Thursday, September 15, 2011

to make a fool of

To make a fool of someone means to do something to make another person or yourself look stupid/ foolish. It means to make another person or yourself feel embarrassed.
Example 1:
-        -  What happened at Julie’s birthday party last night?
-        -  Oh, you should have seen it! Daniel drank so much that he could not keep his balance at one point and fell in the pool! He always makes a fool of himself just after having a few shots of vodka.  
Meaning: Daniel made himself look foolish falling in the pool drunk. People laughed at him, and that made him feel embarrassed.
Example 2:
-          - Christine, I need your advice. My relationship with Bob is going south. We don’t spend much time together anymore. On the weekends, he says he is always busy or too tired to see me.
-          - Anna, he is simply making a fool out of you. He has another girlfriend! He is dating two girls at the same time! My advice- dump him!
   
     This idiom can be found in the LSI textbook Speaking Savvy. This book is used at LSI schools in the level 4 Listening/Speaking classes. For more information, please visit: www.languagesystems.com

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

face to face

“face to face”
Meaning 1:  within each other's presence. A face-to-face meeting, conversation etc is one where you are with another person and talking to them.
Example: She met with the boss face to face.
Meaning 2: directly facing or opposite one another. If two people are standing face to face, they are very close and are looking at each other
Example: They set face to face at the table to have their final conversation.
Meaning 3: in an open, personal meeting or confrontation. If you come face to face with something difficult, you experience it and have to deal with it.
Example:Mark is not afraid of many things. He is a very brave man. Once, when he traveled to Hawaii,he came face to face with his greatest fear: a shark attack.  
This idiom can be found in the LSI textbook Speaking Transitions. This book is used at LSI schools in the level 4 Listening/Speaking classes. For more information, please visit: www.languagesystems.com