Close Up
Try not to step on anyone’s toes
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Most people don’t like to be bothered or to disturb other people, but sometimes we do it anyway. In this episode, we look at expressions describing when someone is disturbed by another person. It could be something said or done that upsets this person, and it could be intentional or unintentional. We don’t want to ruffle any feathers with this episode, but these are good expressions to know.
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| Maura: | If you imagine an animal that is in a cage, so they have bars around them, they’re trapped inside. If you come around and start shaking the cage and banging on it, that bothers the animal inside. They don’t like the noise and they don’t like to feel disturbed. |
| Harp: | Exactly. If you think about a little bunny or a hamster in the cage and you shake the cage, you’re gonna bother the animal. |
| Maura: | Right. It makes noise and it moves around. It’s the same idea, except this time you’re bothering a person. So, in other words, you’re rattling someone’s cage. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| To rattle someone’s cage | To snap |
| To be up to someone | To start from square one |
| Constructive criticism | To be off base |
| To ruffle someone’s feathers | To step on someone’s toes |
| To get over something | Touchy |
| To stand out |
Podcast/Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Image: Smart Sayings for Today
Multiculturalism in Canada—Culips English Podcast
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Here’s another episode suggested by a Culips listener. Compared to other countries, Canada is pretty new and very multicultural. Harp and Maura talk about how multiculturalism works in Canada and share their own family backgrounds. Where is Maura’s family from? Where did Harp’s family live when they first moved to Canada? Learn more about Canada’s diverse population in this episode.
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| Maura: | So first we’re gonna talk about ourselves, because Harp and I are both Canadian, but like most Canadians, we have a family background. And many Canadians have different stories.
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| Harp: | Yup. Maura, what’s your family background? Tell us your story. |
| Maura: | Right. You can’t just make pudding and then one minute later, start eating it, because it’s not ready. You have to make the pudding, let it set, and then the real way to tell if it’s good or not is not by looking at it, it’s by eating it. |
| Harp: | Yeah. So the proof is in the pudding means that you have to wait for the end result before you can judge something. |
Expressions from this episode included in the Learning Materials:
| Who doesn’t like nice comments? | To have a frog in your throat |
| Off and on | A background |
| Canadian standards | The middle of nowhere |
| First-generation Canadian | A sensitive topic |
| To read up on something | A visible minority |
| Natives/Aboriginals | To have ups and downs |
Podcast/ Learning Materials: Culips English Podcast, Photo: stu_spivack
Countdown to 2010!!!
Hello Culips Listeners,
We hope that you have had a wonderful year, we sure have! We wanted to thank you for all your ongoing support. We really appreciate all the positive comments, here or through emails. Our membership is growing daily and has more than doubled in the last year; we hope that 2010 will be another great year for you and Culips.
At Culips, we will be taking a short break to rest and relax during the holidays. In this break we will be featuring a countdown of our Top 4 most popular episodes. Also during this short break we will be preparing to gear up for some exciting new changes, including a new website design and a forum for you to discuss your English questions.
For the month of December we will be counting down to 2010 by posting our most popular podcasts EVER! If you have already heard these episodes, please browse through the pages of podcasts as there are many great episodes on the page that you may have missed.
Happy Holidays to everyone! Our next brand new episode will be uploaded on Jan 2, 2010, which will be perfect for any New Years resolutions to improve your English.
Sincerely,
The Culips Team
Culture: Love At First Sight
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Happy Valentine’s Day! In this episode we are talking about the phenomenon of falling in love at first sight. Actually Robin and Harp are continuing their conversation from last episode and Maura explains some of the expressions they use. You’ll also learn about Cupid! Do you know Cupid? |
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Robin : But how long does it take to fall in love with somebody?
Harp : I don’t think there is a time I would put on it but more than just one meeting. The first meeting would get me interested in someone
Robin : And then the second one you would fall in love. Alright!
Harp : I don’t think there is a time I would put on it but more than just one meeting. The first meeting would get me interested in someone
Robin : And then the second one you would fall in love. Alright!
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Maura : “Fall in love” Does everyone know this expression? When you meet someone and you start to love them, this is called falling in love. Maybe we say “fall” because you have no control over it. When you feel love, you can’t control it either.
Podcast/ Lipservice: Culips ESL Podcast, Photo: Blue Stone Graphics
Culture: Happy Valentine’s Day
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It’s one week until Valentine’s Day and to get you in the mood for love we are uploading our episode a week early! Maura talks a bit about the history of Valentine’s Day to start and then we listen to a REAL conversation between Robin and Harp about Valentine’s Day. What do Robin and Harp think about Valentine’s Day? (Their conversation will finish in next week’s conclusion episode, called “Love at First Sight”.) |
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