Bluff/To call someone's bluff

My word of the day is bluff. As a verb, to bluff is to act more confident than you are. In poker, it means to behave as though you can win, and by doing so to intimidate the other players. In movie poker games, sometimes a character will say, "he's bluffing!" which means that he doesn't really have a good hand. We also use this expression for any situation where a person is acting like they have superior power but may not actually have it.

A related expression is "to call someone's bluff." In poker, this means to challenge the person show their cards and risk losing. In other situations, it means to challenge the person to reveal the real situation. "He was acting like he could drive a race car, but when she called his bluff he admitted that he had never actually driven one."

P.S. This post, and all others related to poker, are dedicated to Vassilis, AKA "Nick the Greek," a wonderful writer and friend, who always has an ace up his sleeve.

Video English lessons and the power of web video for learning

Anyone who knows me or who reads this blog with regularity knows that I'm a BIG fan of TED. I think this is because TED has given me so many teaching tools. It has made me believe in the power of web video as a teaching and learning tool. Below, you will find two TED talks about this subject.
I would also like to recommend a site I've just discovered, called engVid. They provide free video lessons for English students, as well as resources that you can read or print out. For people without access to teachers who are native speakers of English, this could be a very useful resource to supplement your classes or independent study.
Here are the two presentations. I hope you enjoy them, and that you're about to begin a wonderful weekend!

Expression: When the chips are down

When the chips are down means "when the situation is urgent and action must be taken" and the "chips" are poker chips.

Here's an example: "I know I can count on you when the chips are down." I'm saying that I know I can trust you to help if the situation becomes urgent or difficult.

It's vs. its

It's not easy to use it's and its correctly! In fact, native English speakers make mistakes with these all the time, even in newspapers and books.

So, what's the difference?


It's is the contraction of it is. For example: It's important to get enough sleep.


Its is the possessive form of it. For example: The company has its own restaurant inside the office.

Etc.: Latin Abbreviations in English

We have a number of Latin abbreviations which are still commonly used in English, especially in writing. According to Wikipedia, this is because "Latin was once the universal academic language in Europe. From the 18th century authors started using their mother tongue to write books, papers or proceedings. However, many Latin abbreviations continued to be used due to their precise simplicity and also Latin's status as a learned language."

Here are some of the most common ones that you'll see in articles and business:

et al: "and others." The project will be done by Jameson, Clark, et al.

e.g.: "for example." A number of his works, e.g. The White Room, will be exhibited next year.

i.e.: "in other words." Expenses must be recorded before the end of the month, i.e. within the same month as the purchase.

NB: "please note" The conference begins tomorrow at 9am. NB: no breakfast will be served, only coffee and tea.

Suffix: -less

A suffix is something added to the end of a word to change its meaning. In the case of -less, we add this to a noun to turn it into an adjective. The meaning of -less is without. For example, the adjective homeless means without a home. Here are a number of examples with sentences:

Powerless: After a natural disaster in another country, many people feel powerless to help.

Clueless: He has no idea what's happening; he's completely clueless!

Useless: We try to avoid buying useless gadgets just because they're in fashion.

One of my favorite adjectives with -less is relentless, which means without stopping.

Presentation: The birth of a word

Here is a new TED talk from Deb Roy, a speech acquisition researcher at MIT. Here, he explains five years of intensive recording inside his home, with the goal of gathering real data about the way an infant (in this case, his son) learns to speak. If you have a baby at home, or are interested in the origins of our ability to learn language, I think you'll find this very interesting!



P.S. This post is dedicated with love to Socrates, Ioanna and Euclid, three of the most expressive people I know.

Being late and being on time

I wish I could say that I'm always on time. If only it were true! But the truth is that I often find myself sending a text message to tell someone that "I'm running a few minutes late." I wonder how many text messages like this are sent every day? The number must be very, very high.
Here are a few useful expressions for when you need to tell someone that you're going to be late:




1. I'm running a bit late but I'll be there soon.
2. I'm on my way! See you in 10 mins!
3. I'm sorry but I won't make it for the meeting.
4. My flight was delayed so I'll arrive at 4pm instead of 2pm.
5. I'm stuck in traffic. Could we postpone the meeting until 10:30?

Some people are always very punctual, and I want to be more like them. In the meantime, I'm working on improving, but I might send you one of these messages...

Expression: "If March comes in like a lion...

...it will go out like a lamb."

This is a typical expression about the weather in March. A lamb is a baby sheep, so the idea is that if the weather is very strong and wintry at the beginning of the month, like a lion, then at the end of the month it will be the opposite: sunny and calm, like a lamb. The reverse is also true: "If March comes in like a lamb, it will go out like a lion." So, what do you predict for the end of March, lamb or lion?

Compound Nouns 1: Noun + Noun

Compound nouns are everywhere! They are often composed of two nouns together, usually with a space between the words. When a compound noun is formed with two nouns, the first noun is generally describing the second one. For example: alarm clock. The second word, clock, is more general, and the first word, alarm, tells you what kind of clock it is. Here are some more examples of this kind of compound noun: credit card, sales department, youth hostel.
Sometimes the two nouns have come together and there is no space between them (although there may have been in the past). Examples of this would be: earring, trademark, sunglasses.
It's interesting to notice that compound nouns often appear in the language as a result of new inventions or new aspects of society. For this reason, they are constantly being invented.