Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[erik19283]

Hello,

How do you call a kind of toy that is similar to a teddy bear but isn't a bear? It could be a monkey, a puppy, or even an alien or a cartoon character, but not a bear.

Thank you in advance for you help.

[CP]

They are sometimes called plush toys or stuffed toys / characters. Probably the panda is the most popular after the bear.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[erik19283]

Thank you CP.

I often see your nickname appear when I look at what people answered to others' questions. I think it's really nice fo you to spend so much of your time helping others. Thank you.

[redset]

In Britain you'll often hear them called soft toys or cuddly toys. In fact there was a gameshow here where people would sit in front of a conveyor belt and different items would slide by while the host said what they were, and they had to remember as many as they could - anything they remembered at the end, they won. There was always a cuddly toy, and after a while the audience would cheer when it appeared each week

[CP]

Dear Erik,

Thank you for your kind words. They apply equally or more to Redset, Dr. Chepur, Damon, Lotus, Asterix, and lots of other people.

English is my mother tongue, so it took no effort at all to learn it. But from studying other languages I know how hard it must be to try to learn English as a second or third language, and I admire anyone who does it. It is not a great chore to answer a learner's question now and then.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Anuradha Chepur]

Thanks for the acknowledgement CP.

[CP]

Acknowledgment for the thanks, Dr. Chepur! You are certainly welcome.

(But usually I avoid acknowledging thanks on this site, because the back-and-forth has no logical stopping point. Whoever did not write back is rude or thoughtless . . . .)

(See? Now you don't know whether to write back or move on.)
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[Anuradha Chepur]

I'll move on CP. But this gives me an opportunity to realise that I tend to acknowledge quite a bit, and I picked up this habit when I had worked for a UK based company long back, where every little achievement or gesture used to be appreciated and acknowledged (on stage in that) in our weekly meetings. At the same time we would be warned that we can't bask in past glory and we have to keep working and achieving to continue being appreciated.

[CP]

Dear Dr. Chepur,

Your moving on by writing back obligates me to reply so as not to appear thoughtless.

I often write thank-you notes to people, who then call me to thank me for the thank-you notes. I tell them not to thank me for thanking them, so that I won't have to thank them for thanking me, and so on ad infinitum.

Your move.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb