ECUBED #43: Steal my thunder

Xin chào các bạn. Có khi nào bạn đang tận hưởng những phút giây tuyệt vời của mình, thì có ai đó chen ngang vào, lấy đi khoảnh khắc đó của bạn, thu hút hết sự chú ý của mọi người, khiến bạn không thể tiếp tục "nổ" nữa? Lúc đó bạn có thể sử dụng thành ngữ trong bài học hôm nay: "ĐÁNH CẮP TIẾNG SẤM CỦA TÔI"

TRANSCRIPT

Hello everybody. Welcome to Ecubed. Today we’ve got a great expression, to steal someone’s thunder. Well, you know what to steal means, to take something, to burgle something, to be a thief. Okay? But, what about thunder? Thunder is that noise in the sky, and then there’s a lighting, and then there’s a rain or even snow. So, to steal someone’s thunder means to steal their big day, their big moment. So, if I have a very important day, or a very important moment or event. And then someone else comes, and takes the glory, takes the spotlight, becomes the star, tries to become the prince, or the princess, or the king, or the queen. They are stealing my thunder.

So for example. It’s my birthday, and I’m having a party. But one of the guests, he says, today I got a promotion and I will pay for everything. So everybody says congratulations, congratulations to him. It’s my birthday. It’s my day. It’s not your day. Don’t steal my thunder. He’s stealing my thunder. He’s stealing my day, my moment. He’s a bad guy. Do you know anybody that has stolen your thunder? Who? Who? Listen to the dialogue.

A: Aren’t you inviting Amanda to the wedding?
B: No way. She always tries to steal my thunder.
A: How. Because she always tries to be the queen?
B: That’s right. That’s my day and I’m not gonna let anyone steal my thunder.

That’s right. Amanda is a bad woman and she will not be invited to the wedding because she will try to steal the thunder, try to look more pretty, try to wear a nice dress, being so nice and ladylike. Get out of here, Amanda. We don’t like you, Amanda because you try to steal everybody else’s thunder. Don’t steal someone else’s thunder. Control yourself. That’s today’s Ecubed and I will see you again tomorrow. Practice.

http://static.splashnology.com/articles/Art_Deco_Design_Inspiration_Part_2/Dont_Steal_My_Thunder_Alt_by_tdj1337.jpg

CHÚ Ý BÀI HỌC 

Thành ngữ “to steal someone’s thunder” có nghĩa là ăn cắp công lao của ai đó, phổng tay trên công lao của ai đó, cướp lấy ngày trọng đại/khoảnh khắc vinh quang tuyệt vời của một người nào đó, giành hết sự chú ý của mọi người cho người nào đó (giống như “to steal someone’s spotlight”).

ECUBED #42: Go down...

Chào buổi sáng! Bài học đầu tuần hôm nay giúp chúng ta biết được những ý nghĩa phổ biến của giới từ DOWN. Chúc tất cả mọi người một tuần mới tuyệt vời.

TRANSCRIPT

“...Hello everybody. Welcome back to Ecubed. Now, yesterday we had a phrasal verb “to come down with”. Correct? Well, actually It was interesting. The word down, the preposition down is very common in phrasal verb, and it does have a meaning. So today, we’re going to look at the phrasal verb “to go down”.

Now, actually to go down can have several meanings. But, I’m going to mean actual going, actual movement down. And when we say down, down can mean basically three things.

It can mean to the south. Because we say north, west, east, south. South is down. So it can mean to go south. 

It can mean to go down the hill, or down the elevator. So, actually going up and going down, and it can physically mean going down. Okay?

And what’s the third meaning? It means... Ahh, I’ll give you two more meanings. One is downtown, to go down with the nuance of downtown. I’m going down to the bar tonight. And that means out of the neighbourhood, into the urban area. I’m going down to the store, out of the housing area and to the store. If you had ever been to America. You should see that we have very large housing areas with no stores. So you need to have a car, or a bicycle to go to the store. So it’s not just a store, and a bakery, and a gas station, and maybe a movie theater, and some shops. So that area is the urban area. It might be downtown. So I’m going down to the store that means that urban area. Okay?

And another nuance of down is down the hall. So, if you’re in a hallway. You alway down the hall to the other end of the hall. That’s another usage. So down the hall, it means the opposite end of the hall. Okay?

So down does have meaning. Listen to this dialog.

A: Are you going down to the store today?
B: I went down yesterday.
A: Please? I need some more beer!
B: Go get it yourself.

That’s a very common expression. Down to the store. And if you need something, go yourself. Why don’t you tell your mother, “mom, I’m going down to the store. Can I get anything for you?” “Yes. Give me some milk, and some eggs, and some flour, and some...” Well, you might have a big trip, so becareful. Your mom might ask you to buy many things. Or maybe she’ll ask to go with you. Is that good or bad? If my mom want to go to the store with me, go down to the store with me, I’d be happy. To go down. Remember, there are meanings. Take care, and I’ll see you tomorrow....”

CHÚ Ý BÀI HỌC:

 “down” là giới từ được sử dụng rất nhiều trong các cụm động từ. Chúng ta cần chú ý một số ý nghĩa của “down” sau đây:

Down có nghĩa là xuống phía nam. Bởi vì trong 4 hướng đông, bắc, tây, nam, hướng nam nằm ở phía dưới.

Down cũng có thể có nghĩa là đi xuống dưới, di chuyển xuống phía dưới theo đúng nghĩa vật lý của nó. Ví dụ như xuống đồi (down the hill), xuống thang máy (down the elevator),...

“To go down” cũng có thể mang sắc thái nghĩa giống như “to go downtown” (đi vào trung tâm thành phố).
Ví dụ: “I’m going down to the bar tonight” có nghĩa là đi ra khỏi khu vực nhà ở dân cư để vào khu đô thị (khu vực tập trung buôn bán, dịch vụ,...) 

“Down” cũng mang một sắc thái nghĩa khác là “down the hall”. Nếu bạn đang phía đầu này của một hành lang, và bạn muốn đi tới đầu bên kia hành lang thì bạn có thể nói “go down the hall”.