Idiom: Color Me Shocked

"Color Me Shocked!"

In English we use this idiom to express the idea that we're not shocked after being told something that may or should be shocking.

A: The Indiana Pacer lost to LeBron James and the Miami Heat in game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.

B: Color me shocked. 

When we hear or read emotional news and have no reaction to the news or emotional state being set upon us because it was expected or unsurprising.

A: Someone leaked a slide of a NSA presentation that proves they have direct access to our email, facebook, skype, and other website information. 
B: Color me shocked.

As in a coloring book with white pages, you color the picture the correct or appropriate color for the object, we color our expression the correct or appropriate adjective. 

A: You burped so loudly everyone heard you.
B: Well, color me embarrassed.


Speak Bravely!

3 Phrase Diet: Week 11

Welcome to Week 11 of the 3 phrase diet! How many of you have made it this far? I'm still waiting to hear from you about phrases you've studied or just your favorite English phrases. Don't be afraid to share with us!

3 Phrases:

Take a Peek
If your friend or co-worker is showing pictures of their recent trip to Turkey and you would like to have a look, you should say this phrase, "May I take a peek?" To peek means to look and is often used in a game with babies called Peek-a-Boo. 

Scared silly

When something or someone scares you so bad that you scream and loose control of yourself. In this phrase 'silly' may have the same meaning as 'crazy' or 'hysterical' or 'mad'. We use the word 'silly' because from an outside point of view you look silly. This phrase is typically used in situations where the thing that scared you isn't very scary at all.

Examples:
      When the clown jumped out at the end of the hall I was scared silly.
      I get scared silly at the sight of cockroaches.

Within Walking Distance

When your looking for something (store, park, etc.) and you want to know "How far is it?" the phrase "Within walking distance." means that it's close enough that you'll be able to walk to your desired destination. 


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Happy Learning and Speak Bravely!

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Discussion: Reasons

Hopefully you've been studying our previous posts on Discussion. We talked about:

The 3 parts of Disscusion: Opinion, Reason and Examples

and

The differences between opinion, preference and facts. 

Now let's look at Reason:

Reason is the 'Why' something is the way it is. We often use 'Because' to tell our reason for something.

If you have an opinion: Chocolate makes you fat. You need to tell your listener 'why' chocolate makes you fat: because chocolate is made with saturated fat that sticks to your fat cells and is harder to burn during exercise. 

Let's practice!

Here's a list of categories to form an opinion and think of a reason that fits with that opinion.

Sports
Food
Books
Animals

Some Examples

Sports: Baseball is a great sport because it takes a lot of skill to hit the ball and that makes it very exciting.

Books: Fiction writing is very interesting because the writer is free to create a world full of unusual characters, surprising events and imaginative landscapes. 

For these 4 categories give us your opinion about a specific aspect in that category and include the reason 'why' you have that opinion. Leave your sentences in the comments or email us at chromatic.english@gmail.com.

Happy Learning and Speak Bravely!


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3 Phrase Diet: Week 10

Welcome to June and week 10 of the 3 phrase diet!

I missed you on weeks 8 and 9. I hope you've been keeping up with your phrases.

Here's 3 phrases for this week:

We had a lovely time

After going to a party or having a dinner at the end of the night you can say, "We had a lovely time."

To the best of my knowledge

In a conversation you say this when your unsure about the amount you know about a subject or an event, "To the best of my knowledge the movie starts tomorrow."     

As I see it

When having a discussion and asked your opinion you can open or close with this phrase, "As I see it, the US government should provide healthcare to its citizens."

Happy Learning and Speak Bravely!


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