Category Archives: The English language

How do you say 2010?

Lately I’ve stumbling about how to say 2010. If you think for a while you’ll see that ,so far, we have been saying 1900 as nineteen hundred and 1908 as nineteen oh eight or eighteen hundred and eight.
The question, then, is: if the year 1800 is eighteen hundred, how do you account for the year 2000 being two thousand and not twenty hundred? (Ok, let’s say that some people say twenty hundred but the vast majority don’t and we’re certainly sticking with the majority,)
So, what about 2010? Even though it is coming soon, it is still somewhat unclear whether the English speaking world will tend to call it twenty ten or two thousand ten.
I’ve done some research and found that people say different things:2010= twenty ten
2010= two thousand (and) ten
2010 = oh ten
Some of the people favouring twenty ten argue that it sounds more natural and others even say that people are lazy so, as twenty ten has only three syllables, this is certainly the favourite one.But let’s see what the experts have to say: According to David Crystal, author of the Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, the change of pronunciation to “twenty X” will occur in 2011, as “twenty eleven”, explaining that the way people pronounce years depends on rhythm, rather than logic. Crystal claims that the rhythm or “flow” of “two thousand (and) ten”, beats that of “twenty ten”, but the flow of “twenty eleven” beats “two thousand (and) eleven”.Alternatively, Ian Brookes, editor-in-chief of Chambers Dictionary, suggests the change will occur in 2013 (as 2012 is often referred to as “two thousand and twelve”).
It seems we’ll have to wait and see.

Related Entries:

The English language does not have a Real Academia de la Lengua
¿Du yu espic inglish?
Córcholis or it is raining cats and dogs
False friends: embarrassed or embarazada?

¿ Du yu espic inglish ?

Esto es la carta que escribió una señora al programa de Luis del Olmo para que la leyeran en directo:


Desde que las insignias se llaman pins, los maricones gays, las comidas frías lunchs, y los repartos de cine castings, este país no es el mismo: ahora es mucho, muchísimo más moderno.

Antaño los niños leían tebeos en vez de comics, los estudiantes pegaban posters creyendo que eran carteles, los empresarios hacían negocios en vez de business, y los obreros, tan ordinarios ellos, sacaban la fiambrera al mediodía en vez del tupper-ware.
Yo, en el colegio, hice aeróbic muchas veces, pero, tonta de mi, creía que hacía gimnasia. Nadie es realmente moderno si no dice cada día cien palabras en inglés. Las cosas, en otro idioma, nos suenan mucho mejor.
Evidentemente, no es lo mismo decir bacon que panceta, aunque tengan la misma grasa, ni vestíbulo que hall, ni inconveniente que handicap… Desde ese punto de vista, los españoles somos modernísimos.
Ya no decimos bizcocho, sino plum-cake, ni tenemos sentimientos, sino feelings. Sacamos tickets, compramos compacts, comemos sandwiches, vamos al pub, practicamos el rappel y el raffting; en lugar de acampar, hacemos camping y, cuando vienen los fríos, nos limpiamos los mocos con kleenex.

Esos cambios de lenguaje han influido en nuestras costumbres y han mejorado mucho nuestro aspecto. Las mujeres no usan medias, sino pantys y los hombres no utilizan calzoncillos, sino slips, y después de afeitarse se echan after shave, que deja la cara mucho más fresca que el masaje.

El español moderno ya no corre, porque correr es de cobardes, pero hace footing; no estudia, pero hace masters y nunca consigue aparcar pero siempre encuentra un parking. El mercado ahora es el marketing; el autoservicio, el self-service; el escalafón, el ranking y el representante, el manager.
Los importantes son vips, los auriculares walkman, los puestos de venta stands, los ejecutivos yuppies; las niñeras baby-sitters, y hasta nannies, cuando el hablante moderno es, además, un pijo irredento.

En la oficina, el jefe está siempre en meetings o brain storms ¡casi siempre con la public-relations!, mientras la assistant envía mailings y organiza trainings; luego se irá al gimnasio a hacer gim-jazz, y se encontrará con todas las de la jet, que vienen de hacerse liftings, y con alguna top-model amante del yogurt light y el body-fitness.

El arcaico aperitivo ha dado paso a los cocktails, donde se jartan a bitter y a roast-beef que, aunque parezca lo mismo, engorda mucho menos que la carne.Ustedes, sin ir más lejos trabajan en un magazine, no en un programa. En la tele, cuando el presentador dice varias veces la palabra O.K. y baila como un trompo por el escenario la cosa se llama show, bien distinto,como saben ustedes, del anticuado espectáculo; si el show es heavy es que contiene carnaza y si es reality parece el difunto diario “El Caso”, pero en moderno. Entre medias, por supuesto, ya no ponen anuncios, sino spots que, aparte de ser mejores, te permiten hacer zapping.


Estas cosas enriquecen mucho. Para ser ricos del todo, y quitarnos el complejo tercermundista que tuvimos en otros tiempos, sólo nos queda decir con acento americano la única palabra que el español ha exportado al mundo: la palabra “SIESTA.”
Espero que os haya gustado… yo antes de leerlo no sabía si tenía stress o es que estaba hasta los cojones”.
Comment:In English you never go footing or puenting , you go jogging or bungee jumping

Putting the emphasis on Emilia

Have you never heard about her? I’m sure you have. But even if you haven’t , if I hum the words” I’m a big, big girl…” you’ll probably think,” Yeah ,I know this song “or, at least, this small verse though maybe not the singer.

Why this song today? Well, the only reason is because I’ve been teaching Emphasis and it’s a good song to illustrate this point. I’m afraid that’s my only reason as she is not one of my favourites. “Sorry , Emilia ! I’ve heard you are on your way to the European Song Contest and I wish you well, you are just too soft for me”

Anyway, it is very good for students to see how the emphasis is placed on some words (actually, they can find three different ways).
But, why don’t you go to my website and do the exercises ? or alternatively ,if you are up to your eyes with homework , just enjoy it.
First option, click here

Córcholis or it is raining cats and dogs

Are you learning Old-Fashioned English?
Only this week I asked my advanced students to write a diary entry, telling them that this was the right time to use non-grammatical structures and any informal expressions they could think of. It was only when one of my most advanced students handed in her paper that I realized my mistake. I caught a glimpse of the expression “ it was raining cats and dogs” and I thought well, well… how are they supposed to know that this expression would sound to a native speaker as “córcholis or “cáspitas” to us?

But there are some others:
Bobbies- The British have not called their policemen “bobbies” for decades.
Whom -Only pedants under 50 will ever use this possessive pronoun.
Gay with the meaning of “happy”- I don’t think a straight happy man would like to be described as “gay”.

If you have little or no contact with British speaking culture, be careful when using colloquial expressions. Probably you’ll be understood only by an English -speaking grandmother.

The good thing is that sometimes words “bounce back”. So maybe in 10 or 20 years’ time we will be using expressions such as “truenos y relámpagos” , “pánfilo” or “botarate” . So ,language can always catch up with us and not the other way round.
Where does that leave us? Well, one of the reasons that native speakers don’t comment when they hear learner say “it is raining cats and dogs” is that learners always look so happy to have been able to use an idiomatic phrase that it seems uncharitable to correct them. Make it clear to the native speakers you interact with that you want them to tell you when your English sounds quaint.

I am feeling generous

… feeling brave today? Here is a poem about English pronunciation. If you manage to read it aloud in class without making a single mistake (Ok. I said ,I was feeling generous…let’s say one mistake) you won’t have to take the oral test at the end of this term. Ready?????

English is Tough Stuff

Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.

Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem and toe

Continue reading I am feeling generous