11
5. When the letter from his wife arrived, he ... the contents carefully. Because she hadn't answered question, he was angry and tossed the letter into the fire. a. destroyed b. wrote c. tore up d. read 3. See ex. l, 2, page 6. Pay attention to lexical and grammaticai meanings. Find out the words in which the grammaticaI meaningprevails. 4. Discuss the denotational and connotational meanings of the underlined words (explain the differences): l. That suit's too tight - it makes you lookfqf. She became stout as she grew older. Her mother was a cheerful, plump woman with an infectious laugh. The doctor' s wife had a ~face and a nice smile. The visitor was a tubby, jolly-Iooking man with a friendly face. The doctor said l was slightly overweight and l need ed to take more exercise. 2. He spent the evening drinking with his cronies. The children are good friends. They have been buddies for years. He went off to the pub with his mates., The youth and his companions ran away when the police came. 3. They live in a little cottage in Scotland. The boy seemed rather small for his age. Our problems seem I2!illJt.when compared to those people who never get enough to eat. She looks so s/im and petite in that dress. The girl looked diminutive besides her six-foot boyfriend. 4. What a stink. There's a stink of dead fish here. The aroma of hot coffee made him stop in front of a small cafe. There's an odour of fish in his boat. The smelIs from the kitchen filled the room. She could smeli the perfume of roses from the park. 5. Which word in each pair carries more favourable connotations? statesman - politician, progressive - radical, reactionary - traditional, investigation - witch-hunt, fanatical - devoted, curious - snooping, egghead - inteliectual, revolution - rebellion, slim - skinny, childlike - childish. 5. My friend is a powerful man. 6. He was riding on the right side of the road. 7. She did not recognized the new Prime Minister. 2. (a) Give at {east two meanings for each of the following words and use them in sentences: , ground, we, single, wait, address, company, beat, passage. (b) Consult a dicuonary and give the semantic structure of at least three of them. 3. How many meanings can you identify of" sinku and" agitate" in the following sentences. Translate: them into Slovak: l. Even the biggest ship can sink. l was so tired last night that l sank into a deep sleep. Once l fainted and sank to the ground at a policeman's feet. As the sun sank slowly behind the mountains, we return to our hotel. l never dreamt that he would sink. so low as to beg in the streets. 2. When big hungry fish are eating, the surface of the water is azitated. When l lost my engagement ring, l was very agitated for a week. They agitated against nuclear weapons. We got really agitated when our daughter didn't return from school at the usual time. 4. (a) How many meanings can you think of for the following words.: head, dress, ball, good, black, round, match, sentence. (b) Use the words in sentences. 5. Do you understand these jokes? Pay attention to the underlined words and explain their meanings: 1. A: Do you serve fish here? B: We serve anyone, sit down. 2. A: Here are a few views of our hotel for you to take with you, sir. B: Thanks, but l have my own views of your hotel. 3. A: Allow me to present my wife to you B: Many thanks, but l bave one. POLYSEMY, HOMONYMY, SEMANTIC STRUCTURE 1. Pay attention to the underlined words. Explain why each sentence has two meanings. 1. Liz is a very curious person. 2. It's a very cheap newspaper. 3. She likes to entertain people. 4. The teacher insisted that his pupils did their homework regularly. 8 9

5. My friend is a powerful man. - files.milica-novakova ...files.milica-novakova.webnode.sk/.../Kvetko_Exercises.pdf · 6. Distinguish between homonymy and polysemy. 1. They breed

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5. When the letter from his wife arrived, he ... the contents carefully.Because she hadn't answered question, he was angry and tossed the letterinto the fire.

a. destroyed b. wrotec. tore up d. read

3. See ex. l, 2, page 6. Pay attention to lexical and grammaticai meanings.Find out the words in which the grammaticaI meaningprevails.

4. Discuss the denotational and connotational meanings of the underlinedwords (explain the differences):l. That suit's too tight - it makes you lookfqf. She became stout as she grewolder. Her mother was a cheerful, plump woman with an infectious laugh.The doctor' s wife had a ~face and a nice smile. The visitor was atubby, jolly-Iooking man with a friendly face. The doctor said l was slightlyoverweight and l need ed to take more exercise.

2. He spent the evening drinking with his cronies. The children are goodfriends. They have been buddies for years. He went off to the pub with hismates., The youth and his companions ran away when the police came.

3. They live in a little cottage in Scotland. The boy seemed rather small forhis age. Our problems seem I2!illJt.when compared to those people whonever get enough to eat. She looks so s/im and petite in that dress. The girllooked diminutive besides her six-foot boyfriend.

4. What a stink. There's a stink of dead fish here. The aroma of hot coffeemade him stop in front of a small cafe. There's an odour of fish in hisboat. The smelIs from the kitchen filled the room. She could smeli theperfume of roses from the park.

5. Which word in each pair carries more favourable connotations?statesman - politician, progressive - radi cal , reactionary - traditional,investigation - witch-hunt, fanatical - devoted, curious - snooping, egghead- inteliectual, revolution - rebellion, slim - skinny, childlike - childish.

5. My friend is a powerful man.6. He was riding on the right side of the road.7. She did not recognized the new Prime Minister.

2. (a) Give at {east two meanings for each of the following words and use themin sentences:

, ground, we, single, wait, address, company, beat, passage.

(b) Consult a dicuonary and give the semantic structure of at least three ofthem.

3. How many meanings can you identify of" sinku and" agitate" in

the following sentences. Translate: them into Slovak:l. Even the biggest ship can sink. l was so tired last night that l sank into a

deep sleep. Once l fainted and sank to the ground at a policeman's feet.As the sun sank slowly behind the mountains, we return to our hotel. lnever dreamt that he would sink. so low as to beg in the streets.

2. When big hungry fish are eating, the surface of the water is azitated.When l lost my engagement ring, l was very agitated for a week. Theyagitated against nuclear weapons. We got really agitated when our daughterdidn't return from school at the usual time.

4. (a) How many meanings can you think of for the following words.:head, dress, ball, good, black, round, match, sentence.

(b) Use the words in sentences.5. Do you understand these jokes? Pay attention to the underlined

words and explain their meanings:

1. A: Do you serve fish here?B: We serve anyone, sit down.

2. A: Here are a few views of our hotel for you to take with you, sir.B: Thanks, but l have my own views of your hotel.

3. A: Allow me to present my wife to youB: Many thanks, but l bave one.

POLYSEMY, HOMONYMY, SEMANTIC STRUCTURE

1. Pay attention to the underlined words. Explain why each sentence has twomeanings.1. Liz is a very curious person.

2. It's a very cheap newspaper.

3. She likes to entertain people.

4. The teacher insisted that his pupils did their homework regularly.

8 9

6. Distinguish between homonymy and polysemy.

1. They breed a race that can survive drought. The law forbidsdiscrimination on the ground of race or religion. He took part in a half-mileface. We had a face to repair the house before winter. The driver waited forthe green light, his engine racing.

2. There's no date on this cheque. I have a date with my girl. My date ismeeting me at seven. Donťt forget to date your cheque. He ate too manydates.

3. I'll take your luggage to your room, Miss. The baJJ's gone right past him-that was a bad miss. He can't miss the 9:30 train. If you go early you missthe traffic.

4. He rose from his knees. She rose to greet her guests. There was only onerose in the vase. They rose against the foreign invaders.

5.The plane leaves Heathrow for Orly at 12:35. He was sweeping up the deadleaves. Pull out both leaves of the table. He leaves the door open.

9. Write the correct word:

1. The [sed] ofher old home [metd] the woman sad.2. The great ships [seil] the Atlantic'in five days.3. The snow in the [plem] was deep.4. It's quicker by [plein].5. The child [si:mz] to have [wi:k] feet.6. The [ti:] is [swi:t] and [wi:k].7. This [wi:k] Eve has been to the [si:] to [mi:t] Peter.8. The sunrise on the [si:] was the most beautiful [si:n] we have ever [si:n).9. It took Bob the [hôul] [wi:k] to stop a (hauI] tooth.10. Two horsemen [rBud] along the narrow [rôud].11. Before the [wo.] he [wo:] [plein] clothes.

10. Choose the correct word

l. They had met (formaJJy, formerly), three years ago to be exact, but at thattime were not introduced to each other (fonnaJJy, former1y).

2. The new medicine will (lesson, lessen) his pain.3. That should be a (lesson, lessen ) to him.4. They pushed the boat (father, farther) into the water.5. A (vain, vein) in his (right, rite, write) arm was bleedíng.6. The shoemaker (boar, bore) a (whole, hole) in the (sole, soul) of the shoe.

7. Pay attention to the underlined words and explain their meaning.

M: Anna, has lawyer Brown had any new suits yet?A: Oh, yes, mother; he has a new black suit of the latest cut.

1: Mr B. what is a bore?B: A boar is a wild hog, Johny; why?

1: Well, sister says you are a regular bore, but I don't think you look muchlike a hog.

ll. Write a homophonefor each of the word:

eye, male, here, steel, sale, meet, sell, fair, pale, higher, two, wait, one,peace, sight, flower, tale, see, son, march.

E: Oh, Maud! I must hurry from school today; mamma is dyeing.

M: Why Emma, aren't you disrespectful, coming to school, and your motheris Qyillg?

E: Why no! She's only dyeing my old pink dress.

12. Transcribe the following homographs. Use them in sentences.

lead, row, tear, wind, bow, minute, polish, desert

SEMANTIC CHANGES8. Use the following words ~in sentences to show the difference inmeaning:

allowed / aloud, waist / waste, break / brake, berth / birth, bare / bear,sauce / source, know / no, rain / reign / rein, tail / tale, weather / whether,mom / moum.

l. Discnss the canse of the changes in meaning.

1. A spaceship sails. The manager sailed into the room. She sailed through herfinals.

2. A hydroplane lands on the lake. Her hat flew off and landed up in the river.She landed the top job in the record company.

10 II

3. They have dressed a Cbristmas tree with lights. He was sent home after hisburns had been dressed.. .

4. It poured all night. The crowd poured out of the public hall. He pouredout wine.

COMPONENTIAL ANALYSIS

1. Make a componential analysis of the following words (show thedifferences and similarities by the semantic features as: male, female, ...or: large, small, etc.)l. son, daughter, nephew, niece, brother, sister, mother, father

2. cook, boil, grill, fry, roast, simmer, steam, bake3. beautiful, pretty, charming, good-looking, handsome4. walk, limp, tiptoe, stroll, march, wander, stagger

2. (a) Explain the logic of the change of meaning.(b) Give the Slovak equivalents of the following:

1. the foot of: a man, a hill, the page, the stairs;2. the eye of: a man, a needle, a potato, of storm;3. the leg of: a dog, a chair, a frog;4. the mouth of: a pot, a river, a cave;5. the neck of: a boy, a battle, a shirt.

3. Find out metonym.s and discuss the logic oftbe change ofmeaning.1. Be quiet or you'll wake the whole house.2. He refused t1!r crown.3. Whitehall is showing interest.4. l have never read Shakespeare in the original.5. The kettle is boiling.6. Shall we use.our best china?

. 7. l cut my hand on some broken glass. l drank several g1asses of water.The film star was wearing dark glasses.

8. The chemical symbol for copper is "Cu". He had only a few coppers in ruspocket.

9. l borrowed an iron from the hotel kitchen.10. He won a gold last time.

4. Pick out words with transferred meaning (metaphors). Translate them intoSlovak.l. a fruitful tree; a fruitful experience; a fruitful partnership;2. a fruitless tree; a fruitless attempt;3. a green tree; green issues; a green apple; green with envy;4. grass seeds; seeds of evil;5. a fading/faded flower; fading/faded beauty;a blooming rose; blooming health.

12 13

3. Comment on the stylistic usage of the following synonyms and use them insentences. Explain the difference between them.

soldier - warrior, girl - lass, stomach - be11y, gentleman - gent, boat - tub,goodbye - farewell, policeman - bobby - cop, psychiatrist - sbrink, fabulous-fab, shut up - hush, seek - look for, begin - commence, ascend - climb.

4. Give a synonymous wordfor the underlined one:

a fimy story, a rich man, an unhappy situation, a soft voice, an uotidy room, awe11-dressed person, a badly-behaved child, his usual routioe.

5. Use the appropriate word. In some of these contexts the following pairsofwords are interchangeable. In others only one of them can be used.

think / believe, shallow / superficial, target / goal, refusedJ rejected, fetch /bring, rush / hurry

1. We ... it's the right thing to do. It's amazing the number of people who ... inghosts.

2. l ... be'll be here this evening. l don't. .. in Father Christmas.3. His aproach to his studies is rather ... He waded into ... water at the edge of

the pond.4. Our ... is a profit of 50,000 for the coming year. Pele scored a fabulous ... in

the second half.5. Despite our protests, we were ... permission to film the event. The horse ...

the apple she had brought for her.6. Could you ... me my glasses. They're on the table. Come to our party but

don't forget to ... a bottle!7. l'm going to be late - 1'11have to ... The hostages decided to ... the terrorist

to make him drop his gun.

7. Arrange the following words into synonymic pairs or groups an classifythem into:

Ca) ideographic synonyms; (b) stylistic synonyms; Cc)mixed:arrogant, battle, begin, behold, brawl, bright, clever, commence, conquest,fight, food, gmb, horse, intelligent, walk, pace, proud, see, shrewd,snobbish, steed, stride, stroll.

30

PARONYMS

1. Fill in the correct word:

1. altemate/altemativeThat' s what we should do - unIess you have an ... suggestion. l vis it myparents on ... weekends.

2. ingenious/tngenuous 'You' d have to be completely ... to believe a story like that. Tbe ...Thomas Edison patented hundreds of inventions.

3. goaflgaolHe head ed the balI into an open .... The castle has been used as a .... Hespent a year in ...

4. suit/suiteHe showed up in a new silk .... Her includes advisors, secretaties andbodygards. They gave us a beautiful of rooms at the hotel.

5. drajt/draught/droughtThis is only the ... ofmy speech. There's an awful ... in here. Some areas ofAfrica were affected by ...

ANTONYMS

1. Choose the word expressing most closely the opposite meaning:

l. active asleep, comfortable, infinitive, lazy, retire.2. adopt deny, emigrate, hesitate, impossible, refuse.3. ancient industry, late, modem, novelty, rush.4. attract deny, displease, hate, pressure, put down.5. bare attractive, clothed.drop, full, plenty.6. behind ahead, at the side, face, on top, standing.7. birth cannot hear, death, disease, end, weaken.8. clear cloudy, complicate, difficult, invisible, uncertain.9. confuse arrange, bright, correct, plan, understand.10. contioue break, close, hesitate, stop" wait.ll. cowardice bold, bravery, lion, savage, shyly.12. defeat fortune, progress, successful, victory, top.13. delicate force, hard, health, strong, young.14. different alike, another, identify, join, self.15. disappoint agree, hope, praise, satisfy, set.

31

16. discipline broken, disorder, follower, rough, trouble.17. failure conclusion, empty, extra, past, success.18. fair cold, dark, grey, ink, unkind.19. generosity cheapness, economy, self-important, selfishness, wicked.20. humble cheerful, display, high, ordinary, proud.21. loose excellent, find, joined, tight, unbroken.22. modest annoyed, boastful, courageous, dislike, thick.23. nice all right, painful, satisfactory, sorry, unpleasant.24. poverty clever, good-Iooking, money, purse, wealth.25. risky borrow, fortunate, safe, tame, unsafe.26. tough bend, butter, small, tender, unarmed.27. wicked aunt, good, morals, nice, praise.28. intentional accidental, broken, national, not concentrating,undecide.

2. (a) Arrange the following into pairs of antonyms(b) Divide the antonyms into three groups: derivational, root and mixedantonyms.

begin dry expensrve high buybot cheep cold end inout late finish first selllegal careful like useless lowunlike useful disli.ke pre-war carelesspostwar early last illegal wet

3. Supply the appropriate opposites (adjectives antonymous to those given inbrackets). .

1. (light): a blue dress; a ... table; 2. (old): a man; a ... book; 3.(hard): an task; a ... bed; 4. (fresh) ... bread; flowers; 5. (wild):... birds; flowers; 6. (rough): a ... surface; a person; 7. (lose): ...a book; to ... a battle.

4. What is the opposite of the expressions:

a dry wine a tall person a clear souptough meat a heavy meal a rough seaa single ticket a strong smel] a clever studenta high voice a right answer a sweet applea single person a strong man strong beera hard job a hot drink a cold daysalt water a cool day a loud sound

32

S. What kind of antonyms is represented by each of the following pairs:

male - female, good - bad, above - below, hot - cold, clean - dirty, true - false,doctor - patient, single - marríed.

LEXICAL (SEMANTIC) FIELDS

1. Say which word does not belong to the set. Decide why.l. pJeased, anxious, hate, angry, delighted;2. aunt, grandmother, grandfather, sister, daughter, niece;3. uncle, friend, cousin, son, nephew, grandfather;4. imagination, mind, thought, blush, idea;5. beef, Liver,pork, lamb, veal;6. Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, Exeter, Edinburgh;7. inevitable, incapable, inflammable, inseparable, inhuman.

2. Rearrange the words into five groups bringing together those which arerelated in meaning. Give a suggestion ofa general heading for each group.

ticket, priest, station, proposal, pillow, police, garden, alarm clock, fine, ceU,seed, engagement, nightmare, root, crime, honeymoon, ring, judge, dining-car,picnic, rain, flower, water-bottle, mattress.

3. List the words (adjectives) describing kinds ofweather you do and do notlike (e.g. sunny, cloudy, etc).

4. Make a list of as many colours as you can.

S. Do you know the difference between the following words?Use them in sentences of your own .

laugh, smile, titter, giggle, chuckle, snigger

STYLISTICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY MARKED WORDS

1. Find out the stylistically marked words.Explain their meaning and give the neutral equivalents.

1. He's been pinching money from the cashbox.2. The burgiar was taken to the local nick.3. Wow! What a fantastic dress.

33

4. The new play at the National Theatre's a wow.5. She lives in a grotty little room with nowhere to cook.6. The music imparts a feeling of excitement to the film.7. l can' t stand him, or ally others of that ilko8. He does have some pretty loony ideas.9. Your English is impeccable.10. When the burglar heard their car he hopped it out of the window.11. He mentioned to me the singular history of an ingenious acquaintance.

2. Underline the technical terms

The fuel and air mixture enters the cylinder. The piston rises and itcompresses the mixture. The compressed mixture is ignited by the spark. Asthe combustion gases expand, they push the piston down, and thecrankshaft turns. on an aircraft the crankshaft is connected to the propeller.In a car it transmits power to the wheel.

(English for Technical Communication).

The larynx is a casing, formed of cartilage and muscle situated in the upperpart of trachea. Its forward portion isprominent in the neck below the chin andis commonly called the "Adams apple". Housed within the structure fromback to front are the vocal cords, two folds of ligament and an elastic tissuewhich may be brought together or parted by the rotation of the arytenoidcartilages through muscular action.

(Gimson: An Introduction to the Pronunciation of English)

3. Group the following words into: technical terms, neutral, formal andinformal words:bus, burlesque, cellar, credence, crest, grandiloquence, chop, chromatic, grain,dative, indubitable, shrink, pal, haemoglobin, kid, loquacious, ad, domicile,dough, hand, umismatics, pro.

4. Underline the colloquial and slang words and expressions. Give the neutraleqúrvalents.1. A: Do you fancy going to the pictures tonight?

1: Great. Hang on, though. There's something good on telly.

2. P: Lend us a few quido I'm broke.T: Here' s a fiver.

P: Smashing. Ta. (Thomas)

34

5. Give shorter or sim pier (native) wordsfor each of the following:

l. He had practiced physic in various situations with no great emolument.

2. It did not require much sagacitv to foresee that such a sentiment would notbe perrnitted to pass without due animadversion.

vicinity, conviction, countenance, irnprecation, oscillate, elongate,manifestation, demonstrated, aperture, occurrence.

6. Comment on the emotional colouring of the underlined words,

1. He preferred to stick with the herd so as not to be noticed2. l will me myself to the market.3. He never does unpleasant jobs hirnself - he always gets one of his hirelings

to do it.4. His ideas are a bit wooly.5. The eggheads at the university know nothing about business.6. He's a1ways twittering about unimportant things.7. Oh, stop bleating about being tired.8. He's grumbling about his wages.9. He collected girlie magazines.10. Thaťs absolute nonsense.

ARCHAISM AND NEOLOGISMS

1. (a) From the following extracts, pick out the arcbaic words explain theirmean ing and comment on their usage.

(b) Give modern English equivalents

Come hither, hither, my little page!

Why dost thou weep and wail?

Or dost thou dread the billow' s rage,

Or tremble at the gale?

But dash the tear-drop from thine eye;

Our ship is swift and strong:

Our fleetest falcon scarce can fly

35

5. Determine from which language each word comes. Use a larger dictionary.They suffered a terrible disaster last January when their yacht struck acoral reef off the Canary Islands and sank without waming.

REGIONAL VARIETIES

1. Find out Americanisms and give the British-English equivalents:

l called Cindy to see if she was back from her vacation and would like tocome out with me to dinner and the movies. She said she would love it, so lsaid l would come for her at a quarter before eight. l bung up, went home andchange my coat, ve st and pants, put some dollar bills in my billfold and, athalf after seven, drave to Cindy's apartment. While waiting for her l adrniredher new closet and drapes.

l. There was that nasty stretch of ice on the sidewalk, and you did sit downawfulJy hard, you poor dear. (D. Parker)

2. Mr Monroe suddenly remembered a great spread of mosquito netting Iyingin a closet across the room. (J. Thurber)

3. I'll give you a help to the subway. (Weidman)4. Mr Brunschweig rented a tuxedo. (Weidman)5. He ware a gray felt hat turned up at the front, a collar with a striped bow

tie, a vest with white piping, a short black coat. (McKelway)6. He told me about another professor whose apartment is going to be for rent.7. ,,1'd like to buy a ticket". "Y es, sir. One way, or round trip?" .8. Since she' d gotten sick, she couldn't stand loudness, although it never

bothered her before. (Abbot)

2. Give the meaning of the following words in British and American English:

public school, pavement, tube, subway, com, vest, depot.

3. Give British and American equivaJents to following words

benzín, metro, nákladné auto, výťah, batožina, účet, cukríky, rad, hranolky,dáma (game).

38

4. Give American equivalents:

to buy sth on hire purchase, block of flats, note (as in: a pound note), pillarbox, drapery, trunk call, (get) a rise, tram, railway, braces, pram.

5. Give the British-English speJJing of the following words:

humor, thru, catalog, center, centering, labor, woolen, nite.jewelry, gray,pajamas, gypsy, quarreJed, honor, laborer, favor, harbor, airplane, check,program, disk.

6. Give the Standard English equivalents of the following AustralianEnglish words:

paddock, tube, a coolibah, a billabong, a swagman.Hooray. 1'11 finish it this arvo. l am feeling a bit crook today.

7. Compare a short piece of Nigerian Pidgin English with the StandardEnglish text:

Di papa bin tok sei: "Ma pikin, you sabi sei wit mi dei eni dei, an ol ting weia getam na yu on. Bot i gud mek napi, bikos dis yu broda bin don dai an i donwikop fo dai agen; i bin don los an wi bin luk i agen.

"My boy", said the father, "you were always with me, and everything lhave is yours. How could we help celebrating this happy day? Your brotherhere was dead and has come back to life, was lost and is found. (C. Barber).

8. Compare the texts. Find out dialectisms and give the Standard Englishequivalents.

Yorkshire dialect.Eeh! As far back as l can tell ther's aIlus bin trouble wi' ť roof o' yondlaithe when it rains; ť watter pours in at ť top, at ť riggin', tba knaws, an' t'spoutin's rotten. l wa' nobbut a lad about six or seven, when my father sawit an' said iťld fall down sooin; but it's still theere. Round ť

end ther' used to be a field wheer us baims used to laik. There's a beck at ťbottom, it goes past them, willers, under t' brig an' into t' river. It's not areight long way - just past t' cross - roads, over 'ere.

39

ŠIMKO, J.: ANGLICKO-SLOVENSKÝ SLOVNÍK

(Bratislava 1968, 1991)

ace [eis] eso, mz•••gaiety ['ge(i)ti] 1. veselosť, radosť, živosť 2. úpravnosť, ozdobnosť, lesk,paráda 3. mn.č.:g-ies zábava, rozptýleniegaily [' geili] 1. veselo, radostne, živo 2. nádherne, parádne 3. pestro•••gay [gei] 1.veselý; g. laughter živý smiech; ag. tune veselá pieseň 2. pestrý,jasný; g. colours pestré, živé farby 3. eufem. nemorálny, zhýraný; to lead ag.life žiť rozmame, voľne viesť roztopašný životgayness ['geinis] p. gaiety

PASSWORD (Bratislava 1993)

ace [eis] noun 1 the one in plying-cards: the ace of spades. O eso2 a person who is expert at anything: He 's an ace with a rifle. O eso, macher3 a serve in tennis in which the ball is not touched by the opposing player. O eso•••gay [gei] adjective }.happy or making people happy: The children were gay and

cheerful; gay music. O veselý2 bright: gay colours. O žiarivýgaily adverb. O veselogaiety ['geiati] noun l (an occasion of) fun or happiness: They joined in thegaiety. O zábava2 the state of being gay: the gaiety of the music. O veselosť

DUJNIČ, M.: MODERNÝ ANGLICKO-SLOVENSKÝ SLOVNÍK

S ILUSTRÁCIAMI (Bratislava 1996)

ace [eis] 1. podst. eso (aj prenes.); mz; hovor. drobnosť; jednotka (na kocke)2. príd. vynikajúci. a. in the hole am. hovor. skrytý tromf; within an a. o vlások,takmer, už-už, veľa nechýbalo

gaiety [geiôtí] veselosť; veselá nálada; pestrosť; farebnosť; elegancia; paráda;pl.g-ies

gaily [geili] živo; pestro; veselo; radostne; parádnegay [gei] radostný; veselý; krikľavý (o farbe); hovor. teplý (homosexuálny)

54

7. STODY OF IDIOMS

IDENTIFICATION AND MEANING

1. -€s Underline idioms. Explain their meaning.

A: l' d hate to be in Jack' s shoes. He lost his job .B: What happened?A: As you know, Jack's an accountant. Last month he made an error in his

books. The company lost a lot of money.B: Thaťs a shame. Well, I'm sure of one thing: he wasn't trying to get

away with anything. _A: Of course not. Jack's very honest. He bent over backwards to correct his

mistake. But it was too late. To make things worse, his wife came downwith the flue.

B: Poor Jack! How's he going to make ends meet?A: l don't know. If you hear ofajob, lethim know. He's ready to try his hand

at anything .(McCaIlum 95)

2. rn Find out idioms and explain their meaning.

Sam is a real cool cat. He never blows his stack and hardly ever flies off thehandle. Whaťs more, he knows how to get away with things ... Well, ofcourse, he is getting on, too. His hair is pepper and salt, but he knows how tomake up for lost time by taking easy. He gets up early, works out, and turnsin early. He takes care of hot dog stand like a breeze until he gets time off.Sam' s get it made; this is. it for him.

(Makkai: Dictionary of American ldioms)

3. (a) ID Look up the idioms in a dlctionary

-€s Write out the definitions you fmd in a dietionary.

pay through the nose, cali a spade a spade, if a day, be off o 's rocker, bigwheel, play ducks and drakes

(b) Invent two more definitions which look like real definitions.(c) Ask your neighbours to guess the true definition.

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4. The following idioms are ambiguous when taken out of context.

ID Give/explain their possible literal and figurative meanings:

l. Break the ice. 2. Ring a bello 3. Give somebody the axe. 3. Hand sth onthe plate. 4. Have sth in pocket. 5. Góld mine, 6. Hook, line andsinker, 7. Root and branch. 8. A skeleton in the cupboard.

©®©I've got my husband to the point where he eats out of my hand, it saves sucha lot ofwashing up.

•A: Waiter, bring me something to eat, J could eat a horse.B: You couldn't have come to a better place, sir.

(Flavell).:. Advertisements:We offer you a good deaL.Have you thought about buying our new bed? Sleep on it.We'll give you red-car pet treatment (or blue, or green, or brown, or yellow.The weather-men can't guarantee you an Indian summer, but we can.Next time you want to be at your best for a special occasion, consider buyinga product of the Aromata Company (It makes scents). (Thomas)

5. Explain the underlined idioms in simple non-idiomatic English.

1. You could trust them. They' dnever try to pull a fast one on you. (Puzo)2. He was my second cousin, somewhat the black sheep of the family.

(Christie)

3. l have an acquaintance, a ladylove perhaps, whom l stand to a meal once ina blue moon. (Updike)

4. DeWitt whofought him tooth and nail when he tried to take on some of thefamily's responsibilities ... (Korda)

5. l want to as much as you want to, but it can't be done. Susan'd smeLIarat straight away. (Braine)

6. It seems to her that a crisis is at hand. (percy)

7 .... you never really understood me. ľm not so black as you painted me.(Hartley)

8. ... no matter what she elects to believe the die is cast, ... (Heller)

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6. .r6 Rewrite the following sentences in non-idiomatic English.

l. Don't buy a pig in apoke. 2. He sent her to Coventry.3. It is neither fish nor fow!' 4. She came all airs and grace s5. Peter is ber blue-eyed boy. 6. They were left high and dry7. They agreed to go Dutch.

7. For each spoken item on the left, find the most natural response on

the right.

l) You mustn' t tell a soul2) Do you know what it's called?3) Cup oftea? .4) Did you catch the train?5) Can l come to Iunch?6) I've got some news7) How did you know l was going

Jenny? .8) l hope the weather' s good for our trip

tomorrow.

Iť s on the tip of my tonguel could do with one .Yes by the skin of my teeth.A little bird told me.My lips are sealed.I'm keeping my fingers crossedIf you don't mind taking pot out with\uck.ľm all ears.

(Thomas)

8.25 Write one complete sen ten ce for each idiom to show the meaningin the black kick the bucket an old tlamebark up the wrong tree bag and baggage in the long runhave sth up o's sleeve not lift a finger lendlgive a handgive sb a blank cbeque red tape pull sb's leg

9~Add one word to make appropriate idioms?

l. His promise is not worth a ... cent. (Urdang)2. So there they were, marking time in Avignon, whiJe l lost myself chasing

... herrings! (Stewart)3. If l don't get some money from somewhere very soon, l shall be in the

... (Wood)4. The little man was shrewed enough to see the ... light ahead (Traver)

•l. John wanted to ask Vera to m.arry him, but he got cold... (McCalIum).2. Drink it down. It will put you on your ... again (Barthelme)3. She simply carried me off my ... and l would have done anything to get

her. (Maugham)4. l may have put my ... in it. Her husband get on the phone (Gardner)

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5. Other people have bad luck but William always seems to fall on his ...(Eckersley).

2. The waiter set glasses ofwine ...

(a) with open arms.(c) at his elbow.

(b) at elbow room.:. (d) at the arm of the law.

10. How many idioms can you think which include the words:

heart:

nose:

3. ľm afraid that Dan was offended by my words. l really didn't mean ...

(a) to stick in his throat. (b) toe the mark.(c) put teeth into him. (d) step on his toes.ear:

ll. Choose the idiom that best completes the sentence:

l. The leaders ended their diSCUSSlOO.A crisis had come. It was time to take avote. Matters had ...

(a) gone head over heels. (b) gone to their heads.(c) come to a head. (d) put heads together.

2. You have no idea what is expected of your new job, so you decide that it isbetter ...

(a) get in their hair. (b) give sb the eye.(c) to turn a deaf ear. (d) play it by ear.

3. Your younger brother accuses you of wanting to control his life. He saysthat you want ...

(a) to lead him by the nose. (b) to give him a nose dive(c) pay him through the nose. (d) to turn up your nose at him

4. We have been spending money ... We'll soon be broke!

(a) hand and foot. (b) oo hand.(c) band over fist. (d) with a high hand.

5. When they saw the lion, the children screamed and ...

(a) footed the bill. (b) took to their heels.(c) gave a leg up. (d) put their best foot forward

(Curry: Body English)

4. After the trouble with her neighbour, Mrs Delaney became so angry at herthat she wanted to ...

(a) change her mind.(c) bear her in mind.

(b) lose her mind.(d) give her a piece of her mind.

(Curry: Body English)

13. Give at least two meanings for each of the following idioms.

l get/pick up steam 2. hot dog 3. raise o's voice 4. Indian Summer 5. like hell6. kiss oflife 7. be in the air 8. a c\osed book 9. go like a bomb 10. all right

14. What types of idioms can you distinguish in ex. 2.

SIMILES

12. Complete the following sentences.

1. It's already eight o'clock! If you don't hurry, we're going to be late. Comeon! ...(a) Take to your heelsl(c) Shake a leg!

Complete tbe following similes (idiomatic comparisons) and use them insentences to show their meaning.

(a) a picture, rain, a feather, brass, a bird, a hunter, a mule, crystal,a turkey- cock, mustard:as right as as bold as .as pretty as as free as .as clear as as red as .

as obstinate as ...as light as ...as hungry as .

(b) Put your foot down!(d) Stretch your legs!

(b) sure, sleep, different, busy, pleased, fit, drink:

... as chalk and cheese as eggs is eggs

... like a fish like a log... as a bee... like a glove

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PHRASAL VERBS

1. Fill in the appropriate phrasal verb.

l . fail back, fall behind, fall over

Jones ... with his payments for the car and had to borrow money.

2. give in, give out, give over

The rioters were at last fórced to ... to the police.

3. look over, look up, look down

Sbe was snobbish and ... on aIl her neigbbours.

4. pass by, pass out, pass up

His wife .. on hearing that he had an accident.

5. make out, make up, make over

l can't ... what he is trying to say.

2. Complete the following sentences by using the appropriate phrasal

verb: bring up, cut out, get in, give up, go off, let down, look out, put up.

l. The doctor told the patient to ... aIl starchy foods.

2. We can ... you ... ifyou're staying in town overnigbt.

3. The kind old couple agreed to ... .the young orpban.

4. He won't ... you ..., he is very reliable.

5. When l get married next year, l shall have to ... my job.

6. What time will the alarm ...?

7. There' s a car coming! ... !

8. At what time does this bus .. ?

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VARIANTS, SYNONYMS, TRANSFORMATION

1. Give (lexical) variants for each of the following idioms and tell which ofthem are used in American English

(1) not bat an eyelid (2) the boot is on the other foot (3) be up sb's street (4)clutch at straws (5) as black as night (6) lay o's cards on the table (7) beload off o's head (8) last straw

2. Give as many synonymous/related idioms as possible to fit the

following idioms,

lose o's temper:

big shot:

stand o's ground:

have o's foot in the grave:

be on edge:

be down in the mouth:

34:Don't trust him, be is leading you up the garden path.Stop pulling his leg, be will learn with time.What you are doing is not cricket.

3. (a) Give complete/original forms of idioms for the forms/variants

used in the sentences.

(b) What types of changes can you find in them?

1. Well, l knoweverything wouId go wrong - it's the usual story of too manycooks! (OALD) .

2. Then Meredith realized that it was siesta time. Well, when in Rome, shethought wryly, and went down the hall to her room ... (Matthew s)

3. You know about them, my normal summer games, sometimes winning onthe swing and losing on the roundabout, ...nothing serious. (Krantz)

4 .... he coaxes vehicles toward him with fluid arm gestures, part of an artfulballet he uses to keep the traffic rolling, ... (National

. l,

Geographic )

5. "You are like Rome, Charlie", she remarked. ,,All roads lead to you".(Le Carré)

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