Frugal

My word for today is frugal. This is an adjective and we use it to describe a person who conserves money, someone who doesn't waste money. The noun is frugality. As always, here are a few examples:
Although my boss is frugal, he'll spend money on training for our team.
"You should be more frugal! Then you wouldn't always be trying to borrow money!"
Yvonne's frugality was legendary; she only bought the things she really needed and nothing extra.
It's important to note that frugal is neutral, and can be positive depending on the context.

Money: win, earn, make, spend and waste

These are the typical verbs used with money:
Win money: to receive money by playing a game, gambling, or participating in a lottery.
Earn money: to receive money by working for it.
Make money: people or companies receive money for their work, services, or products. When we say a company makes money, we usually mean that the company is profitable.
Spend money: to use money to buy something.
Waste money: to spend money in a way that doesn't bring value.

Here are some examples:
Bob won $2,000 in the lottery!
I think I could make more money if I improved my skills.
Our company made more money last year than the year before.
We spent a lot of money going out last wekeend; maybe we should stay home tonight.
These shoes are really uncomfortable! I wish I hadn't wasted my money on them.

Field Trip!

A field trip is an excursion that you take as part of a course or class.
Not long ago, Marc and I took a field trip to the Fundació Joan Miró for our Friday English class.
Since Marc is a very creative and innovative Catalan guy, I thought he would enjoy the big retrospective show of Miró's work, and I knew I would enjoy hearing his thoughts about it, since Marc always has interesing ideas and insights.
Thanks for going on a field trip, Marc! I hope we have many occasions for them as we go along!

Ouch!

When you hurt yourself in a way that isn't very serious, or when someone else hurts you a little(by stepping on your toe, for example), it's typical to say "ouch".
We also say this sometimes as a comment, about someone's injury, or also about an insult or sarcastic response. Some examples:
You: What happened?
Me: I burned myself cooking last night.
You: Ouch!
Me: Yeah, it really hurt!
************
You: What did your boss say?
Me: He said I should spend more time working and less time blogging.
You: Ouch!

P.S. Ouch has the same sound as down, brown, and couch.

Folks

Folks is an informal way of saying people. This is a common word in the American south, and in the west, especially in places like Texas. Many public speakers use this word to try to get close to their listeners. Here are some examples:
"Most folks in this town prefer to have the shops open on Sunday."
"Folks, I'm going to talk to you today about education..."
A lot of local folks didn't know about the new plan for the city center.

P.S. If you listen to President Obama's State of the Union Address below, you will hear him use this word.

Word of the day: Outsmart

To outsmart someone is to be smarter, or more intelligent, than they are. If you've seen any of the cartoons with Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, you may remember that Roadrunner always outsmarted Coyote.

There are a number of other verbs with this prefix, and in general they mean to exceed your opponent, or your own expectations, in the activity. Some examples: outrun, outperform, outspend. A few sentences:

My opponent outsmarted me and won the game.

Outspending the competition dosen't guarantee success.

The new product sales outperformed our expectations by 5%.

He chased her for three blocks, but she outran him and disappeared.

Nibble and sip

To nibble is to take very small bites.
To sip is to take very small drinks.

The puppy nibbled on my fingers, but he didn't hurt me.
The guests nibbled on cheese and olives, and sipped wine.
When I first saw her, she was sipping tea in the corner of the café.
He didn't have much of an appetite, so he nibbled on her salad.

Squander

Squander is a verb which means to waste. We usually use it with money, opportunity or other resources, and the concept is to waste these things with a bad result. Here are some examples:
He quickly squandered all the money he had received from his father.
This meeting is important for us and we don't want to squander the chance to get this client.
If she hadn't squandered the opportunity she had to learn new skills, maybe she would have a better job today.
"This is a great opportunity for you... Don't squander it!"

Word of the day: Potluck

A potluck is when people get together and everyone brings a dish that they make themselves. People usually try to organize it so that there will be salads, appetizers, main dishes and desserts, instead of 20 plates of brownies. What's fun about it is getting to try different things, and also to talk about the recipes, and this is a popular way to serve food at a party. So, if I invited you to a potluck, what would you bring?

Peace of mind

We have peace of mind when we feel calm about something. Solving a problem can give you peace of mind, or coming to the end of a project or challenging situation. When we're worried about something, we don't have peace of mind. Our mind is constantly disturbed by the thing we're worried about, so peace of mind is the absence of mental stress or anxiety.
What do you do to restore your peace of mind? A lot of people like to go to he mountains, or the sea, in order to have some quiet time in nature. Other people like to clean! Personally, I find that taking care of some things that need to be done is a good way to have peace of mind; reading certain books, or seeing a friend can do the same. Sometimes it's enough just to do something fun for a while, to get a new perspective.
There is a nice post about having more peace of mind here.

Gregarious

My word for today is gregarious.

A gregarious person likes to be with people, and generally meets new people easily.

Are you gregarious?

Chockablock

Chockablock is an adjective which means extremely full; crowded; jammed; for example: a room chockablock with furniture and plants.
I don't really like things that are crowded or full, unless they are chockablock with something wonderful, like books, interesting people, etc.
Fortunately, I work in a company which is chockablock with cool colleagues!

Overrated and underrated

It's very popular to rate things: movies, books, hotels, restaurants, etc. To rate is to give an opinion on quality, to evaluate. A lot of websites allow users to post their ratings, and these are often represented with stars.
If something is overrated, it means that people give it an evaluation which is too high. If something is underrated, the evaluation is too low.
In my opinion, new restaurants are often overrated. People write and post reviews with a lot of stars simply because a place is new. On the other hand, some movies are definitely underrated: they receive bad or so-so reviews, and then people don't see them.
A concept or idea can also be overrated. Ideas come and go, and sometimes they're in fashion for a while, until people feel that they're overrated, or proven to be untrue or useless.
Have you noticed anything overrated or underrated lately?

Wink vs. blink

To wink is to close one eye.

To blink is to close both eyes quickly.

Wink is often used with the preposition at, for example: she winked at him across the bar. Blink doesn't usually need a preposition: they say that people blink more when they're not telling the truth.

Rough

Rough is an important adjective. It has different meanings which branch from its most physical meaning: rough is the opposite of smooth. In this photo, we see rough marble, marble that hasn't been polished and made smooth. The surface has a rough texture.

We can extend this meaning to describe situations or experiences. When they're not smooth or easy, it means we have some problems, and we can say that the day was rough, the meeting was rough, etc.

Rough can also describe a violent situation: The protest turned rough and three people were hurt. This means that people were physically violent. If a person is rough, it usually means that he or she can be violent.

Finally, we use rough to describe something which isn't exact. A rough estimate doesn't tell what the precise amount will be, but more or less. For example: can you give me a rough estimate on how much the repairs will cost?

The pronunciation of rough sounds like ruff.

To make the comparative and superlative forms of the adjective: rougher, roughest

The adverb is roughly and the noun form is roughness.

Why synonyms are important

When you have a good level of English and are able to communicate in different situations, you start to face a new challenge: increasing your vocabulary. One of the best way to do this is to learn synonyms for words you already know. A synonym is a different word that means the same thing. For example, you probably know the adjective fast. Quick and rapid are synonyms for fast. If you already know fast, why do you need to know other words that mean the same thing? For three reasons: 1. to be able to understand what you hear and read, 2. so you don't have to use the same words all the time, and 3. because it's fun. Maybe the first reason is the most important for you, but I would recommend thinking about the second and third as well. Learning synonyms is a great way to rapidly increase your English fluency. A good way to learn synonyms is to use a thesaurus. Here's one online thesaurus for you to try. If you keep a vocabulary file or notebook, making groups of synonyms can be a good way to learn and remember them. In the image here, we have a word cloud of synonyms for nice, which was created with Wordle.

Patient/impatient

I don't know about you, but I tend to be a little impatient. Impatient with myself, with having to wait in line, with any process that seems slow.

I would like to be more patient, and I think the path to this is connected with other feelings. For example, I'm patient with small children, with people I love, with an elderly man walking slowly. I'm patient when I feel compassion for another person, or when I know that something is difficult for him or her.

Probably the most difficult one to be patient with is one's self. Why do we have so little compassion for this person?

Patient and impatient are adjectives, and you can use them to describe a person generally, or in a moment. The noun forms are patience and impatience.

Sensitive vs. sensible

Sensitive and sensible are both adjectives, but they have very different meanings.
A sensitive person is susceptible to the attitudes, feelings, or circumstances of others. He or she may also be quick to take offense.
On the other hand, a sensible person is one who has, uses, or shows good common sense or sound judgment.
Here are some examples:
Sensitive:
"The ideal candidate for this position will be communicative and sensitive, able to accurately assess situations and react effectively."
"Don't be so sensitive! You shouldn't take everything so personally!"
Sensible:
"We liked her at the interview, but we wondered whether she was really sensible and mature enough for the job."
"Be sensible! If you quit your job now, will you be able to find abother one?"
It's very nice if a person is both sensitive and sensible, because he or she will often balance compassion and good judgment, making him or her a good friend, partner or colleague.

Day off

A day off is a day when you don't go to work or school. We usually use it with the verbs take or have.

We use have for planned or regular days off: We have Christmas Eve off/I have Mondays off. You could also say, Sunday and Monday are my days off, if these are your regular days of rest. People who work Monday through Friday generally only talk about days off which are unusual (not Saturday and Sunday).

We usually use take for days that we choose, outside of the normal timetable: I'm taking tomorrow off.

Some companies give their employees special days off, so people can make longer weekends from national holidays. Some companies also give people their birthdays off.

Please note: A day off is different from a day when you're ill. We call this a sick day, and you can see more vocabulary for this here.

Food and drink

There is a huge amount of vocabulary associated with food, drink, and restaurants, and if you travel a lot or are learning English in an English speaking country, you need a lot of words! Fortunately, these words can be fun to learn if you enjoy food and drink.

If you are beginning to learn vocabulary for food and drink, here are some sites where you can learn and practice: Vocabulary List, Food and Drink Video, and Ordering Food in a Restaurant.

Do you work in a restaurant or bar? If so, you might find this link for professionals helpful.

Finally, here are three of my favorite sites related to food and drink: Food and Wine, Saveur, and 101 Cookbooks. These are great if you like to cook, or just want to read about cooking and travel!