Spotlight - 01.2020

LANGUAGE CARDS

New words Spotlight — 07 — 2016

False friends 1/2020 Spotlight

New words

Pronunciation

1/2020 Spotlight

Grammar 1/2020 Spotlight

Idiom magic

(In)Formal English

1/2020 Spotlight

Translation 1/2020 Spotlight 1/2020 Spotlight

1/2020 Spotlight

Global English 1/2020 Spotlight

British speaker:
“May I introduce you to my fiancé / fiancée?”

Indians say “would-be” to mean “husband-to-be” or “wife-
to-be” — a partner to whom you are engaged to be married.
In British and American English, this is called a “fiancé”
(man) or a “fiancée” (woman), pronounced [fi(QnseI] in
Britain and [)fi:A:n(seI] in North America.

1. Get on with it! / Hurry up!


2. I can’t be bothered.

In the phrases on the front of this card, an informal word

for buttocks (Gesäß) is used. The first expression means:

“Stop being lazy!”; the second is a British expression mean-

ing: “I don’t want to make the effort to do something.”

People who are said to be too big for their boots think
they are more important than they really are. They have
too high an opinion of themselves.

1. In the next few days...


2. In the last / past few weeks...

In English, a quantifier (Zahlwort) is added after the ad-
verbs “next” and “last” / “past”, which is unnecessary in
German. When you translate phrases like this into Eng-
lish, remember to add the word “few” or a specific number.

1. Simply click on the button.


2. Die Knöpfe an diesem Hemd sind zu klein.


3. I’ve made badges for our club.

In both languages, the word “button” refers to a graphic

element on your computer screen that can be selected to

perform a particular function. However, “buttons” in Eng-

lish are Knöpfe, whereas a Button in German is a badge with

a logo or slogan on it that you can pin to your clothing.

When you wish to say in English how long you’ve been
doing something, you can use either “for” or “since”:

• Use “for” with a period of time, such as “10 years” or “half
  an hour”.


• Use “since” with a specific point in time, such as “2009”
  or “half past two”.

A vlog is a video blog — a videoed diary of thoughts

and experiences on a certain topic that is posted on the

internet. The word is a combination of “video” and

“blog”, and the person who makes such videos is called a

“vlogger”.

[(plʌndə] [(rʌksæk] [wO:ls]

These English words are all of Germanic origin, but they

are pronounced differently from their German counter-

parts (Gegenstück). In American English, however, “waltz”

is pronounced [wO:lts].