Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

1.He is an ignoramus=someone who is ignorant?

2. in effect= used to indicate that what is being said represents the truth of the matter, even though the words used may not be those that other people would choose
In effect, this means that the program is shut down.

I don't understand the explanation. Could anyone explain?

3. I will make your *chonies* drop.
What is that?

4.unseemly
1. not in good taste: contrary to accepted standards of good taste or appropriate behavior
2. inconvenient: occurring at an inconvenient time or place
How is that word commonly used?

5.I like Latin *dem* Latin women
Does that mean anything or *them*?

6 Do *relation* and *relationship* mean the same thing?

7.

He felt uncomfortably *conspicuous*, since he was the only man in evening dress.
Can *obvious* and *conspicuous* be used interchangeably in that sense?


Thanks

[iitimone7]

1. ignoramus is someone who more ignorant than the average ignorant person. it is a bad insult and i think it is completely rude and uncalled for and should never be used.

2. 'in effect' is not used in normal every day language often. instead, you can used similar phrases 'as same as' or 'as a result of'.

3. chronies is another word for a group of people who may hang out together closely all the time, similar to followers of a leader. may be kind of like a gang, but more in a work or school setting and not a street gang violent group.

*lorikeet - can you describe it better?*

4. this is not a word that is as common as you may think. it also means indecent, inaporopriate, unbecoming. i don't think i've ever used it in a sentence before, but the -ly indicates that the word is an adjective.

5. correct

6. not exactly the same. you may be related to your cousin, but you may not have a relationship with her. relation is more of a legal term and relationship is a personal term.

7. not really...although it may be obvious that he is wearing a dress, it does not necessarily mean that he is conspicuously trying to be a woman. maybe he's wearing a dress to a halloween party, or he's wearing it as a joke, or the man is Klinger on M*A*S*H and he's trying to get out of the army.

if the man wears dresses everyday because he feels like a woman and wants to be a woman, then people around him may treat him differently (conspicuously) because they don't know what he is trying to be - a man dressing as a woman, or a woman in a man's body.

iitimone7

[CP]

1. Yes, someone who acts like he knows something but does not. I think the word "ignoramus" was made up to sound like Latin, which adds to the meaning, since use of Latin phrases implies that one is well-educated.

2. It is a way to give the "bottom line" or summarize.

3. This is just a guess, but you may have heard "make your cojones drop." "Cojones" is Spanish for "*beep*," used sometimes in English to avoid saying something indelicate in person or in a movie.

4. In an unseemly display of poor taste and child endangerment, Britney Spears was spotted driving with a cigarette in her mouth and a baby on her lap, wearing an old sweatsuit and no seat belt.

5. The correct way to say it: "I like those Latin women." People sometimes say "them" instead of "those," and some people mispronounce words like "them," "these," and "those" as "dem," "dese," and "doze." So, yes, it means "I like them / those Latin women." You would put such a sentence in the mouth of someone you want to portray as poorly educated, since he is both mispronouncing and making a mistake in his native tongue at the same time.

6.

7. Means he felt that he "stuck out like a sore thumb," looked out of place, as though everyone knew that he did not belong there, because he was dressed inappropriately. I wouldn't use "obvious" in that sentence.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[missdaredevil]

[CP]

Klinger is a person, a member of the MASH unit in the movie and later TV series called M*A*S*H. MASH is some kind of military hospital -- I can't remember what it stands for right now.
_________________
You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[iitimone7]

M*A*S*H = mobile army surgical hospital

sorry if i confused you, msdare...iitimone7