand what they’re saying.

“The Director was talking a load of gobbledygook in that meeting. I have no idea what he wants!”

20 Tips - How to Write Good

Some amusing ‘plays on words’ from New York Times language expert William Safire and advertising executive and copywriter Frank LaPosta Visco.

The humour comes from the fact that the sentence does exactly what it tells us not to do.

Taken from February's issue of Chinwag International Student Magazine

1. Always avoid alliteration.
2. Always pick on the correct phrasal verb.
3. Comparisons are as bad as clichés.
4. Contractions aren’t necessary.
5. Don’t never use no double negatives.
6. Don’t overuse exclamation marks!!!!!
7. Don’t repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before.
8. Don’t use commas, that, are not, necessary.
9. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
10. One should never generalize.
11. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
12. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary.
13. Parenthetical words however must be enclosed in commas
14. Proofread carefully to see if you any words out.
15. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
16. Subject and verb always has to agree.
17. Understatement is always the absolute best.
18. Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.
19. Use youre spell chekker to avoid mispeling and to catch typograhpical errers.
20. Who needs rhetorical questions?

* The title of this piece ‘How to Write Good’ is deliberately bad English. ‘Good’ is an adjective and should be used with a noun. To modify a verb we need to use ‘well’ i.e. ‘How to Write Well’.

Essential Verbs - Have

The verb ‘have’ is another verb which is used frequently in English and learning its uses will help you improve your langaugae skills.

‘Have/Has’ as a ‘dynamic’ verb.

‘Have’ is used as a main verb to describe some actions:

Eating and Drinking. ‘To breakfast’, or ‘to lunch’ is possible but we normally use: ‘Have breakfast’, or ‘to have’ lunch,
Other examples: Have dinner/a drink/tea/a burger.

Cleaning and Washing. ‘To wash’, or ‘to shave’ are quite normal but we can use: ‘Have a wash’, or ‘have a shave’ (the verb of bath is ‘bathe’ but we normally use ‘have a bath).
Other examples: Have a shower (‘take’ is also possible for these verbs but is more common in US English).

Leisure Activities. ‘To have’ collocates with a lot of words describing activities and like most collocations they are best learnt as if they were a single word:
For example we: Have a holiday/a break/a rest/time off (‘take’ is also possible for these verbs).

‘Have’ as a possessive. (‘have/has + noun).

We use ‘have’ + ‘noun’ to say we own or possess something.
For example: I have a car. She has two sisters. (use the verb ‘to be + adjective’ to say what something is/is like- is tall or is 30 years old).
With negatives and questions you need the auxiliary ‘do’. For example: Neg form: I don’t have/She doesn’t have... 
Question form: Do you have/Does he have..?

‘Have/has got’ as a possessive (‘have/has got + noun).

‘Have/has got + noun’ is used more in British English and more in conversation. For example: I have got a car/She has two sisters.
* The big difference is there is no auxiliary. For example: 

The neg form: I haven’t/She hasn’t... Question form: Have you/Has she got...? 

55 Ways of Saying 'Drunk'.

As the weekend is here, how about some words to describe the state of drunkenness?

Be careful using these words because they are slang and have different levels of politeness- for example telling your 80 year old home-stay mother that last night you were 'fucked up' is never a good idea. 

Also slang words come into and go out of fashion very quickly. The word 'pickled' is almost never used these days and might only be used in understatement as a joke. You might describe someone who is extremely drunk as 'a little pickled'.

Furthermore, get the slang wrong and it can sound ridiculous. Take 'rat assed'. Tell someone that all the people in the pub ' had the asses of rats' and they will still be laughing this time next year.

To give you some idea I have graded the words from one to four- 1 mild to 4 strong.

I have also marked them with an 'OF' if they are now out of date or old fashioned. Most are either UK or USA English (sorry, other English speaking countries) and I have indicated which are which. 

3 sheets to the wind. 1, Becoming rare. Annihilated 2, Rarely used. Arseholed  3, Quite common UK (note the UK spelling of 'arse' not 'ass'.

Battered 2 Bent 2 Rarely used. Blitzed 2 Blotto 1, Very OF. Bombed 2 Boozed 2, Rare. Buzzed 2 USA.

Cabbaged 2, Rare (but I like it). Fizzucked 2, Very rare (but again I like it). Fucked up 4, Common, particularly USA. 

Gassed 2, USA. Hammered 2, UK. Hosed 2,USA. Juiced 2,USA. Legless 2, UK.Loaded 2 quite OF. 

Messed up 2 Common, particularly USA. Moellered/Mullered 2, UK. Rarely used.

Off (one's) tits 3, UK. Common. Out of (one's) tree 2, UK.Pickled 1, Very OF, UK. Pie-eyed 1, Very OF, UK.

Piss ass drunk 4, Rarely used  UK. Pissed 3, Most common UK (means 'angry' USA). Plastered 1, Not as common now.

Rat-arsed 3, UK. Rat-assed  3, USA. Ripped 2. Ripped to the tits 4 UK. Roasted 1, rarely used. 

Sauced 1,  Not as common now.Shit-canned 4, Rare in the UK. Shit-faced 4, Common in the UK.

Slaughtered 2 Smashed 2  Smoked 2, USA. Snookered 2, Rarely used UK. 

Soused, Rare in the UK. Steaming 2, Nearly out of use in the UK.Tanked 2, USA Tanked up 2, Becoming rare UK.

Three sheets to the wind 1, Becoming rare. Tight 1, OF UK  Tipsy 1, Very OF UK

Toasted 1 Rare in the UK. Trashed 2. Twisted 2. Wacked 2.  Wankered 4, Quite common UK.

Wasted 2, Common. Wrecked  2, Common. Zonked 2, Becoming less common.


There are many more words, expressions and similes which use the structure:
As + adj for drunk + as a + noun. E.G. 'As pissed as a fart' 4 Common UK.

All English speaking countries- Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand etc- have a rich vocabulary of slang words that I am not aware of and have not be able to include. 

Please send me your favourites.

Have a great weekend and... Cheers!!

7 Ways to Improve your Academic Writing.

Academic writing is obviously different to other types of writing. Firstly, you will need a more formal vocabulary. The thing to remember is that you can write to a format. When you learn this it will become much easier.

1. Plan.
Thinking about what you are going to write before you write it will ensure that your writing will have a logical progression- English academic writing generally has a linear progression from A-B-C-D.

2. Structure.
You can use variations on a '5 Paragraph Format'.
Paragraph 1: Introduction
Paragraph 2: Body 1
Paragraph 3 Body 2
Paragraph 4 Body 3
Paragraph 5: Conclusion

This format will make it easier for the reader to navigate thought the ideas you are expressing.

3. Introduction.
The idea of the introduction is to state your position, not to start introducing your points. You may say something in general about the topic or, if you are answering an exam question you may want to paraphrase the question. It should grab the read4. Body Paragraphs.
Your first paragraph should contain your strongest argument. During the planning stage write your points down (these will be your 'topic sentences'- see point 5). In most pieces of academic writing you will need to present a counter argument. You should do this in the planning stage .

5. Topic Sentences.
Each paragraph should have a topic (there may be other related topics too).  After your topic you will have a 'controlling idea' this tells the reader where your argument is going. You will see this explained in my model.

6. Conclusion.
The conclusion will be similar in many ways to your introduction. It will state your position again but not introduce any new points. It is in the conclusion that you can give your opinions and sum up your arguments. You could make a general prediction about future outcomes. Your final sentence should be a 'global statement' or a 'call to action' (again you can see an example in the model).

7. Linking words.
In order to make your writing easier to follow you will have to use the words which: introduce, sequence ideas, give results, reasons, give examples,contrast ideas and finally conclude your piece. There are many different linking words and so it is important to know their function and how some connect clauses and how some connect noun phraser's attention. Remember do not copy the question


Here is a short, highly simplified (rather silly) model of an academic essay about cats.

Introduction
Many people say that dogs are man's best friend but they are not the only pet whose company people enjoy.

(This introduction is a general statement and we know now that the essay is going to be about the advantages of having a cat.).

Body
Firstly, cats can be just as affectionate as dogs
(sequencing word + the controlling idea 'affectionate').

For instance they often purr and cuddle up when they are being stroked
(example word + example of cats being affectionate).

Furthermore, when they are not being affectionate they can be very playful.
(addition word + another example)

However, many people claim that cats are cold. For example...
(contrast word introducing a counter argument and example).

Other 'body' paragraphs would follow a similar pattern.

Conclusion
To sum up, with their affectionate, playful nature and... cats make an ideal pet
(conclusion word and a summary, ending with a general statement).

.