Thingamabob (Thing-a-ma-Bob)

Thingamabob (Thing-a-ma-Bob)

Thingamabob is used to refer to or address a person or thing whose name one has forgotten, does not know, or does not wish to mention.

NOTE: Business English etc.
can be found below the translation exercises.

Translate the Text: Übersetzen:

Susann, Faten, Rico, Heike, Simone and Frank.

Ja, meine Arbeit ist stressig.

Ist deine Mutter Schauspielerin?

Meine Arbeit ist interessant.

Ist er Kellner?

Sie ist Professorin und er ist Professor.

Mein Bruder ist Professor und meine Schwester ist Professorin.

Sie ist Kellnerin.

Ist deine Mutter Kellnerin?

Housing:

Living in a WG. A WG, or Wohngemeinschaft, is a shared apartment. In Germany, many young people and students live in a WG because it’s more affordable!

A word so fine as ein

Remember, the Masculine ein (and only that one!) changes to einen when it receives the action of the verb. The same goes for der words!

Ich habe ein Regal, eine Mikrowelle, und einen Kühlschrank.

I have a shelf, a microwave, and a refrigerator.

Ich brauche das Sofa, die Vase, den Stuhl, und die Pflanzen.

I need the sofa, the vase, the chair, and the plants.

Unser, unsere

In English, we say our brother and our sister. In German, it’s

unser Bruder and unsere Schwester. Just like with mein, dein, and ein!

Unsere Mutter ist Ärztin.

Our mother is a doctor.

Unser Opa ist alt.

Our grandpa is old.

Ready for some sweets?

Pay attention to how the letter z is pronounced!

Zeug, Zug (as in “sweets”) Holz, Platz (as in “sweets”)

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Zurzeit.

Habt ihr einen Garten, Paul und Lisa?

Wo ist die Treppe?

Wohnst du zurzeit allein?

Max und Mia, warum habt ihr keinen Garten?

Ich wohne im Mehrfamilienhaus. (WG.)

Ich wohne in einer WG, ich habe viele Mitbewohner.

Es gibt keinen Aufzug, aber es gibt eine Treppe.

Ich wohne nicht allein, ich habe einen Fisch.

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Business English Word of the Week:

Geschäftsenglisch Wort der Woche:

“To bite off more than you can chew.“

If you put too much food in your mouth at once, it’s difficult to eat. Likewise, if you accept too much work or a project that is too big or difficult, you might not be able to complete it. This is called biting off more than you can chew.

Sample Sentence:

“Designing a new website all by myself is a real challenge. I might have bitten off more than I can chew.”

 

Law English Word of the Week:

Gesetz Englisches Wort der Woche:

“Parole“

The early release of someone from prison/ jail, often for good behaviour, before the end of their prison sentence.

Sample Sentence:

“The man was granted parole two years before his actual prison sentence would have ended.”

Vocabulary for Contracts:

Wortschatz für Verträge:

appendix

noun. extra material or additional content at the end of a book, contract, report etc.

Sample Sentence:

“The tables and graphs in Appendix A are based on the latest data.“

 

Vocabulary for Negotiations:

Wortschatz für Verhandlungen:

 Sample Sentence:

“Do you mind if I take a couple of days to consider your offer?”

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The words are: “We go the extra mile because we missed the last exit.”

 

Word of the day: Wort des Tages:

Decades means = 10 years. Jahrzehnte

Sample Sentence:

When speaking to an old school friend, “Wow mate, I have not seen you in decades! You look so different!“

 

Phrase of the day: Satz des Tages:

BOGOF means By One Get One Free.

Sample Sentence:

“The best ever BOGOF I have ever seen was to buy an American car and to get a second car, the same type of car, for free.”

 

Idiom of the day: Redewendung des Tages:

“To cut somebody some slack”, the common meaning is “Don’t be so critical“.

Sample Sentence:

“Heh Boss, cut the kid some slack, he doesn’t know the ropes yet!”

 

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

Britisches Englisch / Amerikanisches Englisch Wortschatz:

(B.E.) Turn-ups (at the bottom of your trousers)

(A.E.) Cuffs (at the bottom of your pants). Interestingly enough the word cuffs in

The word cuffs in British English means the end of the sleeves of a shirt.

 

Special Grammar tip of the week:

Spezieller Grammatik-Tipp der Woche:

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 around so I’m cleaning my flat.

• Would you like tea or coffee?

 

Pronunciation tip: Aussprachetipp:

Vase (B.E.)= Varr s.  (A.E.) Vase V-ay-s (short pronunciation).

 

False Friends Tip of the Week:

Falsche Freunde Tipp der Woche:

German   Translation          False Friend (F.F.)   Meaning of F.F.

Art            way, sort, kind            art                          Kunst

 

Slang word of the day:

Slangwort des Tages:

Gutted (adj)

Extremely disappointed or upset.

Sample Sentence:

“I was really gutted when Donna broke up with me. She was the biggest girl I’d ever met.”

Wit, wit, wit – Drink and Other Drugs:

Witz, Witz, Witz – Trinken und andere Drogen:

“Red sky in the morning – red wine the previous evening.” Quote by Don Rickles.

 

Colloquial / Colloquialisms:

Umgangssprache / Umgangssprache:

 ‘Two-Spitch‘ means = two spades/shovels depth in the earth in a plot of land to grow vegetables. Going two spades depth down means that the vegetables can push down deeper and therefore grow bigger and rounder.

 

Cockney rhyming slang: Cockney Reimender Slang:

Boracic (freq. contracted to brassic) = boracic lint = skint (i.e. penniless).

Sample Sentence:

“Cor Blimey! After paying out for all that lot I was Boracic I did not have a penny left to spend!”

 

Quote of the week: Zitat der Woche:

“Your victory begins the day you stop being impressed by the size of the problem.” Bill Johnson.

 

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