http://www.speakenglishcuneo.it/

Speak English Cuneo, Via Santa Croce, 16, Cuneo (2026)

03/09/2013

Lunch at The Boathouse on Central Park Lake ---

03/09/2013

More boring pictues --- go Mets!

03/09/2013

Hi everyone,
I've been taking a break --- like the rest of Italy --- chilling out --- trying to get my mojo working again. Alicante / Altea: full of poms and Norwegian Wood: boring; New York City another world! The weather was perfect, the noise and chaos invigorating and the food marvellous. Met a woman at the sushi bar down in Todd English in The Plaza on 5th Ave and 59th. She spoke good English, but with an accent, so I asked her where she was from; she said, 'the eighth floor!'
Got some pictures too ---

24/06/2013

EMAILS:
Say what you want to say! Need HELP?
It's just a click away ---

08/05/2013

PILLOLE DI INGLESE

Groups of insects, animals and things ---
Don't leave home without these ---

an ARMY of ants
a CLOUD of flies, mosquitoes
a HIVE of bees
a NEST of eggs ( of crocodiles, birds)
a NEST of spiders, crocodiles, snakes, wasps
a PLAGUE of rats
a SWARM of insects, bees, wasps

a BROOD of hens
a BUNCH of waterfowl
a COVEY of grouse, partridge
a CHARM of finches
a FLEET of birds
a FLIGHT of birds, swallows
a FLOCK of birds, hens, chicks
a GAGGLE of geese
a HEAD of pheasants
a MURDER of crows
a PACK of grouse
a PARLIAMENT of owls, rooks
a ROOKERY of penguins, seals
a TEAM of wild ducks
a WEDGE of geese

a BEVY of roe
a HERD of buffalo, cows, cattle, deer, elephants, giraffes,
goats, pigs, swine, sheep, elk, swans, wrens, cranes
a GANG of buffalo, elk
a SOUNDER of wild boar
a STRING of polo ponies
a TEAM of horses, donkeys
a TRAIN of mules
a TROOP of monkeys, gorillas, donkeys, kangaroos

a KINDLE of kittens
a LITTER of cubs (lions, tigers, bears, wolves)
a LITTER of pups (of dogs), kittens (of cats)

a MOB of kangaroos, sheep, cattle, deer (Australian)
a WARREN of rabbits

a KENNEL of dogs
a PACK of dogs, hounds, wolves
a PRIDE of lions

a POD of whales, seals
a RUN of fish (in motion)
a SHOAL of fish
a SCHOOL of fish, porpoises

a BEVY of ladies, women
a BUNCH of bananas, grapes, people
a CONSPIRACY of bankers, lawyers, politicians
a CREW of sailors
a CRUSH of people
a DECK of cards
a DEN of thieves
a FLIGHT of aircraft
a GANG of men ( work-gang) / boys/girls
a GANG ( of mobsters, criminals, hoods, hoodlums)
a FLEET of ships
a GAGGLE of women
a GIGGLE of girls
a GOSSIP of women
a HIVE of industry
a LINE of cars, traffic, credit
a MOB of people
a PILE of rubbish, garbage, timber, lumber, money
a POSSE of models
a SHIP of fools
a STACK of books, wood, cash
a TEAM of players
a WARREN of thieves

a RACK of ( pool) balls
a RACK of lamb, ribs
a RACK of ( mamma )

10/03/2013

Ragazzi, chiedete al vostro insegnante di inglese di leggere ad alta voce questa frase in inglese, di spiegarvela e pronunciarla correttamente senza essersi preparato prima e senza fare uso del dizionario.

The bandage was wound gently around the wound
The farm was farmed to produce farm produce
The dumdum rendered the dummy dumber
The rubbish dump was so full they had to refuse more refuse
It rained and so they had to polish the Polish cars again
He could lead if only he could get the lead out!
The deserters had to desert their dessert in the desert
There was no better time than the present to present the present
A drawing of a bass was painted on the bass
When shot at, the dove dove into the nearest dive
I didn’t object to the object of her enterprise
The invalid discovered that his insurance was invalid
There was a row between the rowers about how to row
They were too close to the closet door to close it
A buck does funny things when does are present
The tailor and the sewer fell into the sewer
A crazy farmer taught his sow to sow
The wind was too strong to wind the sail up
After a number of injections, my jaw got number and number
Upon seeing the tear in the painting, the curator shed a tear
The doctor had to subject his subject to a number of subjective tests
He found this idea difficult to intimate to his intimate friends
The American spit spit while the Englishman spat spit
The man in the bow tie made a deep bow

04/03/2013

PILLOLE DI INGLESE

DIANA KRALL released the Grammy-nominated jazz-vocal album, ‘GLAD RAG DOLL’, the title based on the 1928 Ager, Dougherty, Yellen song of the same name. There's been a lot of ridiculous interpretations of this title, so let's clear it up for the sake of good English ---
‘Glad’ = happy; but here = ‘a good time, party-time!'
A rag-doll is a child’s doll (bambola) made from rags = pieces of ripped-up cloth. It has NOTHING to do with the song title (and comes in the same category as the hilarious 'FOOTING').
The ‘rag trade’ is the ‘clothing industry’ = Brunello Cucinelli, Prada, Banana Republic, Zara and other rip-offs.
'Cool rags' or 'cool duds' = great clothes for cool dudes!
The ‘50’s ‘Rock Around the Clock’ mentioned GLAD RAGS:
‘Put ya ‘Glad Rags’ on and join me hon; we’re gonna have some fun when the clock strikes one, we’re gonna rock, around the clock tonight, etc --- ‘.
So Glad Rags = girls' party clothes ( the Posh Beckham type) as in party, party (the verb) till you drop!
'Doll' = girl = chick = babe = bird = sheila = dame = broad = skirt = darlin' etc --- but definitely NOT bambola!

04/02/2013

PILLOLE DI INGLESE

How SPORTS have changed English --- Part 2: BASEBALL

THE PITCH = to a sales-argument by a salesman, you think, ‘--- uh oh, here comes THE PITCH !'

TO LOSE YOUR FASTBALL = to lose your MOXIE (see earlier). Recent news headline: ‘--- has Meg Whitman (ex-eBay, now president / C.E.O. of H-P) LOST her FASTBALL ?’

TO TOUCH BASE = to make contact: ‘--- I’ll TOUCH BASE with you next week!’

HEAVY HITTERS = people with great influence in (usually) business: 'Anna Wintour is a HEAVY-HITTER in the fashion and publishing industry ---‘

A DOUBLE-HEADER = one game (or meeting) followed immediately by another between the same teams. OR a double-headed ice-cream. OR two murders at the same location!

A RAIN CHECK = if a game or ‘event’ is interrupted by rain, or some other reason, a deferred replacement-date is offered: ‘--- thanks, I’ll take A RAIN-CHECK on that ---‘

THE BIG LEAGUES = playing with the big boys: ‘--- we’re in competition with Toyota; we’re in the BIG LEAGUES now!

A BRAND-NEW BALLGAME = the situation has changed, and a weaker-competitor is catching up to you: ‘It’s a BRAND-NEW BALLGAME, so we need to change our tactics!‘

TO STRIKE OUT = romantically; not even to get to 1st base.
‘I STRUCK-OUT last night!’

02/02/2013

PILLOLE DI INGLESE

POSH = up-market, deluxe, swanky, plush. To avoid the hot sun when sailing to and from India, the rich, pre-WW2 English sailed POSH = Port (left-side cabins) Out, Starboard (right-side cabins) Home = ‘They sailed POSH!’ Certain east-of-the-Danube football-club owners and some very rich politicians live ‘posh’, but they will never be ‘CLASSY’.

CLASS or CLASSY = to have 'CLASS' = a way of behaving, not always associated with money. ‘-- she’s a class-act!’ = ‘she is so CLASSY ---‘ never vulgar. Often good schools, university distinction or intellectual traits are attributes of ‘people with CLASS’. Le Carre’s George Smiley, Neil Armstrong (see pic), Grace Kelly, Lisbeth Salander, ‘poppy’ Bush, Barack Obama and Sean Connery’s James Bond are CLASSY. Daniel Craig isn't. Boris Johnson is. David Cameron, despite the same privileged background, isn't. Sorry David.

SNOB, SNOBBERY, CLANNISHNESS and CASTE-consciousness are peculiarly English and Indian traits = an attitude towards people believed to be inferior to themselves, either in terms of wealth or birth. A SNOB idolizes and imitates the manners, worldview, and lifestyle of a CLASS of people to which he/she vainly aspires, ‘ --- he SNOBS even his own mother in public ---‘ ‘--- she’s a dreadful SNOB!’ This attitude is manifested by speech SOUNDS --- as soon as an Englishman opens his mouth, another Englishman despises him!

02/02/2013

PILLOLE DI INGLESE

Did you know that ---

'FOOTING' does NOT mean 'jogging' ( but it does in Italian.)

‘JOGGING’ = between walking and running for fitness or fun --- or shaking something quickly (‘-- he spent the day 'jogging' to Borgo!‘ --- it's a noun, verb and an adjective.

‘EQUAL FOOTING’ = the same legal or business level as another person (‘ --- she has 'equal footing' to the Minister of Finance ---‘)

‘FOOTING’ = a foot-grip on a steep, rocky surface (‘-- he lost his 'footing' on the North Face and fell 1000m!’) --- see picture!

‘A GOOD FOOTING’ = safe fording at a shallow-spot on a river (‘-- there is 'a good footing' 10 km down-river!‘)
to be ‘FLAT-FOOTING’ somebody = to catch an unprepared person by surprise (‘--- he specializes in 'flat-footing' his legal opponents!’) -- a verb

‘A FOOTING’ = a shallow foundation (of rock or concrete) to support a structure ('-- the 'footings' were poured today!'

28/01/2013

PILLOLE DI INGLESE

The places where SPORTS are played ---

ALLEY: bowling (10-pin) - a bowling ALLEY
ARENA: sporting events - a sports ARENA
BOWL: gridiron - the SuperBOWL
CIRCUIT: car racing - the Monza CIRCUIT
COURSE: golf, horse-racing - a golf COURSE
COURT: tennis, squash, basketball - a squash COURT
DIAMOND: baseball ( in-field) - a baseball DIAMOND
FIELD: soccer, hockey - a hockey FIELD
GALLERY: shooting - a shooting GALLERY
GREEN: putting, bowling (lawn) - a putting GREEN
GROUND: cricket, (field) hockey - a cricket GROUND
HALL: pool / billiards - a pool HALL
JUMP: ski - a ski JUMP
OVAL: football (Australian) - a football OVAL
PARK: baseball - a baseball PARK
PITCH: rugby (rugger), cricket - a cricket PITCH
POOL: swimming, water-polo - a swimming POOL
RAMP: skate/snowboarding - a snowboarding RAMP
RING: bull, boxing, wrestling - a bullRING
RINK: ice-hockey, skating - an ice-skating RINK
STADIUM: sporting events - Yankee STADIUM
TRACK: athletics, racing - a race TRACK
TRAIL: snow-skiing, mountainbike - a ski TRAIL
VELODROME: bicycling (a banked-circuit) - a VELODROME

28/01/2013

PILLOLE DI INGLESE

How SPORTS have changed English --- Part 3: OTHER SPORTS ---

BOXING has provided more English expressions than other more-popular sports ---

PUNCHING ABOVE (ONE’S) WEIGHT = boxing effectively in a heavier weight-class. ’--- politically, she PUNCHES ABOVE HER WEIGHT!’ She’s very effective in politics!'

FLOORED = literally to be knocked-down (floored) to the boxing-ring canvas. ‘--- when he received the bad news, he was ‘FLOORED’!

K.O.’d = to be knocked out (knocked unconscious) in a boxing match. ‘The judge’s decision K.O’ d him. He had to be carried from the courtroom ---!’

A KNOCK-OUT = to describe a beautiful woman. ‘She’s totally ‘drop-dead’ beautiful --- she’s a KNOCKOUT!’

BELOW THE BELT = an illegal boxing blow to the lower body. ‘--- what he said to her was really BELOW THE BELT!’

SAVED BY THE BELL = being out-boxed just as the bell rings to end a ‘round’ (c. 3 minutes). ‘The ‘statute of limitations’ saved the rich politician! He was ‘SAVED BY THE BELL’

ON THE ROPES = to be against the ring-ropes; a defensive, covering-up position in boxing. ‘Chrysler was AGAINST THE ROPES until FIAT saved them!’

TAKING A DIVE = pretending to be knocked-out at a fixed time in boxing. Being ‘bribed’ to illegally fail in business.
‘--- he TOOK A DIVE in the selling negotiations!’

DIVING = a favorite illegal ‘falling-down’ in the penalty zone in soccer (see above). Not the same as diving off a swimming-pool springboard.

THE GLOVES ARE OFF = an all-in brawl in ice-hockey; the players shed their gloves ‘--- during the discussion THE GLOVES CAME OFF and everyone argued abusively ---‘

AN OWN-GOAL = football; to ‘shoot yourself in the foot’. In politics, to give the other side an advantage. “--- he said something stupid and thus scored AN OWN GOAL!’

BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL = an impossible position in 8-ball pool. “She had bad luck, she was BEHIND THE EIGHT BALL from the beginning …!’

Speak English Cuneo

03/09/2013

03/09/2013

03/09/2013

24/06/2013

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10/03/2013

04/03/2013

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