[Phrase of the week] What is ‘to shoot the breeze’?

Sometimes you get bored. Sometimes things make you feel bored. Sometimes you need someone to talk to. To just spend some time doing nothing, but talking. In other words, you want to just “hang out and bull shit about random stuff.”

Well, that’s exactly what “to shoot the breeze” means; it has nothing to do with breezes or shooting! It means to talk about unimportant things.

“I met up with that chick again last night, and we just shot the breeze for an hour.”

“We spent the entire afternoon just shooting the breeze. It was good to shoot the breeze with you, Mary.”

“We spent the entire afternoon just shooting the breeze.”

“We sat out on the porch until late, just shooting the breeze.”

“Hank and his pals spend a lot of time drinking beer, shooting the breeze, and thinking about girls.”

“A bunch of us would get together regularly at the Abbotsford Bar in Edinburgh and just shoot the breeze.”

“Michael Gardyne has vowed to give Charlie Mulgrew a hard time today - but can't wait to shoot the breeze with his old pal afterwards.”

“He always addresses my needs in either parts or service and he always has time to shoot the breeze.”

“Cech given permission to shoot the breeze with other clubs, but Mourinho's not sure.”

Did you like this post? Why don’t you share it? What about taking a break and watch this (YouTube) video called Shoot the breeze?

About the video: A song about catching up with friends and taking some time out.

This post has been written by Bruno Coriolano (LinkedIn)

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“Let TV audiences binge” Do you know what Binge-watching is?

You may probably not heard of BINGE-WATCHING before, but I am certainly that you have – at least once – binge-watched something.

In fact, I am doing it right now. I am watching Breaking Bad for the third time. No, no. it is not the third, but the fourth one. no… what I meant was “I’m watching the fourth season for the third time”. Well, is it? Sorry… it is probably because I have been watching this single television show for longer time spans than usual. I mean, I have watching Breaking Bad in one sitting – in a row. One, two, three… six, seven episodes and I don’t feel like stopping it soon!

So, that’s exactly what it is. BINGE-WATCHING means:

“to watch (multiple videos, episodes of a TV show, etc.) in one sitting or over a short period of time”

According to a survey conducted by Netflix in February 2014, 73% of people define binge-watching as "watching between 2-6 episodes of the same TV show in one sitting." (READ THE SURVEY HERE)

The website Wikipedia states that:

The idea of assembling several consecutive episodes of a television series in order and watching them in rapid succession originated with the marathon, in which the television stations themselves programmed several hours' worth of reruns of a single series. This practice began in the 1980s and is still popular among subscription television outlets in the 2010s.

The usage of the word "binge-watch" can be traced as far back as the late 1990s, when it was used by circles of television fandoms. It has consisted of watching several episodes of a particular show in a row via DVD sets.

Actor Kevin Spacey once said “Give people what they want, when they want it, in the form they want it in, at a reasonable price, and they’ll more likely pay for it rather than steal it. Well, some will still steal it, but I believe this new model can take a bite out of piracy,” (READ IT HERE) 

SOME SENTENCES:

You can binge-watch the entire season with this set.

We binge-watched two seasons of the show in two days.

I felt like hell all day because, I was up till 4:00 binge-watching season 2 of "Dexter".

It is important to state that ‘Binge-watching’ is not the only term to describe new media-consumption habits. That’s right you can also use ‘power-streaming’, ‘marathoning’, or watching a show marathon-style.

My question is Do you guys think the word binge-watch is here to stay?

That’s all for today. I have to watch the next episode… goodbye!

Ellen talked about the newest trend of WATCHING AN ENTIRE SEASON OF A SHOW IN ONE SITTING. Watch it here: 

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[Phrase of the week] Jump Ship: What does it mean, dude?

"You know it's hard out here for a pimp

When you trying get this money for the rent

For the Cadallics and gas money spent

Will cause a whole lotta bitches jumping ship"

Here’s a short story:

“Leaving a close-knit business is never an easy choice. If the supervisors have managed their crew, or staff, with equanimity and sound ethical judgment those employees will dedicate themselves to the failing business in hopes of restoring the profitability rather than merely choosing to Jump Ship.”

Do you, my dear reader, happen to know the meaning of JUMP SHIP?

No? Well, let me teach you that one, then.

Sometimes, especially when we are sick of doing something over and over again, we have that (bad) feeling that our job is useless or unfruitful, right?

If you have ever felt like that, you are not alone. I can guarantee that! Most of us have, pretty often, the very same feeling.

What can you do in situations like that? Some of us simply copy with it pretty well. However, other can’t. They simply give up. Leave it behind and move on, on and on.

Let’s start with some examples:

“None of the editors liked the new policies, so they all jumped ship as soon as other jobs opened up.”

“Another advertising agency offered him $1000 to jump ship.”

“If something becomes available elsewhere. The original star of the TV series jumped ship after the first season.”

“Although most of our employees are satisfied with their jobs, half of them would probably jump ship.”

“I hope they won't be tempted, on the back of one disappointing year, to jump ship.”

“He almost had an urge to jump ship when he got in trouble something that was once trivial.”

“Ian Miller and Captain Steve Foster were the only two players not to jump ship after the Quakers went into financial meltdown this summer.”

Have you ever jumped ship?

Literally*, JUMP SHIP means “to leave one's job on a ship and fail to be aboard it when it sails.” (The free dictionary by Farlex)

However, in figurative language* it means “Leave an organization, group, company/institution, movement, proposal, or idea.” (Urban Dictionary)

Therefore, we use jump ship when one leaves a job or an activity before it is complete or done. In doing so, it means that the job is not going to be finished by you. It is left for someone else to do it. You literally jumped the ship! What are you going to do when shit hits the fan? Keep going like nothing has happened or jump ship?

*JUST IN CASE: LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE.

[From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia]

Literal language uses words directly according to their proper meanings (signified).

Figurative (or non-literal) language uses words in figures of speech: for example, through metaphor or analogy, metonymy, overstatement, understatement, comparison, multiple meanings, or referring to some common linguistic or cultural reference.

I hope you have enjoyed this one. Make sure more people will learn how to use Jump Ship properly. Share this post, won’t you?

Professor Bruno Coriolano has written this post. If you want to know more about his professional life, please ((click here))

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A fair-weather friend.

“A FAIR-WEATHER FRIEND” is a sort of a friend you may find everywhere, and all the time. Footballers have those kind of friends more than anyone else does, I reckon.

If you cannot fully understand what I am talking about, I will try to make it clearer. A fair-weather friend is someone who is only your friend when things are going well. In other words, a fair-weather friend is friend who is only a friend when circumstances are PLEASANT or PROFITABLE. At the first sign of trouble, these capricious, disloyal friends will drop their relationship with you.

Do you think you have a lot of fair-weather friends?

Can you write a sentence or two using ‘fair-weather friend’?

A foul-weather friend, on the other hand, is a friend who only seeks you out if you have a problem, need a shoulder to cry on, a ride to town or someone to watch your dog, but otherwise they act as if they don't even know you. In other words, a foul-weather friend is the opposite of a fair-weather friend. Which one do you prefer, a foul-weather or a fair-weather friend?

I hope you have enjoyed this post. I also appreciate your visit! Feel free to read more blog post and leave comments if you feel like it.

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me!

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[PHRASE OF THE WEEK] ARE YOU A SHRINKING VIOLET?

I have just searched the term Shrinking Violet on Google. What have I found? Well, apart from many pages about the color (violet is also a color, in case you don’t know!), Mr. Know-it-all has provided me with a great deal of links to a “weight reduction method that women may use to magically 'reduce by a dress size in one treatment'”. Needless to say, it has also shown me lots of pictures of women with measuring tapes as well as books, a Facebook page, and almost naked ladies.

Never type it in front of your students!

What I was really trying to find was Commonly-Used English Phrases. When it comes to slang, idioms, phrases and the like, it really calls my attention!

I have realized that I hadn’t been posting more “PHRASES OF THE WEEK” and that made me feel guilty. My readers usually come to read something that make them feel as if they learned something from PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA. I have received some messages about that!

I know I have been busy, but since I decided to start a blog (It’s time-consuming; hard work. Don’t do it!) And then people started following me, I felt as though I had to share an interesting thing here occasionally.

By the way, do you guys still remember what A FAIR-WEATHER FRIEND is? No? (Read here)

[Five minutes later] Okay. Now that you have just read another phrases-of-the-week type of post, let’s move on, shall we?

READ THE SENTENCES BELOW:

“Withington was no shrinking violet either; he was playing up to the widow for all he was worth.”

(MacLeod, Charlotte SOMETHING IN THE WATER)

“He's no shrinking violet when it comes to competition.”

“Try not to be a shrinking violet at the gathering tonight; everyone there will be casual and no one will bite!"

“My mother was not by any means a shrinking violet. She had spirit, friends, family and a wide social network and work contacts.”

“She loves appearing on television and is no shrinking violet when it comes to expressing her views.”

ENOUGH! Now we have many examples with SHRINKING VIOLET (Pronunciation).

In a nutshell, shrinking violet is:

1 Someone who is shy; hesitant; or afraid to have a voice in social situations. (Urban Dictionary)

2 Person who is very shy or modest and does not like to attract attention. (http://dictionary.cambridge.org/)

3 With more details, The Shrinking Violet is “the withdrawn character, usually but not always female, who walks through the school hallways with her head down and wants nothing more than to blend in with the scenery to avoid all attention because she believes that her presence is worthless or unwanted (…)”

“(…) Some Shrinking Violets will accept their status, but be plagued with that nagging feeling that they can be more than they assume. Other Shrinking Violets will hate their crippling insecurities and want to reach out to others, but be paralyzed by fear of rejection.”

 (http://tvtropes.org/)

The expression, according to phrases.org “may have originated as the lyrical name of a flower rather than a person but it is now mainly used figuratively to describe modest and introverted individuals.” (phrases.org.uk)

At this point, you should know what a SHRINKING VIOLET (Pronunciation), a have a question – are you a Shrinking Violet?

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See you guys around!

Bruno Coriolano has written this post. If you want to learn more about him, read his profile on LinkedIn (Bruno’s profile)

“But I already knew this one!”

Okay, then. Take a look at the pictures below, won’t you?

 Happy?

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites are, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.

Is something important missing? Report an error or suggest an improvement. Please, I strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact me!

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[PHRASE OF THE WEEK] What's the meaning of Donkey’s ears?

This post has been written by Professor Bruno Coriolano. If you want to learn more about him, read his profile on LinkedIn (Bruno’s profile)

DONKEY’S EARS. Have you ever heard of this phrase? Well, I have. I have heard of it quite recently.

Apparently, it started as DONKEY’S EARS and then for some reason it changed into DONKEY’S YEARS.

CONTEXT:

“I don’t write many short stories these days and I haven’t perpetrated a poem in donkey’s years.”

“Well, here’s to Horatio Nelson coupled with the name of—what the hell is your name, Tubby? I’ve known you for donkey’s ears, but we always said Tubby.”

“This isn’t a battleship war at all; it’s a destroyer-submarine-light cruiser show. They’ll never come out in donkey’s years, not they. They know jolly well we shall scupper ‘em if they so much as dare to show their noses outside the wet triangle.”

“I haven't heard that one for donkey's ears.”

More important than the story, I guess. It its use. What does it mean?

Well, according to the Urban Dictionary:

This is an example of an expression that has altered its spelling over time. "Not for donkey's ears" means not for a very long time and refers to the length of a donkey's ears. However, they gradually stretched from the "donkey" and turned "ears" into "years". The meaning of the expression is the same, if it does make rather less sense than the original.

Given the context, you may assume that it is referring to a long period of time. In fact, the Oxford English Dictionary defines “donkey’s years” (also “donkeys’ years”) as a colloquial usage meaning a very long time.

Click here to read it.

Can you write more sentences using DONKEY’S EARS?

This post has been written by Professor Bruno Coriolano. If you want to learn more about him, read his profile on LinkedIn (Bruno’s profile)

PORTAL DA LÍNGUA INGLESA has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-partly internet websites referred to in this post, and does not guarantee that any context on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

In some instances, I have been unable to trace the owners of the pictures used here; therefore, I would appreciate any information that would enable me to do so. Thank you very much.

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