Customer vs Client

A customer or a client is a person who buys goods or services. The term client is mainly used for service industries, and implies a regular contact between the buyer and the seller. A consumer is a person who buys goods or services for their personal use. The term is also used to talk about someone who uses the product / service. For food, the customer is the person who buys it and the consumer is the person who eats it. However, the two terms are often used interchangeably without any particular attention to the difference in meaning.

Not Have the Foggiest Idea

If you don't have the foggiest idea, you don't know at all. Other expressions:
I don't have a clue / I haven't got a clue.
I don't have the faintest idea / I haven't got the faintest idea.



Examples:
I don’t have the foggiest idea why he called me.
None of us had the foggiest idea about how to put the tent up.

To Throw a Tantrum

When a child throws a tantrum that means a sudden short period when s/he behaves very angrily and unreasonably.



Examples:
Alex threw a tantrum and screamed loudly.
She throws a tantrum when she can't have the toy she wants.
He threw a temper tantrum at school when two of the newcomers took his soccer ball.

A Bitter Pill to Swallow

A bitter pill to swallow is something which is unpleasant, but has to be accepted.



Examples:
Losing my job was initially a bitter pill to swallow.
The knowledge that his friends no longer trusted him was a bitter pill to swallow.
The truth about her family had been a bitter pill to swallow.

To Have a Memory like a Sieve

If you have a memory like a sieve, your memory is realy bad and you forget things easily (a sieve is a kitchen tool with a plastic net which separates liquids from solids).



Example:
I'm sorry, I forgot to get your newspaper. I have a memory like a sieve!

To Catch Sb Red-handed

To catch somebody red-handed means to catch someone while they are doing something illegal



Examples:
I was caught red-handed with the money in my bag.
He was caught red-handed taking money from the cash register.
Tom was stealing the car when the police drove by and caught him red-handed.

Fall vs Feel

The most common mistake regarding the two verbs to fall and to feel are their Past Simple and Past Participle forms. Both verbs are irregular:

fall – fell – fallen

feel – felt – felt

In order to memorise them, feel free to do the following exercise.

TEST YOURSELF
Please use either the Past Simple or Past Participle form:

1. She … asleep at 9pm yesterday. (fall)
2. Marie immediately ... guilty. (feel)
3. I think that I've ... in love with Angela. (fall)
4. The book ... from his hands. (fall)
5. When his dad left, he ... as though his world had turned upside-down. (feel)
6. I ... like I'd really achieved something. (feel)
7. Rob ... down the stairs. (fall)
8. She ... his warm breath on her cheek. (feel)
9. “What has happened?” “I have slipped and … on the ice” (fall)
10. The earthquake was ... as far south as San Diego. (feel)
11. The house was empty for many years and ... into disrepair. (fall)
12. A tree had ... across the road and blocked it. (fall)
13. It ... wonderful to be wearing clean clothes again. (feel)
14. Fred ... out of the tree and broke his arm. (fall)

Brain Drain

The phrase the brain drain refers to the movement of highly skilled and educated people from their own country to another one where they are paid more.

How to Begin & Close an Email

If you know the recipient's name, it is usual to use a personal greeting, e.g.
Dear Mr Ashton
Dear Miss Agnes
Dear Jakie

If your email is addressed generally to an organisation and not to a specific person, the more formal greeting should be used:
Dear Sirs

If your email is addressed to a head of a department or the head of an organisation whose name is not known, it would be more appropriate to use the following greeting:
Dear Sir or Madam

The two common closings are:
Yours faithfully (used only with Dear Sirs/Dear Sir or Madam)
Yours sincerely (used with personal greetings e.g. Dear Mr Ashton)

By Word of Mouth

If you learn about something by word of mouth, it means that you get it by somebody telling you.



Examples:
Most of our customers hear about us by word of mouth.
Much of this information is picked up by word of mouth from previous students.
"How did you hear about this company?" "By word of mouth."
The book became a worldwide best-seller, largely by word of mouth.

To Pay Lip Service to Sb/Sth

If you pay lip service to somebody / something, you say that you support or agree with somebody / something without actually doing anything.



Examples:
This organisation pays lips service to career development.
This company pays lip service to the principle of equal rights for women.
You don't really care about politics. You're just paying lip service to the candidate.

I Wish

We use I wish + Past Simple when we want to talk about the present. We want to express regret for a present situation.

I wish I were you. (= but I'm not)
I wish I knew the answer. (=but I don't)
I wish I could speak Hungarian. (=but I can't)
I wish you had more time for me. (=but you don't)
I wish she didn't have to work sho hard. (=but she has to)

We use I wish + Past Perfect when we want to talk about the past. We want to express regret for a past situation.

I wish I had studied English at school. (=but I didn't)
I wish I had taken your advice. (=but I didn't)
I wish she had visited me yesterday. (=but she didn't)
I wish you hadn't stayed at home last weekend. (=but you did, you stayed at home last weekend)

We use I wish + would when we want to express our annoyance / anger at somebody's behaviour (something is annoying / irritating / something gets on your nerves.)

I wish my neighbour would stop listening to music so loudly!
I wish you would listen to me!
I wish you would stop throwing things around the flat!



TEST YOURSELF
1. I wish you ... (give up) smoking! I can't stand the smoke!
2. I wish I ... (can) play the piano.
3. I wish Jack ... (attend) my birthday party last week.
4. I wish I ... (not choose) philosophy when I was graduating.
5. I wish my boss ... (not scream) at me! It's so difficult to concentrate.
6. I wish it ... (not rain) today.

A Real Eye-opener

A real eye-opener is an event or situation that you unexpectedly learnt something from.



Examples:
The whole trip has been a real eye-opener.
Working in such a poor country opened my eyes to how unjust the world is. It was a real eye-opener.

To Go Through the Roof

If a price / cost goes through the roof, it increases to a very high level.



Examples:
Will the price of petrol in Poland go through the roof in the next months?
Following news of increased profits, the company's share price went through the roof.
Sales of the Funky sunglasses went through the roof after Natalie Portman wore them in her latest film.

Exiting a conversation

Have you ever ended up in a situation where the person with whom you are talking has no intention of closing the conversation and you are already late for a meeting / bus / whatever? Here are some useful phrases which will help you to exit a conversation in a relatively painless way.

Nice talking to you.
I'm afraid I must be off.
Well, I'm going to circulate. It was good to meet you.
Is that the time? My parking ticket runs out in five minutes!
Is that Jack over there? Excuse me, I really must go and speak to him.
I'm going to get some food. I missed lunch because of the conference call.
I promised to meet someone else. But I'll come back when I've seen him / her.
Look, I really don't have time to chat at the moment. I'll call you tomorrow though.

Exchanging contact details

It's essential to make a good impression on a new customer / business partner. The following expressions will come in handy when you meet them and want to swap your contact details.

Asking for details
Let me take your name and number.
Can I have your name / number / email address?
What's the best way to contact you?
I have an email address but I'm not sure if it's current.

Giving details
Let me give you my card. / Here's my card.
Thanks, and here's mine.
I'll send you my contact details by text.
You can call / reach me on 3526849509.
Here's my email address.
It's easiest if you just give me your email address.
The one above is my business email. I check it regulary so please use that one.

Explain & Recommend

The following verbs to explain and to recommend have one thing in common. Polish students often use them in a wrong way. They do so because they translate the structure/sentence with these verbs directly from their mother tongue. However, in the English language it is vital to use the preposition to before a person, i.e.

to explain something to somebody

Examples:
Could you explain that to me?
I explained the situation to my bank manager.
He carefully explained the procedure to my mum.
The librarian will explain to us how to use the catalogue system.

to recommend something to somebody

Examples:
I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in chemistry.
Would you recommend this company to us?
Could you recommend a good film to me?

Until vs By

We use by to refer to a deadline or the latest date when sth must be finished / completed.

Examples:
I need the report by Friday.
Application forms must be received by 31st March.
You will receive my email by EOD. (=end of day)
I reckon the film should be over by 9.30.

We use until to refer to a period of time to do sth. Please note that the spoken form of until is till.

Examples:
We have until Friday to finish the report.
I was employed by a manufacturing company until 1999.
Until now, the United States could not produce enough oil to satisfy its needs for transportation.
He waited until she had finished speaking.
Up until last year, they didn't even own a car.

TEST YOURSELF
1. They lived in a small house ... September 2003.
2. You have to finish ... August 31.
3. I will be away ... Wednesday.
4. Will the details be available ... December?
5. Details will not be available ... January.

Ponglish - Polish English?

While learning a foreign language, we all make mistakes. Having been a teacher for more than 8 years, I've noticed that Polish students have a tendency to make certain types of mistakes. It might stem from the fact that there is a similar word in Polish but has a different meaning (so called false friends). The other thing is that the Polish language may be poor in certain grammar structures or items of vocabulary. Finally, the structure of an English word / grammar unit could be completely different from our mother tongue.



The purpose of this section of my blog is to make friends with those common mistakes and eradicate them so that you could use natural English. You won't speak Ponglish any more. Every post will consist of three parts: introduction/explanation, examples, and exercise. Feel free to comment on them / ask questions in the comments section.

Last but not least, remember that practice makes perfect.

Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

Nothing ventured, nothing gained - this English idiom is used to say that you cannot achieve anything if you don't take risks.



Examples:
We tried to make television programmes that were new and different, and we weren't always successful, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

To Climb Up the Career Ladder

To climb up the career ladder means to move up within an organisation / company; to get promoted.



Examples:
He is very young but ambitious, that is why he is trying to climb up the career ladder.
It's not always easy for women to climb up the corporation ladder.
How are things going? Have you already climbed up the career ladder?

To Be Raining Cats and Dogs

To be raining cats and dogs means to be raining heavily, to be pouring with rain.



Example:
It's been raining cats and dogs for 3 hours!

International Alphabet

It is a combination of letters that can be easily pronounced and understood by anyone regardless of their native language. It was developed by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. It was later adopted by many national and international organisations (e.g. NATO), as well as many businesses all over the globe. The purpose of using the international alphabet is to avoid confusion while spelling (e.g. on the phone).

Alpha


Bravo


Charlie


Delta


Echo


Foxtrot


Golf


Hotel


India


Juliet


Kilo



Lima



Mike



November



Oscar



Papa



Quebec



Romeo



Sierra



Tango



Uniform



Victor



Whiskey



X-ray



Yankee



Zulu

To Be Stuck in a Rut

To be stuck in a rut means to live or work in a situation that never changes, so that you feel bored.



Examples:
I was stuck in a rut and decided to look for a new job.
Jake felt like he was stuck in a rut, so he went back to school.
Kate was tired of being stuck in a rut, so she moved to Los Angeles.

Think Outside the Box

To think outside the box means to think of new, different, or unusual ways of doing something, especially in business.



Examples:
Employees are encouraged to think outside the box and develop creative solutions.
You won't come up with good ideas until you think outside the box.
Let's think outside the box for a minute and try to find a better solution.