DISCOMBOBULATED (confused, disconcerted)

Business English word of the Week Geschäftsenglisch

To be on the ball

This phrase comes from the sports field. When you are on the ball, you have to be alert and sure not to make any mistakes. It means the same at work.

Sample Sentence:

Eg: „Samantha’s great – she’s really on the ball and hardly ever makes any mistakes.“

Law English word of the Week Recht Englisch

Illegal

Against the law.

Sample Sentence:

„It is illegal to drive through a red light.“

Vocabulary for Contracts Verträge

Default

Failure to make payments on a loan or mortgage. Often used in the past tense.

Sample Sentence:

„He lost his job and defaulted on his mortgage payments. He may lose his house.“

Vocabulary for Negotiations Verhandlungen

Useful phrases for Negotiations:

There’s just one more little problem with ….. that I’d like to bring up before the meeting is finished

Word of the day:

DISCOMBOBULATED /ˌdɪskəmˈbɒbjʊleɪtɪd / adjective humorous adjective: discombobulated meaning confused and disconcerted.

Sample Sentence:

„I think today, she is looking a little pained and discombobulated.„

Phrase of the day:

**“He has lost the plot”** means „Er hat die Handlungsmittel verloren.“ Definition of losing the plot

British, informal. : To become confused or crazy.

Sample Sentence:

“He was so nervous that he thought he was going to lose the plot.”

“The tyrant was so obsessed with ruling the world that he lost the plot and thought that he could do anything and get away with it.”

Idiom of the day:

“In for a penny, in for a pound” meaning is used to express someone’s intention to see an undertaking through, however much time, effort, or money this entails.

Sample Sentence:

„Oh hell, I thought, in for a penny, in for a pound, and scrubbed the place from top to bottom.„

British (B.E.) / American (A.E.) Vocabulary:

Tap British English / faucet American English (200 years ago the English used the word ‚faucet‘). Wasserhahn.

Special Grammar tip of the week:

Connect your ideas with conjunctions

If you want to connect two ideas or short phrases, you can do so by using a conjunction. For example,

I’m studying English. English is important.

becomes:

I’m studying English because it’s important.

The most common conjunctions are:

and – addition

because – to give the reason

but – to express contrast

so – to describe a consequence

or – to describe an alternative

Here are some examples:

He likes football and he plays in a team.
We’re going out because we’re bored.
She wants to study more but she doesn’t have time.
Kim is coming round so I’m cleaning my flat.
Would you like tea or coffee?

Pronunciation tip:

**“Receipt”** – ‚Quittung‚ PRONUNCIATION do not pronounce the letter ‘P’ in the word “Receipt”. Like saying “re-seat”.

False Friends Tip of the Week:

False Friend held (meaning Hero in German), but the past tense of to hold something in English.

Slang word of the day:

Snog (noun) To snog (verb)

So ‚to snog‘ is to give someone a kiss. Specifically, the kind of kiss that is not very romantic.

Sample Sentence:

“Did you hear that Mark snogged Heike at the Christmas party?”

Cheers (exclamation)

So you might know the word ‘cheers’ as the word you use to toast your drink in English (‚Prost‘). But, as the British like to be different, we also use it for something else. We use ‚cheers‘ to mean ‚thank you‘ and often use pretty it sarcastically.

‚Cheers‘ can also be used to say ‚goodbye‘.

Sample Sentence:

“Do you want to help me clean the car?” “Nah I’m good, cheers.”

„Cheers„, see you later.

„Raise our glasses to the happy couple, cheers!„

Colloquial / Colloquialisms:

Proper (adj)

Proper is a difficult word to define, mainly because British people use it to describe soo many different things. Doing things ‘properly’ means to do them correctly or in the right way. In the North of England, ‘proper’ can also be used for emphasis in the same way as the word ‘very‘.

Sample Sentence:

“A proper cup of tea needs milk and one sugar. For me, that’s a proper good cup of tea.”

Cockney rhyming slang:

Baker’s Dozen = cousin (male or female).

Quote of the week:

“Bread is like the Sun; it rises in the yeast and sets in the waist”.

Delivering professional Business English teaching in Dresden, Chemnitz, Freiberg, and all over the state of Sachsen for over 20 years!

Fortgeschrittene, Anfänger, Geschäftsenglisch, Firmenkurse, Gruppenunterricht, Inhouse Englisch, Sprachschule Englisch, Telefonkonferenz Englisch; in Dresden, Chemnitz, Freiberg, Meißen, und überall in Sachsen.

Business English word of the Week Geschäftsenglisch

To be on the ball

This phrase comes from the sports field. When you are on the ball, you have to be alert and sure not to make any mistakes. It means the same at work.

Sample Sentence:

Eg: „Samantha’s great – she’s really on the ball and hardly ever makes any mistakes.“

Law English word of the Week Recht Englisch

Illegal

Against the law.

Sample Sentence:

„It is illegal to drive through a red light.“

Vocabulary for Contracts Verträge

Default

Failure to make payments on a loan or mortgage. Often used in the past tense.

Sample Sentence:

„He lost his job and defaulted on his mortgage payments. He may lose his house.“

Vocabulary for Negotiations Verhandlungen

Useful phrases for Negotiations:

There’s just one more little problem with ….. that I’d like to bring up before the meeting is finished

Word of the day:

DISCOMBOBULATED /ˌdɪskəmˈbɒbjʊleɪtɪd / adjective humorous adjective: discombobulated meaning confused and disconcerted.

Sample Sentence:

„I think today, she is looking a little pained and discombobulated.„

Phrase of the day:

“He has lost the plot” means „Er hat die Handlungsmittel verloren.“ Definition of losing the plot

British, informal. : To become confused or crazy.

Sample Sentence:

“He was so nervous that he thought he was going to lose the plot.”

“The tyrant was so obsessed with ruling the world that he lost the plot and thought that he could do anything and get away with it.”

Idiom of the day:

“In for a penny, in for a pound” meaning is used to express someone’s intention to see an undertaking through, however much time, effort, or money this entails.

Sample Sentence:

„Oh hell, I thought, in for a penny, in for a pound, and scrubbed the place from top to bottom.„

British (B.E.) / American (A.E.) Vocabulary:

Tap British English / faucet American English (200 years ago the English used the word ‚faucet‘). Wasserhahn.

Special Grammar tip of the week:

Connect your ideas with conjunctions

If you want to connect two ideas or short phrases, you can do so by using a conjunction. For example,

I’m studying English. English is important.

becomes:

I’m studying English because it’s important.

The most common conjunctions are:

and – addition

because – to give the reason

but – to express contrast

so – to describe a consequence

or – to describe an alternative

Here are some examples:

He likes football and he plays in a team.

We’re going out because we’re bored.

She wants to study more but she doesn’t have time.

Kim is coming round so I’m cleaning my flat.

Would you like tea or coffee?

Pronunciation tip:

“Receipt” – ‚Quittung‚ PRONUNCIATION do not pronounce the letter ‘P’ in the word “Receipt”. Like saying “re-seat”.

False Friends Tip of the Week:

False Friend held (meaning Hero in German), but the past tense of to hold something in English.

Slang word of the day:

Snog (noun) To snog (verb)

So ‚to snog‘ is to give someone a kiss. Specifically, the kind of kiss that is not very romantic.

Sample Sentence:

“Did you hear that Mark snogged Heike at the Christmas party?”

Cheers (exclamation)

So you might know the word ‘cheers’ as the word you use to toast your drink in English (‚Prost‘). But, as the British like to be different, we also use it for something else. We use ‚cheers‘ to mean ‚thank you‘ and often use pretty it sarcastically.

‚Cheers‘ can also be used to say ‚goodbye‘.

Sample Sentence:

“Do you want to help me clean the car?” “Nah I’m good, cheers.”

„Cheers„, see you later.

„Raise our glasses to the happy couple, cheers!„

Colloquial / Colloquialisms:

Proper (adj)

Proper is a difficult word to define, mainly because British people use it to describe soo many different things. Doing things ‘properly’ means to do them correctly or in the right way. In the North of England, ‘proper’ can also be used for emphasis in the same way as the word ‘very‘.

Sample Sentence:

“A proper cup of tea needs milk and one sugar. For me, that’s a proper good cup of tea.”

Cockney rhyming slang:

Baker’s Dozen = cousin (male or female).

Quote of the week:

“Bread is like the Sun; it rises in the yeast and sets in the waist”.

Delivering professional Business English teaching in Dresden, Chemnitz, Freiberg, and all over the state of Sachsen for over 20 years!

Fortgeschrittene, Anfänger, Geschäftsenglisch, Firmenkurse, Gruppenunterricht, Inhouse Englisch, Sprachschule Englisch, Telefonkonferenz Englisch; in Dresden, Chemnitz, Freiberg, Meißen, und überall in Sachsen.

**“He has lost the plot”** means „Er hat die Handlungsmittel verloren.“ Definition of losing the plot

**“Receipt”** – ‚Quittung‚ PRONUNCIATION do not pronounce the letter ‘P’ in the word “Receipt”. Like saying “re-seat”.