Homonyms, idioms and others
Hello everybody !
Did you have a good week end ? I hope so even if it rained.
Well, today, we will play on words, enlarge our vocabulary thanks to two ways:
- homonyms and idioms
- vocabulary linked to physical appearance or personnality.
Let us start on this matter.
HOMONYMS
Source: http://a4esl.org/q/h/
- Is that a ___ tree or a birch tree?
a. beach
b. beech
This question is related to two kind of trees. The equivalent of “birch tree” is in French “bouleau”. The “beach” is the place with sand near the sea where it is quite good to be to sunbathe (se faire bronzer) during holidays. A “beech tree” means “hetre” in French. The answer is B.
- Bread tastes better the longer you ___ the dough.
a. need
b. knead
“Dough” is linked to bread. It refers to the material of bread, the paste made with flour (farine), edible oil (huile cosmestible), yeast (levure) and water. To need refers to something which is necessary to have or to do. To knead means “petrir” in French. The answer is B.
- The little boy needed to ___ so his mother stopped the car.
a. pea
b. pee
No doubt here, it is necessary to stop the car because the little boy needs to go to toilet, public conveniences, lavatory. A “pea” is a small round green vegetable (pois). The expression with “pee” is “to pee” or “to have a pee”. In French, faire pipi.
- For better texture you must ___ the dough longer.
a. knead
b. kneed
c. need
Texture is the same as in French. “Knee” is a part of body which let us fold (plier) legs. It means “genou”. We can imagine “kneed” is the preterit linked to this word as it is not recorded on dictionary. The answer is A.
- The retired couple went on a pleasure ship ___ to the East Indies.
a. crews
b. cruise
“A pleasure ship” is a nice expression to mention “bateau de plaisance”. The “crew” refers to the team working on vessels. The “cruise” is linked to the way of travelling on the sea on a boat. The French equivalent is “croisiere”. The answer is B.
- The national anthem of the gold ___ winner is played during the awards ceremony.
a. medal
b. meddle
Hearing the national anthem for contests (football, rugby for instance) is a tradition. La Marseillaise is the French national anthem (hymne national). A “medal” is a metal reward in gold, silver or bronze (medaille). “To meddle with/in something” means to be interested on someone else’s affairs (se meler de quelque chose). The answer is A.
- Are you ___ dressed?
a. already
b. all ready
“To be dressed” means to put clothes/garments on (etre en tenue de). Already means “deja” whereas “all ready” means “tous prets”. The answer is A.
- The sour milk made Evelyn ___.
a. retch
b. wretch
“Sour” is an adjective which means aigre, acide. “Retch” is the equivalent of do not feel very well because your stomach cannot accept something (avoir des haut-le-coeur). “Wretch” is a noun. It means to be unhappy, poor (malheureux, miserable). To feel wretched is to be depressed (avoir le cafard, ne pas etre dans son assiette). The answer is A.
- The student __ meets every Wednesday.
a. counsel
b. council
c. consul
A “counsel” (avocat) is someone who defends your interests in front of the law court. A “council” (conseil) can be a district (conseil municipal), a county one (conseil departemental) or a council house (habitation a loyer modere). A “consul’ is a title for a country representant in another place (for example the consul of France in Hong Kong). The answer is B.
- The drunkard walked along the street with an unsteady ___.
a. gait
b. gate
A drunkard is someone who used to unreservedly (sans restriction) drink alcohool. Unsteady refers to someone or something who/which is not reliable (fiable), fixed (stable), regular, sure. A gait is the way of walking (demarche, facon de marcher). A gate is a kind of door for garden, in wooden (en bois), iron (en fer), at sportsground (terrain de jeu). It is the equivalent of “un portail, une barriere” in French.
IDIOMS BEGINNING WITH “L’
- To "lash out" means to ___.
a. shout at someone
b. relax
c. kick or punch someone - To "laugh off" means to ___.
a. make lots of jokes
b. make lots of noise
c. not take something seriously - To "lean on" someone means to ___.
a. entertain them
b. pressure them
c. annoy them - "In less than no time" means ___.
a. in a few days
b. much later
c. very soon
To do it "like mad" means to do it ___.
a. enthusiastically
b. sloppily
c. carefully
Answers: 1C – 2C – 3B – 4C – 5A
to lash out at someone: invectiver, donner des coups de poings / se livrer a de folles depenses
to laugh off: tourner en plaisanterie
to lean on/against: s’appuyer sur/contre
in less than no time: en tres peu de temps
like mad: comme un derate
VOCABULARY: PHYSICAL APPEARANCE OR PERSONNALITY
Are these adjectives connected with physical appearance or personnality? Write them in the correct column. Careful! There is one that can go in both columns.
Bespectacled moody freckled two-faced
Big-headed brainy graceful wrinkled
Quick-tempered skinny nosy bald
Absent-minded cheeky spotty well-built
Narrow-minded affectionate smart curly
Hard-hearted agile chubby
Physical appearance |
Personnality |
|
|
Answers:
PHYSICAL APPEARANCE
Bespectacled : it refers to someone who wears spectacles (glasses) – translation: portant des lunettes
Skinny: someone who does not eat a lot or who cannot put on weight (grossir) – translation: maigre
Agile: same as in French as a dancer is agile and graceful (gracieux).
Bold: someone who does not have a lot of hair or no hair at all like Fabien Barthes – translation: chauve
Curly: refers to hair, they have ringlets/curls – translation: boucle, frise
Freckled: someone who has on face or other parts of body some red dots on skin – translation: aux taches de rousseur
Graceful: who has an elegant gait, has class, style – translation: gracieux
Spotty: who has some spots on skin – translation: boutonneux
Chubby: who has a round face, curves (rondeurs) – translation: joufflu, potele
Wrinkled: touched especially women as there are a lot of cosmetics linked to anti-wrinkles treatment. Wrinkled is something with pleats (plis) – translation: ride
Well-built: someone who is physically strong, robust – translation: solide
PERSONNALITY
Big-headed: we also have this figure of speech/metaphor (figure de style, metaphore) in French. It means someone is very proud of himself/herself, no doubt about his/her values – translation: craneur
Quick-tempered: it is someone who is nervous. It is easy to make him/her become angry or crazy – translation: emporte, prompt(e) a la colere
Absent-minded: someone who is not able to keep his/her concentration or listen carefully – translation: distrait
Narrow-minded: opposite of being open-minded (large d’esprit, ouvert), who has very strict ideas – translation: borne, a l’esprit etroit
Hard-hearted: who is not generous, has no mercy for others – translation: impitoyable, au coeur dur
Moody: who does not have regular mood (humeur) – translation: d’humeur changeante, lunatique
Brainy: we can recover “brain” – brainy means to be intelligent – translation: intelligent, cale
Cheeky: who does not respect politeness rules, has a lack of respect – translation: insolent, effronte
Affectionate: who loves something, someone very easily – translation: affectueux
Two-faced: very interesting word as easy to remember – when you are two-faced, you are yourself and another person – you play on two different grounds – translation: hypocrite
Nosy: very curious, who is interested in a lof of subjects, topics – curieux
Smart: who can find a solution in any kind of situation, who has a style – habile, debrouillard, “bien”
Hope you have learned some new words or revise in a good way.
Come back shortly...
With best wishes,
Ceraulen