Trivia of the Week: Augustus

The month of August is named after the Roman emperor Augustus. Its name was changed in the year 8 BC from “Sextilis”, a name it received because it was originally the sixth in a ten-month calendar....

Idiom of the Week: A Madhouse

“Look at this place! Children making mud pies in the kitchen, dogs running through the hall, loud music playing in the living room and the adults are starting a fire in the yard. It’s a madhouse!” A madhouse is actually an insane asylum, but we sometimes use it to...

Word of the Week: Overcome

“He overcame his fear of heights to become a professional pilot.” “Overcome” means to get over a difficulty or problem, or defeat an enemy. It ends with “come” and is conjugated in the same way. The past is “overcame”, not “overcomed”. 「彼は高所恐怖症を乗り越えてプロのパイロットになりました」...

Phrase of the Week: Short For

“Hi, I’m Sam.” “Isn’t that a boy’s name?” “It’s short for Samantha.” When a word or phrase is too long, we can abbreviate it or make it shorter. Then we say the shortened version is “short for” the longer version. Do you know what “DNA” is short for? What is short for...