Welcome to
ESL Printables, the website where English Language teachers exchange resources: worksheets, lesson plans,  activities, etc.
Our collection is growing every day with the help of many teachers. If you want to download you have to send your own contributions.

 


 

 

 

ESL Forum:

Techniques and methods in Language Teaching

Games, activities and teaching ideas

Grammar and Linguistics

Teaching material

Concerning worksheets

Concerning powerpoints

Concerning online exercises

Make suggestions, report errors

Ask for help

Message board

 

ESL forum > Teaching material > ENGLISH ODDITIES    

ENGLISH ODDITIES



anitarobi
Croatia

ENGLISH ODDITIES
 

I don �t know about you, but I enjoy teaching English oddities, oxymora, unusual idioms, homophones and homonyms, etc. with my advanced sts. So I �m definitely going to do sth about this site I �ve come across. Here �s the link if you want to check it out...

�and also...
and by all means, check out the things people say...
Anita

16 Aug 2009      





monira21
Spain

That �s excellent, I especially liked the 2nd link, so hilarious!!!!Thanks!

16 Aug 2009     



gilorit
Israel

Great links Anita ;-)
Thank you.
Orit

16 Aug 2009     



JulietaVL
Mexico

Thanks Anita, excellent links


16 Aug 2009     



eng789
Israel

Thanks Anita,  great stuff.

16 Aug 2009     



**********
Portugal

Thanks GreatAnita! (sounds like southern Portuguese accent, we also have Anita, diminutive of Ana)
 
So, this is what we�re talking about today! Do you really mean odd English?

 

Collected some from my American nephew and friends� sentences on Facebook, for you, in case you need more:

 

The oddest:

 Eldest nephew, 32, military, just came from Iraq, also very creative, about to publish, hope with a good editor...Aquarium, just like auntie, by the way: 5th February, pm or caf�, please,thank you):

 

Paul Dixon New lcd tv in the den, so I �m officially a part of the 21st century. Now all I need is to get that 58 incher when I redeploy. (still working on this one)

Paul Dixon still enjoying family time, but I know that flight back is looming right around the corner

 

Medium odd

 

Charlie Cutajar (youngest nephew, 21, mediterranean looks, just like his father, family origin: Malta) Dude hurry your ass Censoredover so you can help me with Phobia. :) She �s gonna be freaking killer at the end of the week. I LOVE YOU

Hillary Bruck Dixon (Paul�s wife, commenting on Vivian, her daughter) she does favor lulu when she was wee, doesn �t she?       (NOT AT ALL, I say, she looks after me sis)

Lindsey Bruck (Hill�s sis)I want to squeeze Midge for your Birthday!!!!

Ryan Bruck (Hill�s bro)HPPY BDAY SIS

 

M.H. (Hillary�s friend, woman)HAPPY BDAY HILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We �ll get a belated date with you, me and Tiff hopefully soon!!!!:) Hope you are enjoying the family, the pick!!! Xoxo (meaning kissy-kissy?, still wonder Geek)

M. H. (Hillary�s friend, woman)  Happy Birthday Hilly! Enjoy your vaca (this word means cow in Portuguese, they don�t work on a farm, they live in Charlotte NC!) and ur hubby and skittle (my grandniece �s name is VivianErmm)

The normal one

Alissa Jennes-Pereira (middle nephew�s wife) We are all ok now. We had a few cold/flus here and there and then John(auntie�s most charming nephew, the MOST normal one, no page on facebook, which means more normal than auntie herself)just got over food poisioning-fun times =) We miss you too. We have a shutterfly website that we post all of her pics on. Did we send you the site address? Old age =) How are all of you? How is your husband doing since the wreck?

 
and I thought Portuguese was slippingthegrumblesewage... 
Thank you Anita, for suggesting such an interest topic.

16 Aug 2009     



Spagman63
Hong Kong

Nika,
What �s the problem?  I understood all of it. Big smile That �s the joys of being a native English speaker. We understand the idioms, abbreviations, endearments etc.  BTW, "vaca" means vacation.  Many people make up their own shorthand when talking and typing.  Redeploy is a military term for going back to an assignment, generally to another area.  Looming means hanging or soon to happen. 
She �s gonna be freaking killer at the end of the week
I think it´s referring to a child or pet who is going to be hard to control over the weekend.
Xoxo-this means hugs and kisses
skittle This is a nickname someone has given to her.
These are not oddities, just slang or colloquialisms.  Oddities would be civil war which is far from civil or quiet storm.

17 Aug 2009     



**********
Portugal

 

Thank you for your  wise,  experienced and thoughtful advice and for the trouble you put yourself into, to explain everything. I�ve learnt so much from you. 

Communication is an odd creature: the receptor can always see a meaning which was never intended by  the other part;  life is a lens for reality and I have to  be cleaning my glasses all the time.

By the way, check on the links: as you always - and judiciously - say, meaning depends on context, which is (but) one of the communication components : the referent there is a baby. Hillary, my niece-in-law, is referring to her baby girl, though they  have a lot of cats, too: Hillary is a cat-lover and I no longer suffer from computer anxiety.

Since you were so helpful to assist me on my perplexities, could me assist on my new post on Habits? I would post the English version in my blog and refer to your contribution. Grateful here.

 

Take care.

Idalina Jorge

 

http://paideia-idalinajorge.blogspot.com/

 

17 Aug 2009