Confusing English – Angličtina Youradio Talk

The boss wanted me to keep out of some sort of business, I didn’t know what it was about, but I realised that I should keep out of it, and therefore I said: “I won’t put my nose into this”. And they all laughed and I didn’t know why. But afterwards they told me that it’s not possible to say it this way, because it’s somehow rude and means something different. A GOOD METHOD OF LEARNING NEW IDIOMATIC EXPRESSIONS IS TRYING TO REMEMBER THE CONTEXT IN WHICH THEY WERE USED. MANY IDIOMS ARE HOWEVER INFORMAL AND ARE USED ONLY IN SPOKEN ENGLISH. I realised that I should keep out of it, and therefore I said: “I won’t put my nose into this”. In German this is a phrase that’s OK, nobody will be offended. It’s a phrase just to say “I’m gonna keep distance, I’m gonna keep out”. From this point on I try to avoid to translate phrases, German phrases and just to use simple and for me well-known English words in order to avoid such situations. famous - slavný rude - nezdvořilý, sprostý, hrubý to keep out of - nevšímat si něčeho I won’t get involved in it - nebudu se tím zabývat, nebudu si toho všímat I will stay away from it - nebudu se do toho plést to tighten one’s belt - utáhnout si opasek to eat like a horse - hodně jíst, jíst jako otesánek my hands are tied - mám svázané ruce to pay through the nose - zaplatit šílenou částku be offended - urazit se Cvičení 1 Přeložte: 1. Letní dovolená mě stála strašných peněz (zaplatil jsem za dovolenou šílenou částku. 2. Musím si teď příští měsíc utáhnout opasek.

We were sitting and I just said: “Well, my ankle is in a really bad shape today. It must be because of the 3-hour session in the gym.” Of course I thought he understood clearly what I meant. But he replied: “So how old is your uncle?” I decided to make a joke and I said: ‘Well, it’s of course my age.’ When we left the pub later on and we were saying goodbye, when I was leaving he said: ‘And of course when you see your uncle, wish him well’. ankle - kotník uncle - strýc sth is in a really bad shape - mít (část těla) zraněnu joke - vtip wish him well - popřej mu, ať se uzdraví rice (rajs) - rýže rise (rajz) - stoupnout, zvednout I will have some chicken and rice for dinner. salary - plat My salary will rise by 5% next year. beans - fazole bins - odpadkové koše to provide - poskytnout Put old newspapers in the bins provided. I always have baked beans for breakfast. back - zpátky, záda bag - pytel, taška I left my keys in my bag. to hurt - zranit I fell yesterday and I hurt my back. pronunciation - výslovnost recorded material - natočený materiál to compare - porovnat YOU CAN PRACTISE YOUR PRONUNCIATION BY LISTENING TO ORIGINAL RECORDED MATERIAL AND THEN RECORDING YOUR OWN PRONUNCIATION. THIS WAY YOU CAN COMPARE AND CORRECT THE WAY YOU PRONOUNCE WORDS IN ENGLISH Cvičení Přeložte do (české) češtiny a potom si to sami přeložte zpátky do (anglické) angličtiny 1. I will have some chicken and rice for dinner. 2. My salary will rise by 5% next year. 3. Put old newspapers in the bins provided. 4. I always have baked beans for breakfast. 5. I left my keys in my bag. 6. I fell yesterday and I hurt my back.

This happened 3-4 years ago, when we were in university, Charleene and I were in our dormitory, we were in the kitchen. And I was playing some Arabic music and there was this very romantic song, which I thought was very silly. When I described it to Charleen I said: “This song is corny”. And Charleen said: “Horny? Isn’t that the word you use to describe sex?” I’m fluent in English - mluvím plynně anglicky dormitory - studentská kolej corny - sentimentální, přeslazený, otřepaný, banální, nazajímavý horny - nadržený to describe - popsat to aviod - vyhnout se embarrassment - rozpaky deal - dohoda, obchod meal - jídlo grave - vážný brave - statečný to rescue - zachránit to drown - utopit se dust - prach rust - rez filthy -špinavý; sprostý IF YOU ARE NOT SURE ABOUT WHAT SOMEBODY HAS JUST SAID, IF POSSIBLE ASK THEM TO REPEAT IT IN ORDER TO AVIOD POTENTIAL EMBARRASSMENT. Cvičení 3 Doplňte podle smyslu správné slovo: (deal/meal, grave/brave, dust/rust) 1. I usually have my evening …….. at six. 2. This place is filthy – everything is covered in …….. . 3. John rescued a drowning child from the river – he’s very …….. . 4. It is no laughing matter, the situation is very ………. .

And one day in the office we were talking about some place somewhere in the north of England, and one of my colleagues said: “Oh, in this place – in the North of England - they’ve got a huge nuclear plant”. And a colleague of mine... she says: “Oh, what kind of plant is a nuclear plant, I know all plants – you know I’ve got green fingers – and I’m very good with plants, trees etc, I love gardening and I’ve never heard of this kind of plant.” We explained to her that it’s nothing to do with plants in gardening, it’s about nuclear power. So she laughed as well. And following morning she came to the office and she said: “I bought a new plant, but I made sure that it wasn’t nuclear”. rock -druh hudby, velký i malý kámen, skála, kostka ledu plant - rostlina, kytka a nuclear plant - jaderná elektrárna I’ve got green fingers - vášnivá a dobrá zahradnice drill - vrtačka, vrták fire drill - požární cvičení coach - zájezdový autobus (nikoliv městská linka) football coach - fotbalový trenér boot - vyšší bota (pohorky, kozačky) car boot - zavazadlový prostor, kufr auta SOME WORDS CAN HAVE SEVERAL MEANINGS, BUT ALSO SEVERAL FUNCTIONS. FOR EXAMPLE, ‘PLANT’ CAN BE A NOUN, AS WELL AS A VERB. Cvičení 4 Zakončete podle smyslu: 1. He’s a footballer now, but in the future he wants to train footballers, he wants to be.... 2. I need two holes on this wall for the bookcase so I’m going to use ... 3. When you drive to the country, make sure you have a spare tyre in your....

And I met this nice English man, who liked to have lots of conversations with me. As we met about third time, I wanted to describe myself slightly better. A couple days before I was browsing my dictionary – my Czech-English dictionary – and I found this word which I thought would really describe me well. So when I met him, I announced to his surprise: “Michael, I’m a real goer”. He looked at me blankly for a while and then started to laugh. And I wasn’t sure why, because my dictionary just said it’s a person who goes to a lot of parties, parties a lot and likes company. But as he explained, this word is a slightly old-fashioned slang word for easy girl, girl who would go with everybody. I have to say he didn’t take it against me. In fact, I later on married him and we’ve been married for 8 years now. real goer - činorodý, společenský člověk, slang. dívka, která střídá partnery easy girl - dívka, která “jde s každým” funny - úsměvný (příběh) to browse - listovat, prohlížet to announce - prohlásit, oznámit reader - čtenář painter - malíř teacher - učitel cooker - sporák film-goer - náruživý filmový divák theatre-goer - rád chodí do divadla church-goer - pravidelně chodí do kostela party-goer - často chodí na večírky tell you what part of speech - určit druh slova WHEN YOU LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE IT IS IMPORTANT TO USE A PROPER DICTIONARY. IT SHOULD EXPLAIN HOW EACH WORD OR PHRASE SHOULD BE PRONOUNCED, IT SHOULD ALSO TELL YOU WHAT PART OF SPEECH A GIVEN WORD IS, THEN A DEFINITION AND IDEALLY EXAMPLES OF USE. Cvičení 5 Zakončete podle smyslu: 1. a person who likes theatre is ……….. 2. a person who regularly goes to church is ……….. 3. a person who goes to parties frequently is ………..

She was English. And I knew I had some papers left in my room, which I was going to show her. And then I just said to her: “Come to my room later.” And she was blushing and I din’t know why. And I went to my room. And, and when she came she said: ‘Hans Peter you can’t really say it like that, because that would be an invitation for a rendezvous.’ I said that because you know in German it’s a usual phrase, everybody would use it and we wouldn’t put it in such a formal way, like “Do you mind coming to my room later?” We would just say “Come to my room later and we can discuss it further”. Through this event I really realised how the politeness, dealing with each other and making a clear distinction between private and professional life is important. she was blushing - červenala se come to my room later - (bez obratu: would you... se z této věty stává nezdvořilý, dokonce i dvojsmyslný příkaz. I člověka, se kterým se dobře známe, bychom měli požádat pomocí could you /can you pop into my office later? to pop in - na chvilku zaskočit. polite - zdvořilý distinction - rozlišení WHETHER YOU USE FORMAL OR INFORMAL ENGLISH IT IS ALWAYS BETTER TO USE POLITE WORDS LIKE ‘CAN’ OR ‘COULD’ TO EXPRESS AN INVITATION OR TO ASK SOMEBODY FOR SOMETHING. IF YOU ARE NOT SURE, WHETHER TO USE FORMAL OR INFORMAL ENGLISH, IT’S SAFER TO USE “COULD YOU” OR “DO YOU MIND” AND AVOID POTENTIAL EMBARRASSMENT. Cvičení 6 Přeložte: 1. Zaskoč se k nám podívat na fotky z dovolené. 2. Mohl byste mi to zopakovat?

And when he moved to London... it’s like he never really adapted, he still speaks in English, but all his expressions or the way he talks, there’s always some anecdote or a word referring to farming. And he always goes, like: the people he works with – “You have to watch them like cattle”. His colleagues always held him in great affection and they always go: “Oh, well, Enrique, you can’t get the cattle these days” rather than ‘the staff these days are no good”. to be brought up - být vychován expression - výraz (jazykový) to adapt - přizpůsobit se anecdote - kratičká historka cattle - dobytek, stádo staff - zaměstnanci shoal of fish - hejno ryb pack of dogs - smečka psů flock of seagulls - hejno racků THERE ARE OTHER WORDS IN ENGLISH USED TO TALK ABOUT A PARTICULAR GROUP OF ANIMALS. HOWEVER, IF YOU’RE NOT SURE WHICH ONE TO USE, IT’S ALWAYS SAFE TO REFER TO THEM AS ‘GROUP’. ALSO, IF YOU ARE NOT SURE IF THE VERB THAT GOES WITH THEM SHOULD BE SINGULAR OR PLURAL, CHECK YOUR DICTIONARY. Cvičení 7 Zakončete podle smyslu: a group of birds is ……….. a flock of birds is ……….. a group of wolves is ……….. a pack of wolves is ……….. a group of fish is ………..

Programme 8 - Turn on/off/up/down Hi, my name is Soumitra. I grew up in Berkshire with my mother, who went to an English speaking school in Delhi. However, when she moved to London a lot of her contacts didn’t have the same privileges as she did. Cvičení 8 Přeložte: 1. Prosím tě, zapni počítač! 2. Mohl byste ztlumit topení? 3. Mohl bys zesílit rádio? 4. Vypni, prosím tě, všechna světla!