Mar. 29 Supplemental Mini Boot Camp! (Mr. Brown Café)

[Kat C]

Dear all,

With Iris's kind support (thanks, Iris! ), I'm doing a supplemental session for those who crave just a little bit more Yoyo time.

“Boot camp” is often used for “tough training” of some sort, but our mini one is not grueling – you just need to be really motived and open to new activities. “Mini” because, let's face it: English, like Rome, wasn't built in a day.

So come on Mar. 29 (this SUNDAY!!!) at 12:30, and it'll be for 2 hours. Check below in Iris's posting for the venue (Mr. Brown Café). I was hoping to do it on a Saturday after our regular meeting, but mine are all taken by family obligations.

To join:

Familiarize yourself with the following idioms (I first posted them in the "2 Strategies for Speaking Better English" thread). Make sure you know how to use each and every one of them before coming in. At the boot camp we'll double check if you can use them correctly - and in everyday conversations. Please don't use (or bring) any English to Chinese dictionary. If your English dictionary doesn't give you an example with an idiom, "Google News" it (put "my" or "his" in place of "one's"). The more examples, the more well-rounded your understanding. Have fun!

CRUNCH TIME

GET OUT OF HAND

GET ONE'S HEAD AROUND IT

DIG IN ONE'S HEELS / STICK TO ONE'S GUNS

GET IT OUT OF ONE'S SYSTEM

STEP UP ONE'S GAME

PULL ONESELF TOGETHER

CUT SOMEBODY SOME SLACK

HANG IN THERE

BLOW ONE AWAY

COULDN’T CARE LESS

FEEL UNDER THE WEATHER

A NO-BRAINER

FREAK OUT

A NON-STARTER

MISS THE BOAT

GIVE SOMEONE A HARD TIME

GET ON SOMEONE'S NERVES

GET IN OVER ONE'S HEAD

RING A BELL

FAIR ENOUGH

KEEP SOMEONE IN THE LOOP

IT CAN'T HURT.

WHAT GIVES?

YOU NEVER KNOW.

YOU KNOW BETTER THAN THAT.

HEAD START

A WEIGHT OFF ONE'S SHOULDER

GUT FEELING

PAIN IN THE NECK

ONE'S HANDS ARE TIED


Hope to see you then!

Kat

[Tina Sun]

Thank you, Kat and Iris. YOYOs are so blessed. Hahahaha....

[Iris Wu]

We really need to thank Kat for her time and efforts with us. We know it is impossible to speak English perfectly in a few sessions, but we want to know issues, learn and practice different methods, so we can continue our self improvement either as a group or individually.

Please make a note, 3/29 (Sunday) Boot Camp will take place at following location:
科大店 - Mr. Brown Café 伯朗咖啡館
地址. 台北市大安區忠孝東路三段52號1樓
捷運：忠孝新生站3號出口
http://www.mrbrown.com.tw/stores/Inquir ... ID=1&ID=18
Time: 12:30pm - 3:30pm (Venue reserved), 3/29, Sunday

(Our regular venue, Dante Cafe, was taken. Thank Tina for referring Mr. Brown Cafe.)

For those who would like to attend the boot camp, would you please send me a message or sign up in this posting? Thanks!

[Tina Sun]

I really love to go but I need a whole weekend to relax and get some rest from my exhausted bike trip.
I will wait for you or Kat's notes after the boot camp.

[Kooper]

Crunch time / the crunch: the time when sth important or difficult happens or must be decided (or when a difficult decision has to be made) / a difficult situation which forces you to make a decision or do sth
- When it comes to the crunch / if it comes to the crunch:
Ex: If it comes to the crunch, can I reply on you to support me?
Ex: If it comes to the crunch and you and your husband do split up, you can always stay with us.
Ex: The crunch came when she was forced to choose between her marriage and her career.

get out of hand: if a situation or person gets out of hand, they become impossible to control any longer
Ex: we decide to leave before things got out of hand
Ex: The demonstration was getting out of hand.

Get your head around sth: to understand and accept sth that seems strange / to be able to understand sth
Ex: Have you got your head around your new job yet?
Ex: I just can’t get my head around what’s been going on here.

Dig in one’s heels / dig one’s heels in: to refuse to do sth even though other people are trying to persuade you
Ex: The more we argued, the more she dug her heels in.

Stick to your guns: to refuse to change what you are doing or saying despite the opposition or criticism of other people
Ex: They tried to persuade me, but I stuck to my guns.
Ex: Having made up his mind, he stuck to his guns.

Get sb/sth out of your system: to get rid of a strong wish to do sth or a strong feelings about sb / to do sth that helps you get rid of unpleasant strong feelings / If you get sth out of your system, you get rid of a wish/emotion, especially a negative one, by allowing yourself to express it
Ex: Rob just let her talk and get it all out of her system.
Ex: I was furious, so I went for a run to get it out of my system.
Ex: I had a really good shout at him this morning and got it out of my system.

Step up one’s game/ step your game up: to improve your skills or talents
Ex: You gotta step your game up to make in in the rap business.

Pull yourself together: to force yourself to stop behaving in a nervous, frightened, or uncontrolled way / to control your emotions and behave calmly after being very upset, angry, shocked, etc
Ex: With an effort Mary pulled herself together.
Ex: You have to pull yourself together, go out there and talk to them.
Ex: Just pull yourself together. There’s no point crying about it.

Cut sb some slack: to be less strict with sb / to allow sb to do sth without criticizing them or making it more difficult / to not judge sb as severely as you usually would because they are having problems at the present time
Ex: Cut him a little slack – his father just died.
Ex: Hey, cut me some slack man, I’m only a few bucks short.
Ex: “Andrew’s late again.” “Cut him some slack – his wife’s just had a baby.”

Sb couldn’t care less: used for emphasizing that sb thinks sth is unimportant. These phrases usually show that the speaker is angry or upset. / Used to say that sb does not care at all about sth
Ex: I couldn’t care less how you do it – just do it.
Ex: I really couldn’t care less what you think!

No-brainer [c]: a question/problem that is very easy to deal with; sth that is very simple to do or to understand
Ex: Joining the savings plan is a no-brainer. Just do it.
Ex: That last question was a complete no-brainer.

Miss the boat: to fail to take advantage of an opportunity by not taking action quickly enough
Ex: You should have sold that house a year ago – you missed the boat.
Ex: You will miss the boat if you don’t buy shares now.

[Kooper]

Please count me in!

[Iris Wu]

Thanks, Kooper!
It's great that you have done most of the "homework" for me!

[Kooper]

More phrases:

Get on sb’s nerves: if sb/sth gets on your nerves, they make you feel annoyed or nervous; they annoy you, especially by doing sth all the time; to annoy sb a lot
Ex: His constant humming is really beginning to get on my nerves.
Ex: She is always moaning. It really gets on my nerves.
Ex: We really got on each other’s nerves when we were living together.
Ex: Please stop making that noise! It really gets on my nerves.

Get/Be in over one’s head: to become involved in a situation in which you don’t have the necessary skills, knowledge, or money to succeed; be involved in a difficult situation that you cannot get out of; get involved in sth that is too difficult for you to deal with
Ex: Inexperienced investors may indeed have been in over their heads.
Ex: Sean tried to pay his gambling debts, but he was in over his head.
Ex: In business, start small and don’t get in over your head.

Ring a bell: sth that rings a bell sounds familiar to you, although you cannot remember the exact details
Ex: The name rings a bell. Isn’t he an architect?
Ex: Her name rings a bell but I can’t remember her face.

What gives? [spoken] used for asking what is happening in a situation

You know better than that (?)

Head start [singular noun] an advantage over other people in the same situation as you, especially in a competition
Give sb a head start / have a head start / get a head start
[Ex] The reading program gives young children a head start.

A weight off your shoulders: If sth is a weight off your shoulders, you are happy that you do not have to worry about it or feel responsible for it any more
Ex: If you could take over the job of organizing the party, that would be a tremendous weight off my shoulders.
Ex: Thank you so much for agreeing to take care of Snoopy while I’m away. It’s a weight off my shoulders knowing that a real dog lover will be looking after her.
Ex: I think it was a real weight off Cathy’s shoulders when you offered to take care of the arrangements. She’s got so much else to deal with at the moment.

A pain (in the neck): if you call sb/sth a pain (in the neck), you mean that they are very annoying/irritating.

Ex: There were times when Joe could be a real pain in the neck.
Ex: He is such a pain to live with.
Ex: You are being a real pain!

Sb’ hands are tied: sb cannot do what they want to do because sth such as rule/law prevents it; If sb’s hands are tied, they cannot help in a particular situation because of rules/laws etc; they are not free to behave in the way that they would like
Ex: The bank claims its hands are tied by federal regulators.
Ex: I’d like to raise people’s salaries but my hands are tied.

[Iris Wu]

Thanks a lot, Kooper!
It is "pain in the neck" to work on all the idioms in one night! (Sorry, Kat, I am just trying to practice the usage of these idioms. )
I know Kooper is trying to be helpful for people who will "miss the boat" or whoever have no time to prepare.

One question, maybe we can double check with Kat today, the "crunch time", I think it is a bit different from "the crunch". "Crunch Time" is more like a period when project is due and pressure is great to get things done.
Example: Lack of resources has been an issue of this project. During crunch time of each milestone, everyone has to work day and night.

"You know better than that": Yeah, I think it is context-dependent.

[Kat C]

Corrections:

Nitpicking!!! It helps to sometimes write things down rather than just saying them.

Kat

[Iris Wu]

Many thanks to Kat!
We wish you an enjoyable Marathon in Japan and hope to see you again soon!

I did not get to stay to the end of the boot camp due to some family obligations. Following are just some notes for your reference.

Idioms/Phrases
- Get it over and done with.: get it out of the way, get something done and get it out of the way.
- Simple does it.
- Get us out of a jam: When it comes to crunch time, she can always get us out of a jam.
- You know better than that.: You should have known that.
- Blow me away: Impressed. Positive.(Example: I was blown away by his performance.)
- nitpicking: looking for something small, picky, something perfectionists do
- What Gives?: Usually imply something negative.
- Are you single?: Are you not seeing someone? (Used when you are interested in someone and thinking too "make a move".)
- Make a move: to do something in order to achieve a particular result
- It's only fair.: it is right to do something. (Example: It's only fair that we tell him what's happening.)
- under the weather: Iam feeling a bit under the weather now.
- pull myself together: I've finally pull myself together from my recent break up with my boyfriend.
- strong suit: something that a person does well. (Example: Foreign policy was the president's strong suit.)
- Goes without saying!: So obvious!

[Kooper]

do or die: used to describe a situation in which you either have to try very hard to achieve a goal or fail

First thing first: something you say to mean that more important things should be done before other things.

to vent something, to get something out of your system: to express a negative emotion

track record: The job needs someone with a good track record in investment.

go overboard: to overdo something

Are they an item? = Are they a couple? = Are they seeing each other?

It's a nonstarter for me = I won't even consider it = It's out of the question. Ex: I'll never quit. It's a nonstarter for me.

"It all happened the way it was supposed to," Lin said. "Going into this summer, I thought I'd be coming back to New York, but everything happens for a reason. There's no hard feelings either way and right now I'm in a different place in my life, different chapter, different city, different team." https://www.yahoo.com/news/lin-returns- ... --spt.html

He leaves a lot of loose ends : 工作常出包

We are having a Sunday social.

truth be told = to be honest

go easy on someone: be gentle on someone; not to be too critical of someone

That restaurant is sexy. This project isn't sexy enough. No body want it.

dive in: to start doing something enthusiastically

keep it short and sweet

Who's on the team?

pep talk

It's crunch time.

[Kooper]

One question, maybe we can double check with Kat today, the "crunch time", I think it is a bit different from "the crunch". "Crunch Time" is more like a period when project is due and pressure is great to get things done.
Example: Lack of resources has been an issue of this project. During crunch time of each milestone, everyone has to work day and night.

Hi Iris, I see eye to eye with you. When I googled news, "crunch time" is commonly used in sports news referring to the final moment of a game when two teams are still almost in a tie. "The crunch" usually goes in the phrase of "When it comes to the crunch..."