Category: English Vocabulary

My brother, Robert, is a meteorologist, so I’ve grown up talking about weather almost my entire life. Today my brother and I were talking about a huge snowstorm that is going to his his area in Tennessee tonight.  This inspired me to make a post about snowy weather words.

Snowstorm – The schools will be closed tomorrow because of the big snowstorm tonight.

Sleet – This is snow that melts in the sky and refreezes before it hits the ground into little ice pellets. 

Freezing Rain – This is snow that melts into water while it’s falling to the ground and then will freeze once it hits the ground because the ground is below the freezing point.  Last night we had freezing rain and now the roads are all slick. 

Hail – This is NOT winter weather. This is similar to sleet, but it happens in the summer from Thunderstorms.  We had golf ball sized hail and it dented the hood of my car.

Snow flurries – This is very light snow.  My children were disappointed that we only had snow flurries today and they couldn’t build a snowman.

Wind chill factor – This is when the wind makes it feel colder than it actually is.   Wow, it sure feels cold out here.  I’m sure it’s due to the wind chill factor.

Frost – ice crystals.  I woke up in the morning and there was frost all over the grass. 

Blizzard – a huge snowstorm with lots of wind. 

A blanket of snow – I woke up in the morning, looked out my window and I saw a huge blanket of snow. 

Someone asked me on my facebook account what the difference was between route, root and rout.  I thought I’d answer that question here.

Route – A route is a road or a highway. One day I’d like to travel on Route 66. Also, route could be a particular way one travels.  The mailman takes the same route every day.

Root – Root means to cheer someone on.  The cheerleaders rooted for the football players.
Root is also the bottom part of a plant that is under the ground.  The root of the plant soaks up the water.
Root beer is a type of soft drink that happens to be my favorite drink.  Even though ‘beer’ is in the word, it is not alcoholic.

Rout – Rout means a riot, huge defeat or a fight after a big defeat.

There are also a few other less used definitions for these words, but these are the most used, in my opinion.

Here are some expressions you can use or you may hear when ordering pizza at a restaurant.

“I’d like a slice of pizza.” – A slice means a single piece of pizza.

“Can I have extra cheese on my pizza?”

“I’d like a meat-lovers pizza.” – A meat-lovers pizza usually has all of the kinds of meat that the restaurant serves. Usually pepperoni, sausage, Canadian bacon and hamburger.

“Do you have any specials today?” – A special is a meal that is cheaper than normal. The pizza parlor I go to has a lunch special where you get 2 slices of pizza and a soft drink for $6.

“What toppings would you like on your pizza?” – This is what the waitress might ask you in order to find out what you’d like on top of your pizza.

“Thin crust, hand tossed or pan?” – Lots of restaurants have different types of crusts. Pan can sometimes be called thick crust.

Here’s a typical dialog. You will be the customer and say what you’d like to order:

Waitress: May I take your order?

Customer:

Waitress: What kind of crust would you like? We have thin or thick crusts.

Customer:

Waitress: And which toppings would you like?

Customer:

Waitress: Is there anything else you’d like? Something to drink?

Customer:

Waitress: Great, it will be about 10 minutes. I’ll bring your drink right over.

I’m so anxious for Autumn to come that I am writing a post about some Autumn vocabulary words you can use.

Fall – It’s another word for Autumn and is probably used more often than Autumn (at least where I live). It symbolizes the leaves falling from the trees.

harvest – This is when people gather their fruits and vegetables that they grew on their farm or in their garden. (Please note, our vegetable garden only made 2 pieces of corn. That was it. So sad.)

rake – This is a verb that means to gather leaves. This is usually done with a rake (a noun). This is a long gardening tool with metal or plastic strips that gather leaves.

cornucopia – This is a type of horn that is filled with fruits and vegetables. (see picture.)

crisp – This is a word used to describe very cool weather.

There are lots of other Autumn words – leave a comment if you can think of other good ones. Also, leave me a comment about anything else you’d like to say.

Have you ever been curious about different words for various make-up that women (or men) put on their faces? Here are a few of the main types of make-up.

base or foundation – This is the liquid make-up that is applied to the skin on your face.

cover up– This is similar to foundation, but it only hides a blemish.

blush – This is the reddish color that is put on your cheek bones.

lipstick – This is what you put on your lips.

lip gloss – This is like lip stick but is shinier and appears almost wet.

eyeliner – This is usually black or brown and it outlines the eye.

eyeshadow – This make-up is applied on the eyelids and above the eyes.

mascara – This is applied to the eyelashes to make them appear darker.

eyebrow pencil – This is used to fill in your eyebrows, if you want them to appear darker.

There are a gazillion ways to say thank you! Here are a few of my favorite ones.

Thanks a milllion!

Thanks a bunch!

You rock!

I appreciate what you’ve done for me.

You are the bomb. (or You are da bomb.)

Many thanks.

Much gratitude.

I’m in your debt.

I owe you one.

Which is your favorite way to say thanks?

There are probably times when you don’t hear and/or understand what someone just said to you. Especially on the phone when the reception isn’t good. Here are a variety of ways to ask some one to repeat what they just said.

I’m sorry, could you say that again?

Can you please repeat what you just said?

I didn’t hear you. Could you repeat it?

I don’t understand what you are saying. Can you rephrase it?

I apologize, I missed what you said. Could you say it again please?

I’m having trouble hearing you. Can you speak louder and repeat what you just said?

You’re speaking too fast for me. Can you slow down and say it again?

Pardon me? Excuse me? (You can use either of these before any of the above phrases or you can use either of these phrases alone.)

Come again? (This phrase is more familiar and slightly negative.)

Say what? (This is when you don’t really understand what someone said or you don’t believe what someone said. Teens use it a lot.)

What? (This is used a lot, but isn’t as polite as some of the other ways. It’s better to say this in person and you can add a smile to it. Then it isn’t as abrasive.)

Huh? (This is what most kids say. (Okay, and me too sometimes.))

I’m in one of those silly moods I often get into. So, I thought I’d write a post about different ways to say that something smells bad.

Wow, that stinks!

Piu (pronounced Pee-yew), you need to throw that trash out.

That smells gross.

That smells disgusting, please don’t cook it again.

What is that funk that I smell? (slang)

Oh, that is a foul odor.

There is a God-awful stench in here!