E-cubed 790: more than one way to skin a cat

Today's E-cubed:  more than one way to skin a cat: có nhiều cách để thực hiện một việc gì đó

I want you to study, go to college and get a good job.
Dad, there’s more than one way to skin a cat.
That’s the best way~ 
It’s not the only way~ I’m gonna be a pro gamer!

E-cubed 789: to have a chip on your shoulder

Today's E-cubed:  to have a chip on your shoulder: tâm trạng tức giận, cay cú ai đó

You going to Chuck’s party?
No. 
It’s gonna be fun.
Nope.
You still have a chip on your shoulder~
He’s not nice to me and he thinks he’s so great.

E-cubed 776: Chance for/Chance to/Chance of

Today's E-cubed:  Chance for/Chance to/Chance of

A chance for/A chance of: khả năng xảy ra điều gì đó cao hay thấp
A chance to: cơ hội làm việc gì đó

What's the weather for tomorrow?
The chance for rain is really good.
That'll give me a chance to wear my boots! And you'll love them~
The chance of me loving them is NOT so good~~

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to E-cubed - Daily Easy English Expression. Thank you very much. You can watch this video and all of my youtube videos and listen to all of my podcasts on our website: letsmasterenglish.com. We even have a new search engine thing. It changes, you know. So we have to update it. But thanks to you guys. Thanks to my patreons, my sponsors. I have a great team who continue to work on it. Thank you very much, you guys.

Today's expression, whoo, very very good. A chance for something, a chance of something, a chance to do something. Uh huh. What's the difference? Chance for, chance of, basically the same. Chance to, different.

Now watch this expression. A chace for, a chance of. A chance for a rain to fall in the city. A chance of rain coming to the city. A chance of, a chance for, that's the idea. The expression is straight. No special emotion. A chance to, a chance to, a chance to meet my favorite English teacher. A chance to travel around the world. Chance to has emotion, not always but it's usually very happy. Yeah. And the idea of a chance to is an apportunity, an opportunity to do something, an opportunity to see something. Right now, you are taking, you are experiencing the chance to study English with me, an American, a very nice old American guy. I'm giving you the chance to study English for free. And hopefully, you're having fun. That's the idea of chance to. Chance of and chance for, this is likelihood (kha nang xay ra), probability. Okay. So the chance for rain tomorrow is 70%. The chance of rain tomorrow is 70%. We use the same sentence, for basically both. In some situations it might be different. But the point is chance of, chance for is probability, the percentage, the likelihood. Chance to is opportunity. Yay. I get, I receive the chance to meet you in real life. That's so wonderful. But the chances of Coach Shane not going are very high. The probability, the likelihood, the odds of Coach Shane not going to a live meeting are very high. OK. Let's check out a dialogue.

What's the weather for tomorrow?
The chance for rain is really good.
That'll give me a chance to wear my boots! And you'll love them~
The chance of me loving them is NOT so good~~

Once again talking about the weather, the chance for rain, the chance of rain is a great example. The chance, we can also say the chances. The chances of me liking your boots are very low. The chance of me liking your boots is very low. Both are fine. It doesn't matter. Be careful with the sentence, the context of the situation. What's important is this of and for are probability, percentage, ok. So just think about that of and for are probability. OK. Of and for are probability, percent, chances, okay. To is exciting, opportunity, yeah. Not one but two. Just think like that. Does that help? I hope so. So, tomorrow it's going to rain. Is that good. No, usually that's bad. But for this woman, it's really good because she has rain boots, and because of raining tomorrow, she has a chance to wear the rain boots. And everybody will say, oh my, your rain boots are so lovely. She believes, but the guys says no, no, no, no, I, I, I don't care about rain boots so the chance of me liking your rain boots is very very low. That chance is very low. The likelihood is not so good. The probability almost zero. Does it make sense? I hope so. This was a question and it's such a great question. Chances to, chances for, chances of. Chance of, chance for, chance to. Keep it like this, of and for, of and for, percent. To, opportunity. OPPORTUNITY opportunity. Listen to that dialogue three more times. Practice with a friend. Please find a friend to practice with. And I'll probably be back again tomorrow. Thanks a lot, everybody.

E-cubed 758: chronic pain

Today's E-cubed:  Chronic pain: chứng đau mãn tính (đau kéo dài, nhiều đợt)

You okay? Another headache?
This chronic pain is too much.
You need to see a doctor.
Any recommendations?

E-cubed 757: say something out in the open

Today's E-cubed:  Say something out in the open: Nói ra điều gì đó giữa nơi đông người

Hi! You wanna have some coffee?
Ugh! Your breath stinks!
What? Oh...sorry...~
Betty! You shouldn't say something like that right out in the open!!

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to E-cubed. Today's expression: to say something out in the open. To say something right out in the open. What does that mean? In the open. To say something in the open. What does that mean? Out in the open. That means to say something that's private or personal, to say something so that everybody else can hear. But actually you should not probably have done that. You should probably have said it quietly, or said it as a whisper to your friend, or maybe you shouldn't have said that. That's all. That's the idea. To say something out in the open. It's usually impolite or embarrassing. So the best example I can give you is somebody goes to the supermarket. And they have a stomach ache. And they have diarrhea. So when they to the bathroom, it's pretty bad. So they go to the store, and they buy some medicine to help them to help their stomach. And they go to the cashier, and the cashier sees the medicine, and the cashier tries to check the price but the cashier cannot find the price. So the cashier uses the microphone on the store. And the cashier says: Uh, yes. I need a price check on the diarrhea medicine, diarrhea medicine, price check please. And you're like... No, thank you. No, thanks. Well, I'm fine. I'm fine. I don't need the medicine. I'll just go. It's so embarrass. You don't say that diarrhea medicine out in the open. That's embarrassing. It should be a secret, right? Let's check out a dialogue.

Hi! You wanna have some coffee?
Ugh! Your breath stinks!
What? Oh...sorry...~
Betty! You shouldn't say something like that right out in the open!!

Oh, I feel sorry for the guy. The guy, he sees a woman. Her name is Betty. And he goes to Betty. He likes Betty and he says: "Do you wanna have some coffee?" But you know... And Betty says: "Oh, your breath stinks!" Can you imagine how embarrassed. He's embarrassed for asking her, but also he's embarrassed about his bad breath. And now, everybody else knows he has bad breath. Betty. Come on, Betty. Don't say something like that right out in the open. Be nice. Be quiet say: "Oh, oh, your breath stinks." That's what you should do. Yeah. That happens. Do you like to embarrass people? Would you say something out in the open to embarrass somebody. It happens. Has something like that ever happened to you? I hope not. It does happen. That's for sure. To say something right out in the open.

Sometimes people like to do that. So, another classic example in America, I think this is a stupid example. But, a couple goes to a basketball game. It's a big basketball game. Thousands of people are there. And during half time, certainly the man get the microphone for the whole gymnasium, and he says: "Sweetheart, would you marry me?" And he shows her a rage. He proposes marrige to her in front of thousands of people right out in the open.

Now many times, the woman says yes. But sometimes, the woman doesn't say yes. She says no. And, I think it's so funny. If the guy does it, he's embarrassing her by saying it out in the open. If she says no, she's embarrassing him also by saying it out in the open. Be careful of what you say out in the open. Sometimes you don't want everybody to hear what you're saying or what you're thinking. Okay. It's a great expression. If you think of an example, I hope so. Check out the dialogue three more times. Please practice with somebody. And I'll see you again tomorrow. Bye, bye.

E-cubed 756: to put the kibosh on something

Today's E-cubed:  to put the kibosh on something: ngăn cản, cản trở việc gì đó

What happened to your restaurant idea?
Oh~ My dad put the kibosh on it. 
Why?
He said I couldn’t even make a grilled cheese sandwich~ 

TRANSCRIPT

E-cubed 755: Alls I need is...

Today's E-cubed:  alls I need is..: tất cả những gì tôi cần là... (thứ duy nhất tôi cần là...)

What do you need to be happy?
Happy? Alls I need is a million dollars!
Alls I know is that’ll never happen.
Alls you do is destroy my dreams.
Alls I’m saying is go get a job!

TRANSCRIPT

E-cubed 754: You're too GOOD for your own good!

Today's E-cubed: You're too good for your own good: Bạn quá tốt đến nỗi gây bất lợi cho chính bạn.

You look ill.
I'm okay. I just need to finish my son's homework, then make dinner for my hubby, then I'll get some rest.
You're too good for your own good!
Oh~ I'm just a regular mom!

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to E-cubed. Today's video is brought to you by you. All of you, especially to my patreons and my other sponsors, thank you so very much. Today's video is really great. Now, the last video we studied for your own good. Do something for your own good, for your own benefit. For example, you are studying English for your benefit, for your own good. Perhaps you quit smoking for your own good. Maybe you are eating more vegetables and fruits for your own good, for your benefit.

I said this expression could be used in a negative situation, and that's what we are going to learn today. Today's expression is you're too good for your own good. You're too good for your own good. You're too rich for your own good. You're too healthy for your own good. What does it mean? You're too rich for your own good. You have too much money for your own good. Yeah, some people. That happens. Did you ever hear about the peson who won the lotery. They won millions of dollar. They won a huge amount of money. And, they bought a car. They bought a house. And five years later, they have nothing. They're divorced. Their life is terrible. They were too rich for their own good. There were too much money. And, it was not for their good. It wasn't for their benefit. It destroyed them. It wasn't good for them. That's too much money for your own good.

So the key is "TOO". When you see "too", it means too much. It means it's a negative amount. So very is good. A lot is good. But too is negative. It's very hot. OKay. It's supper hot. That sounds okay. It's too hot. It's not good. It's not good. It's too hot for my own good. So for example, let's say I like the cold weather. You know me I like the cold weather, the cloudy skies. Today, the temperature will be -40 and thick cloud which is probably almost impossible. But anyways, that's too cold for my own good. No, that's too cold. It's not good for me. There is no benefit. Minus 40? I can't do anything. -40 is, it's too cold for my own good. There is no benefit to me. Too rich for your own good. You get too much money destroying you. What about too healthy too your own good? Does that make sense? Yes. And I will explain after we have another example in our dialogue. Check it out.

You look ill.
I'm okay. I just need to finish my son's homework, then make dinner for my hubby, then I'll get some rest.
You're too good for your own good!
Oh~ I'm just a regular mom!

Yeah. There are so many mothers out there like this. They do everything, they really are supper moms. They do their children's homework. They make dinner for everybody. They clean the house. And then some of these mothers work. I mean they go out for a job. So they're not only working at home, working for their children, working for their husbans. They're working for somebody else. Oh my goodness. Yeah. And they don't complain. Some mothers, many mothers, I don't think they complain. It's.. They love their family. They want to do it. They want to help their children and help their husbands. They're too good for their own good. They're too good. It's not good for their own good. It's actually hurting them because they're gonna get sick.
 And you know, they're gonna get stressed out. It's not good.

Being too good for your own good. It's not good. Saying yes to everybody. Yes. Yes, I'll do. Okay, okay, okay. Eventually, you're gonna go crazy. You're gonna be other problems. Being too good, it's not good. Are you too good for your own good? Yeah, it's not a good thing. We have to lean how to say no. We have to learn how to trust other people to do what is right. Not easy. Especially if you're a profession. See. This is my problem with my podcast let's master English. People ask me where is it? Where is it? Uh, boys. I want my podcasts to be perfect and to be regular. And I don't feel that I'm ready for that. Yes. I, to go back into it. Because once I start something, I don't want to stop it. So I'm too perfect for my own good? Yeah. Perfection is good. But too much is not good.

So what about too healthy for your own good? Healthy is great. Eating good foods. Getting good exercise you know. Getting good sleep. Healthy is good. How can you be too healthy for your own good? Well believe it or not, I have a friend who is health-freak. Everything he does is about health. Uh, he's a vegan. He gets, absolutely he gets 8 hours of sleep a night. Absolutely. He perfectly go to bed at 10pm every night, wakes up at 6am as it's the same every time. And he wakes up. He exercises. Come back. Everything is specificly designed for his health. And because of that, he is inflexible. He's not flexible. If we go to a luch, we have to go to a vegan restaurant. I hate not having meat. But I go because he's a friend. If it's hot in Summer time, want an ice scream? No. No ice scream. It's bad for you. Only he'll take what he does. And he takes oranges, and juices them, and then freezes the orange juice. And that is ice-scream. It's delicious. Yes. I love it, too. But, outside you know, when you're driving to the store. Come on. He's a health freak. He's too healthy for his own good. So physically, it's really good for him. But his relationships and think about it. Is it easy for him to go to a restaurant? No. And he always goes on business trips. So everytime he goes on a business trip, he spends 5 hours online looking for non-smoking hotels, looking for vegan restaurants. And it's very stressful for him. His focuses, concentration on health is actually not really helping him. Whatever. You know. He wants to do. It's alright. Go ahead. You do that. That's the idea. Too healthy. He's too healthy for his own good. It's not that healthy unfortunately. You know he's about the same age with me. I'll bet he die before me. That's a horrible thing. I know it's terrible. I hope not. But, you know.. Good luck. Good luck to you. Anyways that's the idea.

So for your own good. Too rich for your own good, that's negative. Too good for your own good, it's negative. Too healthy for your own good, it's negative. Can you come up with an example, maybe about yourself, or about your mom, or somebody you know. Leave your example down below. And let me say thank you right after you listen to the dialogue three more times. Please practice with somebody.

I need to say thank you to two groups of people, actually many groups. Everybody who watches, thank you so much. You're why I'm here. If you recommend my videos to your friends, thanks a million. That means so much to me. I'm here to be your friendly English coach to hopefully make English fun for you. It's my goal. Some of you are able to support me on patreon and directly. You're investing on your education. And that investment come to me and that makes me your full-time teacher. And I certainly appriciate that beyond words. So first of all to the people who directly support me, they go to paypal and they send a payment to parmyproductions@gmail.com also other places. But I want to say thank you very much to... Now, these people once again support me directly on paypal. And you could send a dollar. That's fine. One dollar. That's not too much. And it pays my electricity. It pays for my lights, my camera, my computer, my internet, everything. It's my job. And that dollars go directly to that fund. We have a brand new website. We invest a lot in that website. And we'll continue to invest more. Thanks to all of you guys. I sincerely appreciate that very very much. Now, we also have our patreon people. And there's a ton of patreons. The idea of patreon one again it's more of a community. You can see each other. You can leave messages. But I prefer you leave messages on facebook and twitter and Google Plus. But anyways patreon is very convinient, too. We have a ton. So at the end of this video I have a list of all of my patreons, and once again thank you so much. All it takes is one dollar a month. That's all. That's three and a half cents a day. Three and a half cents a day for you know a video. Three and a half cents for a video. That's really good. Three and a half cents for a video every day. I appriciate them. You're investing in your English. You're trusting me to be your English teacher. And that's a big honour. And I take it very seriously. I have big goals. I want to do more things, and have more areas of English covered, something maybe perfect for you. Together, we'll get there. Thank you so much for your support. And I promise I'll do my best for all of you whether you can support me or not. Once again, by watching the videos, that's the most important thing. Thank you. Have a great one. And I'll see you guys tomorrow. Bye bye.

E-cubed 753: For your own good

Today's E-cubed: for your own good: vì lợi ích của bạn, tốt cho bạn...

You quit smoking?
Yeah. I quit for my own good.
Well, it's good for me, too!
I guess it is. You should be nicer to me!

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to daily easy english expression, the podcast. Today's podcast is brought to you buy PIRF and DDM. We've got the very special membership right now until Sunday which is today. This is the last day we can sign up. I'll talk more about this special offer after today's expression which is for your own good. For your own good. If something is for your own good, it is for your benefit. So, you should quit smoking for your own good. If you quit smoking, you will be healthier. It benefits you. You should eat healthy foods for your own good. You should get some exercises for your own good. You should... What elses? Well I don't know. Many thing to do for your own good. You should study English for your own good of course. It's a great expression. It's an easy expression. I'll talk more about it. But let's check out today's dialogue.

You quit smoking?
Yeah. I quit for my own good.
Well, it's good for me, too!
I guess it is. You should be nicer to me!

What have you done for your own good, for your benefit? Now many times, if you do something for your benefit, it also benefits other people. It's good for other people, too. It's an advantage, not just for you but for other people too. But sometimes it's not. Sometimes we do things for our own good that don't necessarily help other people.

So the example would be a married couple and I don't know. Right now in America, there's a big fight. The American boxer and the Filipino boxer, the big huge fight, around the world, very popular. And, this is boxing is generally a guy's thing. And I know maybe some women like it, too. But it's a guy's thing. So guys like to go out, and celebrate the fight, and watch the fight, and talk about the fight, maybe drink some beer and have a good time. And guys go out to release their stress. And we say, it's for our own good. It's for my own good. But also honney, it's good for you because when I come home, I'll be a better husband. That's the excuse that many men use, but that's not really probably so. I know some women like it. Some women like it when their men leave. Oh, go. Please go. Go out once. Then, they're free. Yeah. So maybe it is for everybody's good when the guy goes out to have a beer and watch a fight.

But anyways, it's usually to everybody's benefit, especially to you of course but not neccessarily. Tomorrow, we have a version of this expression where it can mean actually negative. But, you'll have to wait, tomorrow. Today, I want you to practice. I want you to think of something you have done or you want to do for your own good. Think of something! If you don't have any ideas then I highly recommend you join DDM and/or PIRF for your own good. I'll talk about that in a minute. Let's check out the dialogue three more times and practice with somebody.

So, how is your American English listening? How is your English listening? Can you watch a TV show? Can you watch a documentary? Can you go to a semina? Can you take an online class in history or physics or computer programming or something like that? And can you understand everything? It might be tough.

DDM is my class that I design to help you build your listening skills. And I teach you all about American pronunciation. And I get you to try to speak like that, too because the philosophy in DDM is "If you can say it, you can hear it."

But working on your listening skills and practicing American pronunciation is one part of English. The other part of English is actually speaking. And, I want you guys, when you speak, I want you guys to have as perfect of pronunciation as possible. Because if your pronunciation sounds perfect, people will automatically respect you, and think of you as a very intelligent person. If your vocabulary is great, and your structures your grammar is great, but your pronunciation is babla, but your pronunciation is really bad, nobody's gonna listen to you. Nobody wants to listen to you. You don't sound that intelligent. People will be dissapointed.

Pronunciation speaking is so important so I have PIRF. DDM for your listening. PIRF for your speaking. IN, OUT. You need them both. Absolutely, you need them both. And right now, I have a supper special offer for... what is it? PIRF OPEN and DDM LITE. This is an combination.

PIRF OPEN, I give you four lessons every month. And you study on your own. You study on your own schedule, whenever you want. You can leave messages and pratice with other people of course. But it's all on you. Four great lessons that will start you out in preparation for perfect speaking.

Then, we have DDM LITE. DDM LITE is fantastic. It's about listening skills. You can pick Monday lessons which focus on daily conversations, pronunciation skills. The pronunciation is pretty tougn, very American. Or you can pick Thusday lesson. Thusday, more like the news, documentaries. The pronunciation is a little bit easier. But the vocabulary might be tougher. Or you can mix.

So the combination of speaking and listening. Four lessons of PIRF, four lessons of DDM LITE. DDM OPEN and DDM LITE. Right now, you can get both of those classes for under $30. But, this insane offer ends tomorrow. So if you are interested in signing up, you have to send me an email. And I'll send you the registration link. If you want more information, go to our website letsmasterenglish.com and just click on the course information. We've got all the courses. All information is there. This is a special offer. So there is no special place to sign up. You need to send me an email and it got to be by tomorrow. For me, right now, right now it's Saturday night. So by Sunday night, midnight, my time Los Angeles, you have to send me an email, and I'll give you a great deal just under $30 both classes which are gonna be PIRF OPEN and DDM LITE. Do it. Do something that's good for you. It's good for you. That's it. I'll be back again tomorrow maybe not. I might take a dayoff. But maybe I'll be back again tomorrow. But don't worry! E-cubed will absolutely continue. Take care everybody. Bye bye.

E-cubed 752: SHEER

Today's E-cubed: sheer: chỉ là, đúng là, tuyệt đối, hoàn toàn,...

You look so happy!
You wanna hear sheer beauty?
What are you listening to?
Birdsong. Nature does it best.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to E-cubed. Today we have a very good word. I like this word. It is sheer. I know it's tough. The 'r' pronunciation. Sheer. Sheer delight. Meeting John was a sheer delight. A complete delight. And absolute delight. A total delight. Your food is sheer excellence. The food you make is absolutely perfect. It is totally excellent.

Sheer, complete, total, absolute. So use it to describe how much perfect or wonderful or exciting that something was or is. Coach Shane's English classes are sheer fun. Every English lesson is fun. It's exciting. You learn something new. You laugh. Sometimes you cry. I hope so. My classes are sheer fun. Not just sheer fun, sheer educational. But if we say sheer educational, does that sound interesting? Sheer educational. Sheer S-H-E-E-R. This is a word that is used to describe something as complete or total or absolute. Sheer stupidity, completely stupid, absolutely stupid, totally stupid. Sheer boring. If I talk my classes like this, it would be sheer boring. It would be completely boring, absolutely boring, 100% boring. That's why I don't teach my classes like that. I try to use excitement. But if I used sheer excitement in my classes, it would be too much. Sheer excitement, 100% excitement, totally excitement... It's too much. Right? Sheer, it's a great word. Let's check out the dialogue.

You look so happy!
You wanna hear sheer beauty?
What are you listening to?
Birdsong. Nature does it best.

Birdsong. I don't know what it is. But next to my apartment, there are some really strange birds. And late at night, like at 1 o'clock in the morning, they start singing but their song is really pretty. So it wakes me up. It makes me mad. But then the songs are just amazing. What are they singing about? It's so pretty. It's sheer beauty. Absolutely beautiful.

Sheer is a great adjective. And you can use it to describe something that is a beauty. It's sheer beauty. It is sheer excellence, sheer exciting. We can use it in so many different ways. I want you guys to go to the internet and type "sheer", and go to the news like Google News and search for "sheer", and see what other types of usages you can see, you can find. It's a  great word and I want you at least today, at least make one example sentence. My mother's cooking is sheer garbage. No. My mother's cooking is sheer excellence. My coffee is sheer horror. Now my coffee is better. My mom's cooking is great. I try to think my mom's cooking is really good. But how is my cooking? My cooking? I don't think we can say sheer. My mom's cooking is always good. My cooking sometimes is good. My coffee is bad. If you ever see me and if I ever offer you a coffee, you have to absolutely say no. If I offer you anything, say no. English lessons, say yes. Because my English lessons are sheer excellence. They're perfect. I hope. Use this word. Find an example. Leave it down below. Tweet it. Facebook it. Do something. I want to hear your example of sheer. It's a great adjective. Check out the dialogue three more times. Please find somebody to practice with, and I'll see you again tomorrow. Take care, everybody.

E-cubed 751: PESKY

Today's E-cubed: PESKY: làm phiền, làm khó chịu, quấy rầy

What's that?
Boric acid.
What for?
Pesky bugs. I hate them!

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to daily easy english expression. Today we have a wonderful word. It is pesky. PESKY. Oh, those pesky children. Those pesky animals. Those pesky... Oh, when it comes to pronunciation, those pesky 'TH' sound. Or those pesky 'L', 'R' sound. Yes. So what does pesky mean? Something that is pesky, it bothers you. It's difficult to operate, difficult to control, difficult to use, difficult to say, difficult to handle. It's difficult. This is the idea of pesky. And sometimes, you really hate especially pesky bugs. Oh man, bugs. I don't like bugs. And I live in the desert. And we have many many types of different bugs. Now some bugs don't really bother me. Uh, you know I can see the bugs. And whatever, I can kill it or move it. But some bugs are really disgusting, and I hate them, and to see them. I really don't. So, bugs in general bother me. They are pesky. Pesky bugs. That's a perfect example.

Now, some people don't like animals. Dogs for example. Especially little dogs like the chiwawa or the poodle. Oh, man. Shut your pesky dog. It bothers me. It makes me angry. This is something that is pesky. English pronuncitaion. Is English pronunciation, American English pronunciation, is it easy for you? What about the American 'R', 'RE', are you really happy with your pronunciation? Yeah. Sometimes the 'R' can be very pesky. Or maybe it's the 'TH' sound. Thousands  of.. Tens of thousands of deaths. Oh, th s together, really difficult. Those pesky clusters of s th. Oh, boy. Pesky. Annoying. They make you angry. They're difficult to do. They're difficult to say. They're difficult to control. Pesky. Let's check out a dialogue.

What's that?
Boric acid.
What for?
Pesky bugs. I hate them!

Pesky bugs. That's right. That's such a common example. Pesky bugs. Boric acid. Are you familiar with boric acid? Oh, boric acid is a really good stuff. If you have a cockroach problem, if you have a problem with ants, sometimes with other bugs. Some bugs it might not work. But cockroaches and ants, it's a good stuff. Boric acid. And it's relatively safe to have around the house. You know, if a child gets it, or if your pet gets it, it's not a big problem but they do take care of those pesky cockroaches.

Does anyone like cockroaches? Do you like cockroaches? I hate them. I've seen them where I live. And I've seen them outside sometimes like walking on the street. And I take a walk at night, and I see one walking toward me. It doesn't move. I have to get out of the way. Oh man, and can I hate cockroaches. I absolutely hate cockroaches. So just in case, those pesky cockroaches try to visit me in my house, I have prepared some boric acid in the powder form. And I will mix it with flour and powdered sugar to make a nice powder and if I need to, I will spray this powder around doors, in the kitchen, in the bathroom to make sure those pesky roaches die and never come back into my dome. Pesky bugs. I do not like bugs.

Pesky. Disgusting. Pesky pronunciation. A pesky person. Maybe you have a neighbor. Hey, what are you doing. Oh, I heard you making noises last night. Oh, did you have a party yesterday? Oh, you plants need watering. Oh, I clean up your newspapers yesterday. Oh, just leave me alone. Quit bothering me. Shut up. Pesky. People can be pesky. Bugs can be pesky. Work can be pesky. Your boss can be pesky. Give me some examples something that is pesky in your world. Okay? Television advertisements pesky.

Speaking about advertisements, remember only this week until Sunday, you can join DDM Lite and PIRF open. That is PIRF Open and DDM Lite for under $30. This is amazing. This week only. That goes until I don't know May 5th, whatever, Sunday, whatever that Sunday is May 5 I think 2015. Bumm, that's the end. So if you're interested, join. You can send me an email ddailydictationmembers@gmail.com. That's great. Right now, I'm doing a pesky advertisement. But hey, this is my business. Okay. That's it. Listen to the dialogue three more times. Please find somebody to practice the dialogue with. Today, short and easy. Have fun with it. And I'll see you again tomorrow. Bye bye.

E-cubed 750: to spruce up something

Today's E-cubed:  to spruce up something: tân trang, làm mới cái gì đó

Did you see Coach Shane's website?
Yeah. So?
The new one! He totally spruced it up~
Really? I'll have to check it out.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to E-cubed. Today we have a really good phrasal verb. It is to spruce up something. To spruce up something. Now this is actually a very old word, very old expression. And, what it means in modern English is to refurbish something or to take something old and make it new, make it fresh, make it look better. That's the idea. So, if you have an old wooden desk. And it doesn't look that good. If you sand it down and put new stain, bring a new color to it, maybe paint that desk. It's the same desk. But you clean it up and you paint it. Then you are sprucing up your desk. Okay?

So me, I've got this old body. I'm old. It's an old body. So, I spucing up my body by exercising and by slicing over my head. It's because I'm brucing up my body. You know, it's actually very painful. Uh, I'm trying to make my body look better, feel better, be healthier and stuff like that. To spruce up something. We can talk about our bodies. But usually, we talk about something in our home like a desk, or maybe a couch, some furnitures, or maybe your car. It can mean to clean up. So you need to spruce up your room. You need to clean up your room but also add something, a little bit of color, a little bit of style. It's a very useful word, to spruce up something. Check out the dialogue.

Did you see Coach Shane's website?
Yeah. So?
The new one! He totally spruced it up~
Really? I'll have to check it out.

Yes. We did. www.letsmasterenglish.com That's our website. But, we completely spruced it up. It looks much better. It's much more useful. All of the podcasts you can listen to right there, LME - Let's Master English, LME radio. All of my videos on Youtube, you can watch them right there, LME TV. You can check it out. All of my classes you can sign up right there. Uh but, we spruced up the site. And it's looking great. We're still getting feedback from a lot of you. Really great messages. We're looking at everything. We sincerily appreciate it.

So what about you? Do you have something that needs some sprucing up? Needs some refurbishment, need some cleaning, need some extra prettiness. Maybe your résumé. Uh huh. Do you have a résumé? In the UK, they say CV. If you have a resume, you might need to update. You might need to change things. Maybe you want to change the font, change the style. That idea is to spruce up your resume. If you have some furnitures in your home, an old desk or an old table, maybe it's an antique. It's really nice but doesn't look that good. Well, maybe you could spruce it up. Maybe you could send it to a company. And they'll redo the wood, or they'll change the outside, the upholstery. They'll spruce it up for you. It's a very nice verb, to spruce something up. And remember you can spruce yourself up, too.

Right now, perhaps your English, you're sprucing up your English by listening to daily easy english expression. And I thank you very much. Okay. I need to go rest. That's today's expression. I should be back tomorrow. But I might actually take a day off so that my body can feel fresh again. And thank you very much for watching. Practice the dialogue three more times. Please go check out our website letsmasterenglish.com and I'll see you soon. Thanks you guys. Bye bye.

E-cubed 748: the wherewithal

Today's E-cubed:  The wherewithal: khả năng (về tiền bạc), tiền cần để làm gì đó...

Why don’t you join Coach Shane’s class?
I don’t have the wherewithal!
What? You can get both for less than 30 bucks!
Really? Both?

Transcript:

Today's expression is a great word: the wherewithal. The wherewithal. What does this expression mean? This expression actually means money. And usually we say it in a negative situation. For example, I don't have the wherewithal to buy a house. I don't have the wherewithal to build the studio. You need to find the wherewithal to start your company.

So when we say the wherewithal, it usually means money. It might mean ability. It could mean genetic ability. For example, as a man I do not have the genetic wherewithal to have a baby. I can't have a baby. Okay. And, I don't want to have a baby. It looks too painful. No, thank you. Women, you guys are tough, amazing. So to have the ability, genetic ability, but especially to have the money. It really means money.

Why does wherewithal mean money? Well, in order to do all of the things you want to do here and there, you need the money. So with the money, you can go here, here, here, and do all with the money. That's definitely Coach Shane's only definition of wherewithal. But seriously, we need this money.

Tạm dịch:

Expression của ngày hôm nay là một từ rất hay: the wherewithal. The wherewithal. Từ này có nghĩa là gì? Nó thực ra có nghĩa là tiền. Và thường thì chúng tôi dùng từ này trong tình huống  tiêu cực (không có tiền hoặc không đủ tiền). Ví dụ: Tôi không có tiền để mua một ngôi nhà. Tôi không có tiền để xây dựng một phòng thu. Tôi cần phải kiếm tiền để bắt đầu công ty của mình.

Như vậy khi chúng ta nói đến "wherewithal", nó thường có nghĩa là tiền. Nó có thể có nghĩa là khả năng. Nó có thể là khả năng di truyền. Ví dụ: là một người đàn ông, tôi không có khả năng mang thai. Tôi không thể có em bé. OK không nhỉ? Và tôi cũng chẳng muốn có em bé đâu ạ. Nó có vẻ là một việc quá đau đớn. Không đâu, cảm ơn nhé. Hỡi những người phụ nữ, các bạn thật là kiên cường, thật tuyệt vời. Như vậy "wherewithal" có nghĩa là có khả năng, khả năng di truyền, nhưng đặc biệt là có tiền. Nó thực sự có nghĩa là tiền.

Tại sao wherewithal có nghĩa là tiền? Là như vậy, để có thể làm được tất cả mọi việc bạn muốn làm ở đây hay ở kia hay ở kia, bạn cần có tiền. Như vậy khi bạn có tiền, bạn có thể đi tới nơi này, nơi kia và làm được tất cả với số tiền đó. Đó chính là định nghĩa từ "wherewithal" chỉ duy nhất Coach Shane mới có. Nhưng thực sự thì chúng ta cần tiền đấy.

E-cubed 749: on so many levels

Today's E-cubed: on so many levels: ở nhiều khía cạnh, về nhiều thứ, nhiều mặt...

I like DDM on so many levels.
Like?
It forces me to concentrate. It forces me to speak. I've met so many other great members. The learning is non-stop. The way he teaches...
Okay, okay, okay! I got it!

TRANSCRIPT

E-cubed 747: to side with someone

Today's E-cubed: to side with someone: về phe của ai đó, ủng hộ ai đó...

The boss though Peter’s idea was stupid.
It wasn’t bad. He tried.
Are you siding with Peter?
No. I’m just…
Don’t let the boss hear that.

TRANSCRIPT

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to e-cubed. Yes, it is April 23. Yes, my website is not working. I sincerely apology. Don't worry. Very soon, it will be up. I promise. And the new website hopefully will be up very soon. It will be great. Thank you for your patience. But the videos keep going, and the podcasts keep going.

Today's expression is great. It is "to side with someone". To side with someone basically means to go to somebody's side, to be on their team, to support that person. So, a simple idea would be in sports. Let's say there's a soccer game. And there're the A team and the B team. Whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the A team or the B team? I'm on A team's side. I'm on B team's side. That's it. But this expression "to side with someone", we almost always use it when there's a dissagreement, or a fight, or maybe when one person criticizes the other person. For example:

A: Oh, she is so stupid.

B: Oh, she is OK.

A: Oh hoh, are you on she side.

This is usually how the conversation takes place. So, the person who says you're on somebody side usually is very angry at the other person. Does that make sense? Oh, it will. Check out this dialogue which is so true. I know. If you're married, or you have a girlfriend or boyfriend. This dialogue especially for married people is reality. Check it out.

The boss though Peter’s idea was stupid.

It wasn’t bad. He tried.

Are you siding with Peter?

No. I’m just…

Don’t let the boss hear that.

Oh, yes. Office politics.Within the office, whose side are you on? Are you on Peter's side? Are you on Tom's side? Be careful whose side you are on. It's a competition within the office. If you are on the wrong side, no vacation, no promotion, no new project, no new computer. Oh, yes. I'm serious. Office politics. Be careful. Whose side are you on. And this is not just in the office. It's in the home, too. Oh you bet. Husbands and wives. Whose side are you on? Especially when we talk about mother-in-laws and father-in-laws. Oh, boy. Be careful. Husbands and wives, they always argue. Uh, you know. I don't want to get too personal. But I remember my mom and dad always have little arguements about where to go for Christmas. Should we go to your parents' house? Should we go to your parents' house? Last time, we went here. And last time... But the food was not good. It can be a war. Be careful!

Let me give you some advice as a man who's older. If you're married, I recommend you always be on your spouce's side. If your wife says something, agree. And I mean honestly agree. You pick your wife. You know how she thinks. You know how she is. So you should agree with her. Wives, you pick your husband. You know your husband. You know how he is. If he says something that requires your side. Be on his side. You pick him. You should join him. That's my recommendation. When it comes to office politics, that's why I don't work in an office. I'm not good at politics. If I don't like somebody, if I think something is stupid, I say it. And that's why I'm here. I'll do my best. Whose side are you on? At home, are you usually on your mom's side or your dad's side? Your mom says: let's go on vacation to Disney's land. And your dad says: let's go on vacation to the mountain. Whose side are you on? Are you on mom's side or are you on dad's side? When I was young, I was always on my mom's side. Now I'm older, I'm on my dad's side. I'm sorry, mom. I love you. But to be honest, I'm sorry. But this is not true. I'm always on my mom's side. Respect your mother. Respect your mother. It's very important. Whose side are you on? Leave a message. Have a great one. Listen to the dialogue three more times, and I'll see you guys tomorrow. Bye bye.

E-cubed 746: to rile somebody up

Today's E-cubed: to rile somebody up

"To rile somebody up" means to get them excited, but usually in a negative way. For example, if you rile somebody up, they might get excited and angry at you or at something.

"To rile somebody up" có nghĩa là làm ai đó tức giận, chọc giận hay chọc tức ai đó.

What are you doing?
Rubbing Minty’s tummy.
You’re gonna rile her up~
But she’s such a cutie!

E-cubed 745: To get the edge on someone

Today's E-cubed: to get the edge on somebody

"To have an edge on somebody" means to have an advantage. You are more skilled. You have more money. You have more experience. People know you more. You are better looking. You are stronger. You have a skill, something that's better than other people. So, you are on top. You have an edge on the other people.

"To get an edge on somebody" means you are trying to build your skill in order to be better than the other people, to have an advantage over other people.

"To have an edge on somebody" có nghĩa là có được lợi thế hơn người khác. Kỹ năng của bạn tốt hơn. Bạn có nhiều tiền hơn. Bạn có nhiều kinh nghiệm hơn. Mọi người biết đến bạn nhiều hơn. Vẻ ngoài của bạn nổi bật hơn. Bạn khỏe mạnh hơn. Bạn có một kỹ năng tốt hơn những người khác. Vì thế mà bạn đứng đầu. Bạn có lợi thế hơn người khác.

"To get an edge on somebody" có nghĩa là bạn đang cố gắng xây dựng kỹ năng cho bản thân để trở nên tốt hơn những người khác, để có được lợi thế so với những người khác.

Are you studying English?
Shh. It’s a secret.
Why? From who?
I’m trying to get the edge on Bill.

E-cubed 743: a bunny boiler

Today's E-cubed: a bunny boiler

A bunny boiler actually refers to a woman, only a woman who gets really angry and actually goes a little bit crazy or psycho psychotic after her boyfriend or husband breaks up with her or does something you know cheats on her, divorces her.

"A bunny boiler" dùng để chỉ một người phụ nữ trở nên giận dữ, phát điên lên khi bị bạn trai hoặc chồng lừa gạt, chia tay, li hôn.

Who was that?
My ex.
She’s a real bunny boiler, huh?
Be careful if you dump a woman!

E-cubed 740: to dole out

Today's E-cubed: to dole out

"To dole out" means to give, not necessarily a lot but a little. So, to dole out, it could be a lot but usually a little. To dole out money. To dole out candy.  To dole out advice. These are very common collocations with dole out. Dole out money, dole out food, dole out advice, dole out candy. That's the idea.

"To dole out" có nghĩa là cho đi, bố thí, phân phát, không nhất thiết phải nhiều, thường là một chút ít tiền hoặc là kẹo, thức ăn hay cho ai đó lời khuyên.

Cat pictures again?
Yes! They’re useful.
How?
They always dole out wisdom.

E-cubed 739: on the dole

Today's E-cubed: on the dole

Nếu có ai đó đang thất nghiệp và đang được hưởng trợ cấp thất nghiệp của chính quyền, chúng ta có thể nói: "He is on the dole".

How do these people do this?
Do what?
Demonstrate! Everyday!!
They’re on the dole~

Tạm dịch:
Sao mà những người này lại làm những việc như vậy nhỉ?
Làm gì cơ?
Biểu tình! Ngày nào cũng thế!!
Vì họ đang sống dựa vào tiền trợ cấp thất nghiệp đó mà~

E-cubed 738: to fly the coop

Today's E-cubed: to fly the coop: chuồn đi, cao chạy xa bay, bỏ đi, trốn tránh trách nhiệm,...

Where’s Shane?
He flew the coop.
He knew I wanted to talk to him!
I think that’s why~

E-cubed 737: be taken for a ride

Today's E-cubed: taken for a ride: được đi nhờ xe của ai đó hoặc bị ai đó lừa gạt

Back already?
Yeah~
Did you enjoy the Skywalk?
No! I think I was taken for a ride!
How long was it?
25 bucks for 5 minutes! No cameras~ 

Giải thích: 
What does it mean? 

- to take someone for a ride
- to be taken for a ride
- They took me for a ride. 

Is it a good expression or a bad expression?

If somebody is driving and they give you a ride to work or to school or down the road, that's a nice expression. 

But, this can also be a really bad expression. You took me for a ride. That means you deceive me. You use me. Probably you took my money, at least you took my time. You make me believe in you. But you deceive me. So, to be taken for a ride is not a good thing.

That's it! Have a good time, everyone.

Ecubed Podcast 340: to dwell on something

How are you doing? Let's listen to Daily Easy English Expression Podcast 340. I hope you enjoy it. 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

IDIOM: to dwell on (something)

"to dwell on something" có nghĩa là suy nghĩ nhiều về một điều gì đó, nói đi nói lại, nhắc đi nhắc lại, nhai đi nhai lại, lo lắng quá nhiều về một điều gì đó.

Dialog:
The boss is always dwelling on the importance of coming in early.
Yeah, but he’s the first to fall asleep at his desk!
He thinks he’s so industrious.
I get more done in one day than he does all week~

Tạm dịch:
Xếp cứ nói đi nói lại hoài cái tầm quan trọng của việc đi làm sớm nhỉ.
Ừ, nhưng ông ấy là người đầu tiên ngủ gục trên bàn làm việc nhờ!
Ông ấy nghĩ mình cần cù lắm đấy.
Một ngày tôi còn làm được nhiều việc hơn ông ấy làm trong cả tuần~

E-cubed 605: give him an inch and he’ll take a mile

give him an inch and he'll take a mile = cho anh ta một, anh ta sẽ đòi mười/được đằng chân, lân đằng đầu.

Cùng luyện tập đoạn hội thoại dưới đây:

DOWNLOAD MP3

Shane, can I borrow your car this weekend?
Okay. But don’t go too far.
Don’t worry! Thanks!! And please make sure the tank is full!! Bye~
What?!! Give him an inch and he’ll take a mile!

Tạm dịch:

Shane, cuối tuần này cho tôi mượn xe của anh được không?
Được thôi. Nhưng đừng đi xa quá nhé.
Đừng lo! Cảm ơn nhé!! Mà phiền anh đổ đầy thùng xăng nhé!!!
Cái gì?!! Anh ta cứ được đằng chân lại lân đằng đầu thế đấy!

E-cubed 602: a hollow victory

a hollow victory = một chiến thắng rỗng tuếch
Chiến thắng rỗng tuếch là chiến thắng dễ dàng trước những đối thủ yếu hơn hẳn mình, chiến thắng rỗng tuếch không làm cho người ta cảm thấy hài lòng, thỏa mãn, vỡ òa niềm vui chiến thắng.

Cùng luyện tập đoạn hội thoại dưới đây:

DOWNLOAD MP3

Germany killed Brazil in the World Cup.
Yeah, but it was a hollow victory.
How so? It was awesome!
Yeah, but Brazil was without their number one player~

Tạm dịch:

Đức đã đánh bại Brazin trong mùa World Cup lần này.
Ừ, nhưng đó chỉ là một chiến thắng rỗng tuếch thôi.
Sao vậy? Chiến thắng đó tuyệt vời vậy mà!
Ừ, nhưng tuyển Brazin đã thi đấu mà không có cầu thủ giỏi nhất của họ.