Vocabulary and grammar list

NO

LANGUAGE UNITS

NOTES

a quilt

a quilt is a type of bedding— a bed covering composed of a quilt top, a layer of batting, and a layer of fabric for backing, generally combined using the technique of quilting. Another technique for securing the quilt layers is tying. Tying refers to the technique of using thread, yarn or ribbon to pass through all three layers of the quilt at reqular intervals. This method is easier and more forgiving if the quilt is made by hand. Many quilts are made with ΄decorative designs; indeed, some quilts are not used as bed covering at all, but are rather made to be hung on a wall or otherwise displayed.

My mother and her friends have been part of a quilting bee.

American English informal an occasion when people, usually women, meet in order to do a particular type of work

Their stitches were messages from the giants written across the sky…

a short piece of thread that has been sewn into a piece of cloth, or the action of the thread going into and out of the cloth

great-aunt

Guess!

They eventually parted as friends and I eventually stopped thinking it was all my fault.

written to separate from someone, or end a relationship with them:

He has parted from his wife.

He hates being parted from the children.

I am working on my third…attempt at my master’s thesis.

a long piece of writing about a particular subject that you do as part of an advanced university degree such as an MA or a PhD:

He wrote his doctoral thesis on contemporary French literature.

Whenever I am about to finish, I switch topics. I can’t help it.

be about to do something if someone is about to do something, or if something is about to happen, they will do it or it will happen very soon: We were just about to leave when Jerry arrived. Work was about to start on a new factory building.

somebody can't help (doing) something used to say that someone is unable to change their behaviour or feelings, or to prevent themselves from doing something: She couldn't help it if she was being irrational.

'Stop biting your nails.' 'I can't help it.'

It’s not an unreasonable age to get married. Especially if you’ve found your possible soul mate.

someone you have a very close relationship with because you share or understand the same emotions and interests

-Arthur’s stuff is junk? -It’s piled up there.

to arrange things in a pile:

Ma stacked the cups and piled the plates.

Everyone defers to Anna, who is the master quilter.

to agree to accept someone's opinion or decision because you have respect for that person:

I will defer to your wishes.

The theme is “Where Love Resides”.

formal to live in a particular place:

He spent most of his time in Rutherglen, where his family resided.

Give it a rest, will you?

spoken especially British English used to tell someone to stop talking about something because they are annoying you:

Give it a rest, Jack!

Bicker, bicker, bicker, makes a gal age quicker.

BICKER to argue, especially about something very unimportant:

I wish you two would stop bickering.

They kept bickering over who should answer the phone.

GAL American English informal a girl or woman - used especially by older people:

She's a great gal.

tribal cultures

TRIBE a social group consisting of people of the same race who have the same beliefs, customs, language etc, and usually live in one particular area ruled by their leader: a tribe of Aborigines known as the Dolphin People

I spotted a fellow for Anna.

to notice someone or something, especially when they are difficult to see or recognize:

I spotted a police car behind us.

Meg spotted someone coming out of the building.

Sophia, you filth-monger, leave my grandniece alone.

rumour-monger/gloom-monger/doom-monger etc someone who says unpleasant things: The rumour-mongers have been busy again. the economic gloom-mongers

FILTH 1. very offensive language, stories, or pictures about sex:

I don't know how you can watch that filth! 2. dirt, especially a lot of it:

people living in filth

Passing cars covered his shoes with filth.

When they got married, they were very immature.

someone who is immature behaves or thinks in a way that is typical of someone much younger - used to show disapproval [≠ mature; = childish]:

He forgave his son's immature behaviour.

[Scoffs]

to laugh at a person or idea, and talk about them in a way that shows you think they are stupid [= make fun of]:

David scoffed at her fears.

Officials scoffed at the idea.

That’s what made the whole thing so stunning.

very surprising or shocking [= staggering]:

stunning news

Why is the marriage vow considered such a sacred thing?

MARRIAGE VOW a promise that you make during the marriage ceremony SACRED very important or greatly respected: Human life is sacred. Few things were sacred to Henry, but local history was one of them.

Why are you bringing this up right now?

to mention a subject or start to talk about it [= raise]:

Why did you have to bring up the subject of money?

When you’ve spent your life with someone… and they start to die… and you feel this terrible terrible …΄severing.

SEVER FML 1. To become cut or broken apart.

2. To become separated or divided from each other.

He severed relations with his family. beëindig يَقْطَع العُلاقات مَع، يُنْهي скъсвам (отношения) přerušit afbryde lösen κόβω, διακόπτω romper, cortar katkestama گسستن katkaista cesser, rompre לְנָתֵק खत्म कर देना raskinuti, prekinuti elvág mengakhiri, memutuskan hubungan skera á, slíta interrompere 断つ 단절하다 nutraukti pārtraukt; izbeigt memutuskan afbreken avskjære, bryte przerywać, odcinać cortar a rupe, a întrerupe разрывать prerušiť prekiniti prekinuti bryta med, avbryta แยก son vermek 斷絕 порвати الگ کرنا kết thúc 断绝

If I were a little high right now…

behaving in a strange and excited way as the result of taking drugs:

Most people there were high on cocaine.

Steve was as high as a kite (=strongly affected by drugs or alcohol).

[Crow caws]

Pronounce ;-)

Frankly the reason eludes me.

if a fact or the answer to a problem eludes you, you cannot remember or solve it [= escape]:

The exact terminology eludes me for the moment.

Just talking, just talking, my foot!

British English old-fashioned used to show that you do not believe something that someone has just said:

£50 my foot! It'll cost £200 at least.

I just did 30 laps doing the butterfly stroke. (swimming)

LAP American English a single journey from one end of a swimming pool to another:

Every morning she swims 50 laps in the pool.

STROKE a style of swimming or rowing

-What’s your name? -Finn. -Like on a fish?

FIN one of the thin body parts that a fish uses to swim

She had a stunning figure.

extremely attractive or beautiful:

You look absolutely stunning in that dress.

a stunning view

You swim like a mermaid, you know.

in stories, a woman who has a fish's tail instead of legs and who lives in the sea

It’s a hotsy-totsy night tonight.

a mid-20th century US term for a high-class hottie: That’s hotsy totsy man!

They want to send me to Colorado to check out a site of a dam.

a special wall built across a river or stream to stop the water from flowing, especially in order to make a lake or produce electricity

-I want to go to college. -We can only afford to send one of you.

to have enough money to buy or pay for something

We can't afford to go on vacation this year.

How can she afford to eat out every night?

It’s a pond. For you. I thought you could wade around in it…

to walk through water that is not deep

Well, screw the guests. Let them sleep on the couch.

screw you/him etc spoken not polite an offensive expression used to show that you are very angry with someone

We’re just going over blueprints.

TBCa photographic print of a plan for a building, machine etc on special blue paper:

a blueprint for the new shopping mall

You’re getting cold feet.

get/have cold feet informal to suddenly feel that you are not brave enough to do something you planned to do: The plan failed after sponsors got cold feet.

Hi, sleepyhead!

Guess!

Dean is not a conventional man. He’s an artist. He acts out.

always following the behaviour and attitudes that most people in a society consider to be normal, right, and socially acceptable, so that you seem slightly boring:

He is conventional in his approach to life.

You’re a beautiful woman. I don’t deserve you. I’m a pathetic excuse for a husband.

PATHETIC something or someone that is pathetic is so useless, unsuccessful, or weak that they annoy you: You're pathetic! Here, let me do it. Vic made a pathetic attempt to apologise.

EXCUSE a reason that you give to explain careless or offensive behaviour: What's your excuse for being late this time? I'm sure Mike has a good excuse for not coming.

I’ll paint old men. Fat, old, bald, warty men with all their clothes on.

WART a small hard raised part on someone's skin: warty skin

The female keeps the nest, while the male goes out and flaunts his feathers.

to show your money, success, beauty etc so that other people notice it - used to show disapproval:

The rich flaunted their wealth while the poor starved on the streets.

-Screw that. -Heck yeah.

informal used to show that you are annoyed or to emphasize what you are saying:

Oh heck! I've lost my keys!

'Do you believe him?' 'Heck, no.'

Oh, turn it up. I like that song.

Guess!

-I don’t mean to bother you. -No, I’m about to take a break.

Remember?

I don’t know what I’m gonna do about that yellow patch.

a small area of something that is different from the area around it:

We finally found a patch of grass to sit down on.

Belinda watched a patch of sunlight move slowly across the wall.

a cat with a white patch on its chest

He combs his hair over his bald patch.

I don’t care if it’s for the First Lady or a whore in the street. We will follow the rules of design.

informal

1tabooan offensive word for a woman who has many sexual partners. Do not use this word.

2a female prostitute

I don’t come here to have it rubbed in my face.

Guess!

I show up here… and I sew.

informalto arrive, especially at the place where someone is waiting for you [= turn up]:

Seth showed up, apologising for being late.

We had 200 people show up for our seminar.

I hate those condolence notes.

sympathy for someone who has had something bad happen to them, especially when someone has died:

a letter of condolence

send/offer your condolences (=formally express your sympathy when someone has died)

She was a wonderful dog… Wasn’t a yapper.

YAP if a small dog yaps, itbarks (=makes short loud sounds)in an excited way

Then the damn dog ate some snail bait in somebody’s yard…

food used to attract fish, animals, or birds so that you can catch them:

We used worms as bait.

The fish wouldn't take the bait.

I don’t want to give it to the Goodwill.

alsoGoodwill Industries

a charity organization in North America that helps people who have difficulty in getting jobs because they are disabled, cannot read or write, have been in prison etc. It gets money by collecting old clothes, furniture, and electrical equipment, which its members repair and sell in Goodwill shops: He looks as if he buys all his clothes from Goodwill.

She doesn’t take out her quilts for everybody. I had to twist her arm to bring them out.

informal to persuade someone to do something they do not want to do:

No one twisted my arm about coming to see you.

He ended up spending the night at his brother’s because he had taken all the plumbing apart.

the pipes that water flows through in a building:

We keep having problems with the plumbing.

I got it for a steal.

be a steal informal to be very cheap: an excellent seafood dish that is a steal at $8.25

Anna, would you serve the next course?

one of the separate parts of a meal:

three-course/five-course etc meal

The ticket includes entry and a four-course meal.

first/second/main etc course

We had fish for the main course.

We’ll have him cleaning the stables. (Gr)

a place where horses are kept and that often gives riding lessons

Touché.

used to emphasize in a humorous way that someone has made a very good point during an argument

[Loon calling]

a large North American bird that eats fish and that makes a long high sound

herdsman

a man who looks after a herd of animals

the lining (of a jacket)

a piece of material that covers the inside of something, especially a piece of clothing [↪ lined]: a jacket with a silk lining

*every cloud has a silver lining

[Rooster crows]

Guess!

It was arranged for me to stay with the Rubens family where I would do housework and mending…

MEND to repair a tear or hole in a piece of clothing:

My father used to mend our shoes.

I haven’t, as yet, found an outlet for my artistic expression.

a way of expressing or getting rid of strong feelings:

Is football a good outlet for men's aggression?

an outlet for creativityBB

Can you believe that? What a dimwit!

spoken a stupid person

I swear this world is filled with ignorami.

Pl from IGNORAMUS

Your sewing is crooked. Do it again.

bent, twisted, or not in a straight line [≠ straight]:

His lips curled into a crooked smile.

Your tie's crooked.

narrow crooked streets

It wasn’t the love of a husband I was meant to find.

Guess!

I never liked full moons. They give people an excuse to do foolish things.

Remember?

I refuse to be tied down to anyone.

tie somebody down to restrict someone's freedom to do what they want to do: She didn't want to be tied down by a full-time job. Are you ready to be tied down to a wife and children?

“Young lovers seek perfection

Old lovers learn the art of sewing shreds together

And of seeing beauty in a multiplicity of patches”

Discuss.

SHRED small thin piece that is torn or cut roughly from something: a shred of paper The clothes were ripped to shreds and covered in blood.

We took a long walk and pretty soon we were making out in the moonlight.

informal especially American English to kiss and touch someone in a sexual way

Look, I got goose bumps.

goose pimples also goose bumps especially American English also goose flesh:

small raised spots on your skin that you get when you are cold or frightened

You said that lifetime commitments were impossible to keep.

a promise to do something or to behave in a particular way:

Are you ready to make a long-term commitment?

Our company has a commitment to quality and customer service.

You said that serial monogamy was the only way to go.

spoken American English used to tell someone that they have done something very well or achieved something special

Maybe I’ve been a flake and you want to tie me up and do a slide show of my crimes.

American English informal someone who seems strange or who often forgets things

I’ve been fooling around on him.

Guess!

They were wrinkled, so I ironed them. I singed one of the pages.

wrinkled skin or cloth that is wrinkled has small lines or folds in it:

her wrinkled old face

singe1 to burn the surface of something slightly, or to be burned slightly:

The flames had singed her hair.

Our marriage has as good a chance of being wonderful as it does of missing the mark.

hit/miss the mark to succeed or fail to have the effect you wanted: Although it contains a certain amount of truth, this theory ultimately misses the mark.

The right choices will enhance your quilt.

to improve something:

Good lighting will enhance any room.

The publicity has enhanced his reputation.