English for apes

Sleep on firewood. Lick bitter liver.

In Spite of All the Danger

2024-12-23 03:21:58 | Reading - celebrity/gossip
This post may be the last blog post in 2024. It's also note for self.

Paul and Ringo get back together at London gig
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c623qe17eg1o

rendition
induction
lengthy - pronunciation

In Spite of All the Danger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FDCXyq4x4Vc

Simply having a wonderful Christmas time.
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Today

2024-12-23 01:30:46 | Reading - celebrity/gossip
It's the end of the year. This is note for self.
Mishal Husain has left Today programme. I failed the last show of Martha Kearney this summer, but she recently appeared a new programme on Radio 4. Unlike Martha, Mishal left BBC.
I don't think that I will watch Bloomberg interview series. I've started to listen to Today programme since 11 years ago and it's almost same time as Mishal joined the programme.

Mishal Husain bids farewell in final Today episode
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c77j68y8v52o

John Humphrys and Sarah Montague appeared in the final episode.

Mishal chose The Monkee's Daydream Believer for the farewell.
I thought The Monkee's is American band, because the lyrics and tune of the song is very American. It is American band, but I didn't know that the singer is Mancunian.

no-words.

Martha Kearney steps down from presenting Radio 4’s Today programme
https://www.theguardian.com/media/article/2024/jul/18/martha-kearney-steps-down-from-presenting-radio-4s-today-programme

lie-in
tweak
stint
winkle
peerless
fixation
pollinator < pollinate < pollen

The Rest Is Politics
The News Agents
Kirsty Wark
Martin McGuinness
wild swimming

It's confusing Rajar and Rajan.
Comment

British Christmas dinner

2024-12-22 16:57:43 | Reading - local/society
It's already been Yuletide. I kept the article in the reading list a week ago.
It's easy to understand, but a lot of English expressions in it.

Christmas dinner set to cost less this year
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cnv3y61qq41o

checkout - at the supermarket checkout
lb - pronounce 'pound' < Latin 'libra'
digging deeper < dig deep
tot up (British)
all the trimmings < trimming
tighten their belts < tighten your belt
granule
icing
whopping - a whopping 26% increase
spud
lift [Collins]If you lift root vegetables or bulbs, you dig them out of the ground.
perishable - accent
stockpile
yellow sticker
meat joint

It's good to know
[quote] noting that supermarkets usually fight for customers with cut price "potatoes, carrots, parsnips, Brussels spouts".[unquote]
This is also good to know
[quote]While loss-leaders are good for shoppers, Mr Futter stressed these below-cost prices "don't show the true cost to the farmer" and can generate a lot of food waste. "People think that food is cheap to produce - that's not true."[unquote]
I didn't know that butter and cheddar can freeze to stock up.
[quote]Use your freezer: Christmas foods that freeze well include butter, meat joints and some cheeses like cheddar.[unquote]

I didn't know that there was a turkey farm near Slough. Turkey sounds American. I prefer roast beef and vegetables for Christmas.
I don't like 'Christmas essentials' which described in the article. I don't like turkey, pigs in blankets, sage and onion stuffing and mince pie...especially supermarkets' packaged one...yuck.

I was totally stunned by the sage and onion stuffing sandwich... it's traditional British food, indeed.
TRADITIONAL Sage and Onion STUFFING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5nQ3fM1bRE
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statistically significant

2024-12-22 12:07:08 | Reading - local/society
It's quite remarkable that there is a distinct statistical significance between poor and wealthy boroughs in the capital, not only in England.

London’s shocking ‘health expectancy’ gap revealed: People in wealthier boroughs live extra decade 'in good health'
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/health/london-health-life-expectancy-boroughs-map-b1199835.htm

deteriorate - remember!!
impediment - remember!!
concerted
socio-economic / socioeconomic [Cambridge]related to the differences between groups of people caused mainly by their financial situation
turn the ship around

Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Healthy life expectancy (HLE)
Lewisham
The King’s Fund

This is the source of the article.
Healthy life expectancy in England and Wales: between 2011 to 2013 and 2021 to 2023
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/healthstatelifeexpectanciesuk/between2011to2013and2021to2023
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Ed Miliband's energy plan

2024-12-22 01:12:01 | Reading - politics/gossip
I couldn't complete this posting last week. I didn't have time to search about energy words.

Ed Miliband pledges ‘most ambitious reforms to UK energy system in generations’
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/dec/13/ed-miliband-pledges-most-ambitious-reforms-to-uk-energy-system-in-generations

canopy - canopies of solar panels
press ahead with
wean [Collins]If you wean someone off a habit or something they like, you gradually make them stop doing it or liking it, especially when you think is bad for them.
[quote] Ministers want to wean the country off its dependence on fossil fuels. - I'm still trying to wean myself off web surfing
lay bare [Collins]to reveal or explain
ravages
first come, first served - managed on a “first come, first served” basis
gigafactory
sluggish < slug
treble x3 - double x2
turbocharge

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP)
The East Coast Cluster - Teesside
carbon capture and storage (CCS)
Ørsted - Hornsea
Neso/NESO - National Energy System Operator

[quote]The plans come as low wind and solar power generation forced Britain to rely heavily on burning gas and wood pellets. As of Thursday, about 65% of Britain’s electricity was being generated from gas and biomass, with only 5.3% coming from wind.[unquote]
I didn't know biomass causes carbon emissions. I saw wind wheels everywhere in the countryside in the UK, but it's only 5.3%.

He appeared on Today to explain about the energy plan. It's been a while to hear his voice on the radio.
Nick Robinson's question about Ed's past statement on Syria was a bit of a straw man.

Ed Miliband defends blocking UK military action against Assad
https://pa.media/blogs/pa-editors-picks/ed-miliband-defends-blocking-uk-military-action-against-assad/
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Meet the Rees-Moggs

2024-12-13 13:28:19 | Reading - celebrity/gossip
I read all articles below , plus three guardian articles and one ES review. I listened to the pod cast of Must Watch. We cannot watch the reality show in Japan.
In conclusion, the show is boring.
I suppose that he is preparing for returning as a MP. TV appearances help his revival and hereditary to his sons.

Tons of words in those articles. It took time to look in a dictionary.

Jacob Rees-Mogg: Controversial ex-politician says reality show a 'calculated risk'
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c75l27rdnpwo

hardline - his hardline views
incest
profoundly apologised
rile - riling
wind up
blatant
plump the pillows
industrious
Veronica - 81!
by virtue of
rizz - already in Collins and Cambridge
wasteman - already in Collins and Cambridge
dustman
sick [quote]I've learnt that sick means good
gleefully < gleeful < glee
their noses to the windows of
pat yourself on the back

Meet the Rees-Moggs is toothless, vapid, and not really fair on the kids
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/reviews/meet-the-rees-moggs-jacob-review-b2657134.html

Nick Hilton is The Independent's chief TV critic
toothless
vapid
pile [quote]outside a vast country pile
Michel Roux Jr
Shaun
drawl
dandyish
pin-up
bootlickers < bootlick
plutocrat
run-up
patriarch
quibble over
perfunctory
indolence
droller < droll
swaddle
unslakeable = unslakable
Trumpton
drone
hark back
aristocrat - accent
reprehensible
avuncular
buffoonish < buffoon
plink plonk
whimsical
squirrel away
self-preservation
instinctual < instinct
Teen Mom / Super Nanny
hate-watch
hagiography
kickstart

Empire of Posh: inside Jacob Rees-Mogg's property portfolio
https://www.standard.co.uk/homesandproperty/celebrity-homes/jacob-reesmogg-property-portfolio-b1196834.html

Spears Magazine
Somerset Capital Management
Saliston
Lord Michael Ashcroft

Gournay Court, West Harptree, Somerset
Westminster - Cowley Street
Pall Mall

Must Watch reviews: Meet the Rees-Moggs
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/57WlWrKwNSw6WMWTbFYgb5F/must-watch-reviews-meet-the-rees-moggs
Comment

a young victim of domestic violence

2024-12-13 04:41:07 | Reading - local/society
I've tried to ignore this news because it looked terrible. But radio started to read a lot about this, I couldn't resist reading the articles.

Behind Sara’s smile was a life of violence and torture
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgedlr7qg1o

Her birth mother was also abusive. Her siblings were also abused, especially Z and U. Z escaped from the father.
Shel hadn't had her place to live from the beginning. She tried to find a happy space on a stage to sing and dance.

graphic [quote]This article contains graphic descriptions of physical abuse
bunk bed - bottom bunk
constellation
domestic - domestic Iron
sassy
bubbly
chatterbox / talk the ear off - she might be ADHD or psychological behaviour to protect herself
foster care - group home or private
Punjabi
meticulously < meticulous
cursory
demeanour
dental impressions
soil
deteriorate

Father and stepmother of 10-year-old Sara Sharif found guilty of her murder at Surrey home
https://news.sky.com/story/father-and-stepmother-of-10-year-old-sara-sharif-found-guilty-of-her-murder-at-surrey-home-13254209
a neighbour, a teacher, a classmate - they didn't rescue the poor girl.

Her father was a minicab driver. I used many minicabs to/from Heathrow in Surrey, the most of the drivers were Pakistani. Many of them were friendly and chatty.
The stepmother was a customer of the father's. He might be nice to customers. Conversely, he was extremely abusive to his family.
It's not easy to find true nature of people.
Comment

Badenoch is not conservative on lunch

2024-12-13 03:46:18 | Reading - politics/gossip
I'm busy in December as usual. These articles are waste of time if it is written in Japanese, but I'm learning English from gossips!

Starmer and Badenoch's lunchtime sandwich split
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ckg8xdjexrvo

wimp
dig
buzzy
weigh in / weigh into
sip
vehement < vehemently

The Ed's bacon sandwich photo!
Sir. Kier is right. Sandwiches is a great British institution. And also UK's heritage as the British Sandwich Association says.

'I will not touch bread if it is moist': Kemi Badenoch sparks Westminster food fight
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/dec/12/i-will-not-touch-bread-if-it-is-moist-kemi-badenoch-sparks-westminster-food-fight

Not only lunch, but also a film for festive season.
Kier: Love Actually. Kemi: Die Hard. - She grow up in Africa and lived in America.

Badenoch stands by Nigeria comments after criticism
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2ygwxn9kzo

stand by [Collins]If you stand by and let something bad happen, you do not do anything to stop it.
denigrate
couch (verb) [Collins]If a statement is couched in a particular style of language, it is expressed in that style of language.
Abuja - Nigerian capital - I didn't know it...

She should respond to Nigeria, not criticise Kier for lunch.
[quote]Her experiences helped shape her conservative ideals and set her against socialism, she said.[unquote]
Her ideology is based on her life in Lagos.
I don't understand why she was elected as the leader of the Conservative Party. She is not conservative at all.
Comment

Nick Clegg works for Meta

2024-12-09 14:05:02 | Reading - celebrity/gossip
I thought good old Nick Clegg at first sight, but I felt betrayed. He belongs to Meta now, and what is worse, the second-in-command of Zuckerberg!!

Musk could become political puppet master, says Clegg
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvg7dyn3m0lo

[quote]"one-man, hyper-partisan, ideological hobbyhorse"[unquote]
partisan
hobbyhorse
[quote] you can't move on X for want of tripping over stuff from the person who now privately owns it
trip [Collins]If you trip when you are walking, you knock your foot against something and fall or nearly fall.
avid
well-heeled
and so forth
people with means
over-egg / overegg https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/donald-trump-elon-musk-us-presidents-election-b1198462.html

Nick moved to California and became "president for global affairs at Meta"

trounce
wade
take a swipe at

I've been sceptical of social media. I reluctant to use Instagram, LinkedIn, and Line to connect who I met, but I never post my personal information to public, apart from goo blog.
I like obsolete technology such as goo blog. I feel much safer than popular social media.
I don't want to be a follower of influencers or become an influencer. I just want to improve my English.
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Fancy a cuppa

2024-12-09 01:14:21 | Reading - local/society
Easy reading but interesting survey results. GenZ thinks of tea as an old person's drink.

'It’s an old person's drink.' Is Britain's love for tea cooling off?
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gpll9l535o

quintessential
a bonding ritual
Fancy a cuppa
taste off - weird? slung?
intense competition
smidge - black tea with a smidge of milk
staple [Collins]A staple food, product, or activity is one that is basic and important in people's everyday lives. Staple is also a noun.
stark
[Collins]1. Stark choices or statements are harsh and unpleasant.[quote]She concludes with a stark warning for traditional tea makers
[Collins]2. If two things are in stark contrast to one another, they are very different from each other in a way that is very obvious.[quote]It's a stark contrast to her parents who, she says, “really love" tea.
chip away at [quote]this will ultimately chip away at the size of the market.
go bust

Typhoo Tea - I've never heard of Typhoo
Supreme - Supreme PLC - a vape maker - not the clothing brand
Redbush (GB) - Rooibos
Kombucha [wiki] a fermented, lightly effervescent, sweetened black tea drink. Juice, spices, fruit or other flavorings are often added.
builder's tea - Japanese Wiki is not correct
instant coffee - same as Japan
ready-to-drink coffee
coffee pods / pod coffee
London Fruit & Herb Company
Heath & Heather
Ridgways - not Ridgeways
Hargreaves Lansdown - a financial services company

I occasionally drink herbal tea or non-caffeine tea, but I usually have English Breakfast or Earl Grey. My favourite brands are Clipper and Higher Living.
When I lived with my parents and when I started to live alone, I had used a cup and saucer and a tea pot of Wedgwood with loose leaf tea of Fortnum & Mason. I thought that was the authentic way of having tea in Britain. I found the most of British, especially younger, had tea with a mug and a tea bag at home afterward.
I knew GenZ prefer healthier choices, but they are targeted and marketed by beverage companies. I don't think sweetened ready-to-drinks, diet soda or bubble tea are healthy, they are rather worse. Instant coffee is the best selling, and the next is pods in the UK. I think it's the result of the marketing of Nestle or other big companies. According to the article, the price of tea is rising, to make matters worse. Afternoon tea is old-fashioned and becoming tourist attraction like as cask ale at traditional pubs.
Comment

Labour renationalises railways

2024-12-06 02:37:43 | Reading - politics/gossip
South Western Railways!

Three rail firms to be renationalised next year
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ceqlnrgjr79o

clamp down [Collins]To clamp down on people or activities means to take strong official action to stop or control them.
arms-length [Collins]An arm's-length situation or relationship is one where two people, businesses or organizations are connected but operate separately.

subsidy - remember!!
freight - remember!!
remuneration - remember!!
deadlock - break the deadlock

Rail Partners
Great British Railways

[quote]Four major operators - East Coast Mainline, TransPennine, Northern and South Eastern - have been taken under public control and are being run by the government's operator of last resort.
Transport for Wales was brought under Welsh Government control in 2021, and Scotrail was taken over by the Scottish Government the following year.[unquote]

ScotRail hasn't change after renationalisation. I didn't know that Great Anglia was a joint venture of Mitsui.

Labour hates Margaret Thatcher. I don't like Nakasone and Koizumi/Takenaka. I want 一億総中流 back to Japan!
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malnourished

2024-12-05 13:02:57 | Vocabulary
nourish [Collins] (verb) To nourish a person, animal, or plant means to provide them with the food that is necessary for life, growth, and good health.

-nourished [Collins] (combining form) -nourished is used with adverbs such as ' well' or 'under' to indicate how much food someone eats or whether it is the right kind of food.

malnourished [Collins] (adjective) If someone is malnourished, they are physically weak because they do not eat enough food or do not eat the right kind of food.

'mal' is always bad and evil. This news is horrifying.

Mother of child hidden in drawer from birth jailed
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4gz1dv8ly2o

[quote] The court was told the girl was severely malnourished, to the point she looked like a seven-month-old baby and not a three-year-old child, and had been fed with milky Weetabix through a syringe. [unquote]

to the point [Collins]Something that is to the point is relevant to the subject that you are discussing, or expressed neatly without wasting words or time.
Comment

English is not important for UK university enrolment

2024-12-05 09:52:42 | Reading - local/society
English is not required for postgraduate study in the UK, but money.

Universities enrolling foreign students with poor English, BBC finds
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0mzdejg1d3o

[quote]she was "shocked" to find many of her fellow students had limited English, and only one or two were British[unquote]
[quote]one professor tells us 70% of his recent master’s students had inadequate English[unquote]

on merit [Collins]If you judge something or someone on merit or on their merits, your judgment is based on what you notice when you consider them, rather than on things that you know about them from other sources.
merit-based
merit [Collins]If something has merit, it has good or worthwhile qualities. - Japanese メリット is 2. advantage

pass off as [Collins]If you pass something off as another thing, you convince people that it is that other thing,
[quote]In England it is a criminal offence to complete work for a student which they can pass off as their own.[unquote]
essay mill
plagiarism - anti-plagiarism software
eye-watering
dependant - dependent (US)

UCU
Study Group
Russell Group
Universities UK
Office for Students

[quote]it is hardly surprising some students with poor English skills feel they need help from other people, or even use AI to do their work, as an "act of desperation".[unquote]
[quote]she now feels her master’s degree has been "devalued"[unquote]

Master's degrees of a famous UK university is valuable. You can earn money with it. You don't need advanced English in Japan.
If you have money, go to the UK to get MBA for just one year. AI will help you.

Money works, not English.
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