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Task 1. Where would you expect to see each of the notices on page 79?

Example: 1 on a bus

Task 2. Match each of the words on the left with their more everyday translations from the list on the right.

Task 3. Explain the notices below. Where might you see each of these notices?

Task 4. What notice would a café-owner put up if they wanted to:

1indicate that their café was now open for coffee?

2let people know that the café staff can speak Spanish?

3stop people from smoking in their café?

4let people know that they can buy free-range eggs there too?

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5ask people not to fix notices onto their wall?

6tell people that they could rent rooms there overnight?

US ENGLISH

English in the USA differs considerably from British English. Pronunciation is the most striking difference but there are also a number of differences in vocabulary and spelling as well as slight differences in grammar. On the whole, British people are exposed to a lot of American English on TV, in films and so on and so they will usually understand most American vocabulary.

American spelling is usually simpler. For example, British English words ending in –our and –re, end in –or and –er in American English, e.g. colour/color, centre/center. There are differences in individual words too, e.g. British „plough‟ becomes „plow‟. The American spelling usually tries to correspond more closely to pronunciation.

Here are some common US words with their British equivalents.

Note also: the fall = autumn semester = term [semester is becoming common in Britain].

Here are some words and phrases which can cause confusion when used by Brits and Americans talking together because they mean something dfferent in each „language‟.

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Task 1. If you saw words spelt in the following way would you expect the writer in each case to be British or American? Why?

Task 4. Can you avoid some of the most common confusions arising between British and American speakers? Try the following quiz?

1.Where would you take (a) an American visitor (b) a British visitor who said they wanted to wash up – the kitchen or the bathroom?

2.Would (a) an American (b) a Brit be expected to get something hot or something cold if they asked for some potato chips?

3.Which would surprise you more – an American or a British man telling you that he wanted to go and change his pants?

4.You have just come into an unknown office block. If (a) an American (b) a Brit says that the office you need is on the second floor, how many flights or stairs do you need to climb?

5.If (a) an American (b) a Brit asks for a bill, is he or she more likely to be in a bank or a café?

OTHER ENGLISHES

US or American English is not the only special variety of English. Each area of the English-speaking world has developed its own special characteristics. This is usually mainly a matter of vocabulary and pronunciation. For example, Australian English is particularly interesting for its rich store of highly colloquial words and expressions. Australian colloquialisms often involve shortening a word. Sometimes the ending „-ie‟ or „-o‟ is then added, e.g. a smoko (from smoking), is a „tea or coffee break‟ and a milko delivers the milk;

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beaut, short for „beautiful‟ means „great‟. Some of these words are now being used by British people too.

Indian English is characterised by sounding more formal than British English. It has retained in everyday usage words that are found more in the classics of the nineteenth century literature than in contemporary English, e.g. The bereaved are condoled and the Prime Minister is felicitated on his or her birthday.

Scottish English uses a number of special dialect words, e.g.

Black English is the term used to refer to the English which originated in the Caribbean islands and has now spread to many parts of the UK, Canada and the USA. Many Black English words are now used in other varieties of English and are particularly associated with music world.

Task 1. The following Australian colloquialisms are formed by abbreviating an English word. What do you think they mean?

1.Where did you go when you were in Oz?

2.She wants to be a journo when she leaves uni.

3.We got teribly bitten by mozzies at yesterday‟s barbie.

4.He‟s planning to do a bit of farming bizzo while he‟s in the States.

5.What are you doing this arvo?

6.We decided to have a party as the oldies had gone away for the weekend.

Task 2. Match the following Indian words on the left with their British English equivalents on the right.

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Task 3. Below you have some statements made by a Scot. Answer the questions about

them.

1.Mary had a bonny wee lassie last night.

What happened to Mary yesterday?

2.They stay next to the kirk.

What noise is likely to wake them up on Sunday mornings?

3.It‟s a bit dreich today.

Is it good weather for a picnic?

4.He‟s got a new job as a janitor at the school.

What kind of duties will he have?

5.Would you like a wee dram?

If you say ‘yes’, what will you get?

6.„Are you coming, Jim?‟ „Aye‟.

Is Jim coming or isn’t he?

7.They have a wonderful view of the loch from their window.

What can they see from the window?

Task 4. Answer the following questions relating to Black English.

1.Would you be pleased to be called square?

2.What does hair that is in dreadlocks look like?

3.When might you feel dead beat?

4.If musicians have a jam session, what do they do?

SLANG

Slang is a particular kind of colloquial language. It refers to words and expressions which are extremely informal. Slang helps to make speech vivid, colourful and interesting, but it can be easily be used inappropriately. Although slang is mainly used in speech, it is also often found in the popular press.

One must be very careful using slang. Here are some examples of some slang words and expressions which you may come across. The ones which are most likely to cause offence are underlined.

Expressions for money: dough, bread, dosh, loot, brass, spondulicks

Expressions for the police: pigs, fuzz, cop(per)s, bill

Expressions for drunk: pissed, sozzled, paralytic, legless, arseholed

Expressions for a stupid person: wally, prat, nerd, jerk, dickhead, plonker, pillock

Expressions for lavatory: loo, lav, bog, john

Expressions for drink: booze, plonk (wine), a snifter, a snort Drug-related expressions: a fix, dope, grass, high, stoned, snow (heroin) Prison-related expressions: nick (prison), nark (informer), screw (warder)

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Here are some examples from American truck-drivers using CB radio to talk to each

other.

Task 1. Replace the slang words which are underlined in the sentences below with more formal equivalents. If the meaning is not given opposite, then it should be possible to guess what it s. Notice that some of the words have a slang meaning which is different form their everyday meaning.

1.The newsreader on TV last night seemed to be pissed as he was reading the news.

2.He‟s quite a nice bloke really.

3.I‟ve got a terrrible belly ache – I think I‟d better make an appointment with the quack.

4.Her dad was furious when he learnt he had to wer a penguin suit to the wedding.

5.Can you land me some dosh till tomorrow?

6.I know there‟ll be plenty of nosh but do we need to take some booze to the party?

7.Have you got wheels or shall we call a taxi?

8.I‟m dying for a cuppa. I haven‟t had one since breakfast.

9.Can I use your loo, please?

10.I was absolutely gobsmacked when she told me that she was leaving.

Task 2. Match the statements on the left with the responses to them on the right.

Task 3. A particular well-known kind of slang is Cockney rhyming slang where an exression is used in place of something that it rhymes with.

Example: trouble and strife = wife apples and pears = stairs

How would you translate the Cockney rhyming slang expressions in the sentences below.

1.Let‟s have a butcher‟s (short for butcher‟s hook) at your homework.

2.just look at those Gawd forbids playing football!

3.it‟s on the Gain and Abel next to the phone.

4.what a set of Hampstead Heath!

5.she‟ll get him to the lean and lurch by hook or by crook.

6.have you seen my titfer? (short for tit for tat)

Task 4. Anothercommon way of making slang words is by using short forms or loosely pronounced forms of ordinary words. Thus fab is a slang form of „fabulous‟ and hubby is a slang form of „husband‟. Can you work out the meanings of the following underlined slang words?

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

1.Кунин А.В. курс фразеологии сщвременного английского языка. – М., 1996.

2.Ginzburg R.S., Khidekel S.S., Sankin A.A. A Course in Modern English Lexicology – M., 1986.

3.Grinberg L.E., Kuznets M.D., Kumacheva A.V., Meltser G.M. Exercises in Modern English Lexicology – M., 1966.

4.Kashcheeva M.A., Potapova I.A., Tyurina N.S. Practical Lexicology. – L., 1974.

5.McCarthy M, O‟Dell F. English Vocabulary in Use. Upper-Intermediate. – Cambridge University Press, 1994.

6.Redman M. English Vocabulary in Use. Pre-Intermediate. – Cambridge University Press, 1997.

7.Watcyn-Jones P. Target Vocabulary 3. – London, 1995.

8.Kunin A.V. English-Russian Phraseology Dictionary. – M., 1984.

9.Laird Ch. Webster‟s New World Pocket Thesaurus. – MACMILLAN, USA, 1997.

10.Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English. Third Edition – Longman Dictionary, 1995.

CONTENTS

Section II. Study of Meaning ………………………………………………………….. 7 Unit 1. Polysemy ………………………………………………………………………. 7 Unit 2. Homonyms …………………………………………………………………….. 12 Unit 3. Context ………………………………………………………………………… 15

Three-part phrasal verbs ……………………………………………………….. 29 Nouns from phrasal verbs 1 ……………………………………………………. 30 Nouns from phrasal verbs 2 ……………………………………………………. 31 Unit 2. Idioms …………………………………………………………………………. 33

Supplementary …………………………………………………………………………. 54

Expressions with set and put …………………………………………………... 72 Expressions with come and go ………………………………………………… 74 Expressions with look …………………………………………………………. 76

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………… 88

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Учебное издание

Артемова Ольга Григорьевна Юрова Галина Ильинична

English Vocabulary in Use

Компьютерный набор О.Г.Артемовой

ЛР № 066815 от 25.08.99. подписано к изданию 10.04.2002. уч.-изд.л. «С» 11

Воронежский государственный технический университет 394026 Воронеж, Московский просп., 14