Answers for exercises page 4
THE WORLD of WORDS WORD LORE AND MORE by Oriel Villagarcia at newtoolsforteachers@yahoo.com.ar
I. ANSWERS TO THE MULTIPLE CHOICE EXERCISE 1. Right answer: A, chiefly American slang. B, to glare means to look in angry way, not necessarily meaning to threaten. C. To look daggers means the same as A and it is idiomatic standard English, i.e. not slang. 2. Right answer: B. A refers to money, not necessarily a favour. C. To be indebted is not a colloquial expression even though it has the same meaning as B. 3. Right answer: NONE. To take the heat means to stand, to deal with the pressure a situation may cause. 4. Right answer: A. B. Among other meanings, a snag is an unexpected difficulty. C. A mouth opener might mean something that causes a mouth to be opened, but it is not listed in any English dictionary. Right answer: NONE. A steal is a bargain, something that can be obtained at a price lower than usual, as if you bought a brand new car for only three thousand dollars. III. ANSWERS TO DECIDE WHETHER RIGHT OR WRONG WRONG. To be had means to be tricked, to be deceived., to be duped. I bought a TV set which was suppossed to be brand new, but I soon found out I’d been had. It didn`t work well at all. WRONG. To lambaste (American Engl.)/lambast (mostly British Engl.) is to criticize somebody or something severly. This word is used mainly in journalistic English. The politician’s speech was lambasted by the press. WRONG: One of the meanings of ham is an actor or any person that performs/behaves in an exaggerated way. Most commonly used in phrases such as a ham actor, or he is just an old ham. Notice the phrasal to ham it up, meaning to behave in an exaggerated way. Another meaning of ham is an amateur radio operator, or the radio itself. A ham radio operastor, a ham radio. RIGHT. Here are some examples: When she got home rather late her parents grilled her for a long time. The suspect was thoroughly grilled at the police station. WRONG. To gripe is to complain constantly to the point of annoying those near him. I’m sick and tired of hearing you griping about your boyfriend. The word that does not belong to the informal/colloquial register is lambaste.