GEOS New York – Free English Lesson – One Point English Lesson Blog

This week we took a look at some casual, everyday English. Thanks to everyone who wrote with their comments and questions. I’ll presend the answers now.

Here is the original paragraph

It’s a scorcher out there today. In fact, we would probably say this is one of the dog days of summer. It’s like a hundred degrees in the shade out there and the humidity is through the roof. I think I’m gonna melt. Really. Even my shades aren’t helping. Maybe I’ll put on my flip-flops, a pair of cutt-offs, and head to the beach.

Here is an explaination of the vocabulary

 - it’s a scorcher.  “Scorch” means to burn very much. So we use this expression to mean “it is very, very hot.”
 - dog days of summer.  ”These are the dog days of summer” means, “These are the hottest days of the summer.”
- shade.  This is the area where the direct sunlight is blocked, like under a tree.
 - through the roof.  The roof is the top of the building, which can be very high up. So, when something is “through the roof,” it is very high.
 - shades.  “Shades” is a slang term for “sunglasses.” You can say to someone, ”I like your shades,” which means, “I lke your sunglassses.”
 - flip-flops.  These are a kind of casual shoe, worn without socks.
 - cut-offs.  If you take a pair of jeans, and cut the legs off to make them into a paid of shorts, these are called “cut-offs.” 

Try using these expressions in your everyday comversations, and your English will sound much more like a native.

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