If it’s not broken, don’t try and fix it!

If it’s not broken, don’t try and fix it!

This picture is a joke. It is a play on words. In English, we have a little spelling rhyme that helps you to spell certain words. The rhyme is “It’s “i” before “e“, except after “c“. E.g. Sieve, believe – receive and perceive. Look at the top line of the pictures cut into the stone. There is a picture of a FLEA, then an EYE, then the waves of the SEA.

NOTE: Business English etc.

can be found below the translation exercises.

Translate the Text: Übersetzen:

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

Ich will nur lesen, aber ich muss arbeiten.

Wann machen wir eine Pause?

Trinkst du immer Tee in deiner Pause?

Ich gehe in meiner Pause joggen.

Ich gehe joggen in meiner Pause.

Willst du in deiner Pause ein Buch lesen?

Es ist endlich Wochenende!

Wir haben bald Feierabend.

Paul hat keinen Führerschein, ich muss ihn abholen.

Ich kann nicht, ich muss meine Kinder abholen.

Ich kann nicht in die Bar gehe, bis Morgen, tschüss!

OK, lass uns Wein trinken gehen!

Wir gehen bald ins Restaurant.

Unser Feierabend ist um fünf Uhr.

Ja, meine Partnerin und ich gehen gern ins Theater.

Nein, lass uns jetzt nicht in die Bar gehen.

Es ist jetzt Feierabend, möchtest du ins Theater gehen?

Der Hut ist groß.

Er ist groß.

Dieser Badeanzug!

Welchen Badeanzug kaufst du?

Ich kaufe diesen Badeanzug.

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I did the same thing and I brought some 18 year old Whisky!

 

Business English Word of the Week:

Geschäftsenglisch Wort der Woche:

The following abbreviations are usually used only in written communications. You wouldn’t normally use them in spoken communications.

dept.

This is the short form for ‘department‘.

Sample Sentence:

“Ensure every dept. gets a copy of this.”

 

Law English word of the Week:

Gesetz Englisches Wort der Woche:

a lawyer (attorney, counsel, counsellor, a prosecutor)

a paralegal

a judge

Sample Sentence:

“You are in the legal profession, so, are you a lawyer, a prosecutor, a paralegal, a solicitor or are you a judge?“

“Do you work with a lot of contracts at your office? Maybe you’re planning to purchase or rent property abroad?”

“It’s hard to escape legalese (legal language) in business and in life.”

 

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Word of the day: Wort des Tages:

‘Shipshape’

Sample Sentence:

“They checked that everything was shipshape.“

 

Phrase of the day: Satz des Tages:

“Spick and Span” = German “Tipptopp”

Sample Sentence:

“We need to make everything in this facility Spick and Span before the Colonel comes for the inspection.“

 

Idiom of the day: Redewendung des Tages:

“Throwing the baby out with the bathwater”

means “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater” is an idiomatic expression for an avoidable error in which something good is eliminated when trying to get rid of something bad, or in other words, rejecting the favourable along with the unfavourable. You lose the good parts of something as well as the bad parts, because you reject it as a whole instead of just removing what is bad.

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

Britisches Englisch / Amerikanisches Englisch Wortschatz:

British English (B.E.) = Cul-de-sac (this is French, we also use dead end)

American English (A.E.) = Dead end.

Special Grammar tip of the week:

Spezieller Grammatik-Tipp der Woche:

SOME & ANY – SOMETHING & ANYTHING

Some: is used in a POSITIVE sentence.

Some: is used in an OFFER sentence, as well as asking a favour sentence. It looks like a question (which it is), BUT we do not use ANY / ANYTHING! “Would you like some coffee, some cake?” Can I have some more coffee – cake? “Can you lend me some money?“

Something is used in a POSITIVE sentence.

Something is used in an OFFER sentence.

Any is used in a NEGATIVE sentence.

Anything is used in a NEGATIVE sentence.

Anything is used in a QUESTION sentence.

 

Pronunciation tip: Aussprachetipp:

“Cooks cook cupcakes quickly.“

Try and say this sentence ten times quickly without a mistake.

Versuchen Sie, diesen Satz zehnmal schnell und fehlerfrei zu sagen.

False Friends Tip of the Week:

Falsche Freunde Tipp der Woche:

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

City          centre/center            city                      Großstadt

NOTE: ‘Center‘ is the American spelling and is therefore incorrect!

In British English a city can be a city because of two factors 1.) How many people live there? 2.) If the city has a Cathedral.

 

Wit, wit, wit – Drink and other Drugs

Witz, Witz, Witz – Trinken und andere Drogen

“When my time comes, I want to die in bed, listening to music and sampling a warming well-rounded twenty-five-year-old. I mean whisky of course.”

Quote by Tom Brown.

 

Slang word of the day: Slangwort des Tages:

“Bonkers“

Not necessarily always intended in a bad way, “bonkers” means “mad” or “crazy.” I love the more colourful British phrase of saying that someone “Is as nutty as a fruitcake.”

Sample Sentence:

“I don’t know what you think, but I think Putin is Bonkers!!!!!“

 

Colloquial / Colloquialisms:

Umgangssprache / Umgangssprache:

“Bevvy”

This is short for the word “beverages,” usually alcoholic, most often beer.

Sample Sentence:

“After work today, we’ll go down to the pub and have a few bevvies before we go home.”

 

Cockney rhyming slang: Cockney Reimender Slang:

‘Bricks and Mortar‘ = ‘daughter‘.

Quote of the week: Zitat der Woche:

“I like children. If they’re properly cooked.” W. C. Fields.

 

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