May 19, 2012

Flower and plant emblems of the UK

Red roses

Anita Hunt of Nita Joy Craft Design has very kindly written me a guest post about the plants and flowers associated with some of the counties and countries of the UK. ___________________________________________ Flowers and plants are used in so many ways throughout our lives. They mark a variety of occasions such as the celebration of [...]

Idiom: nineteen to the dozen

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The phrase nineteen to the dozen refers to something that is happening very fast, or that is moving very quickly. If someone is talking nineteen to the dozen they are talking very quickly. Colloquial British English expression. Examples of use: 1. She was so excited about passing her exam, she was talking nineteen to the [...]

What is Burns’ Night?

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Burns' Night is celebrated on the 25th January every year and is a celebration of the birth date of Scottish national poet Robert Burns (1759 – 1796). Robert Burns was the son of a farmer. He is said to have had a 'fondness for the ladies', and he was an enthusiastic promoter of human welfare [...]

When is St. Andrew’s Day?

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St. Andrew's Day is on 30th November. It is the official National Day in Scotland, UK, and in 2006 was designated an official public holiday by the Scottish Parliament. St Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland, and also Greece, Russia and Romania. He was one of Jesus Christ’s Twelve Apostles and is thought to have [...]

Idiom: soap opera

television

A soap opera is a television or radio programme about the lives of a group of people that is shown every week, or sometimes several times a week. Soap operas are usually quite sentimental and melodramatic accounts of the characters' daily and personal lives. They are often called 'soaps'. The term was first used around [...]

What is the Life in the UK test?

Parliament

Everyone who applies to become a British citizen, or who applies for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom, must demonstrate their knowledge of English language and of life in the UK, in one of two ways: they can take a special English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) course which includes learning about citizenship; [...]

Haiku for Remembrance Day

Japanese garden

Haiku is a form of Japanese unrhymed poetry. Each poem has three lines and 17 syllables: five syllables in the first line, seven in the second and five again in the last line. A haiku verse is meant to paint a picture of a moment with words, and to bring to mind emotions or senses [...]

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