Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[kerstin]

Q1.
Is belching longer than burping?

Q2.
Demand for new housing is "brisk", and banks are sinking serious money into what Americans call "starter-home' subdivions.
brisk= abrupt?
starter-home= for people to buy house for the first time?

Q3.
undercut= to charge less for something than somebody else
Would anyone use "undercut" in a sentence?

Q4.
The travel industry has long viewed frequent fliers as fitting a certain stereotypes: *hard-charging* men who touch down a city, stay only as long as necessary to get their job done and leave quickly.

I got all the questions from reading the business travel section of NY times.
Thank you all.

[CP]

1. They are the same thing.

2. Brisk means moving right along at a fast pace. So demand for housing is high and not flagging. And yes, a starter home is for first-time buyers. Maybe not the best, but good enough and affordable.

3. Yes, it means to charge less. How about this: "Wal-Mart was able to force out the local shoe stores and candy shops by undercutting their prices, driving their customers away." (Not that Wal-Mart would ever do that! Oh, no.)

4. Yes, the businessmen who waste no time, get right to the point, do the deal and move on to the next, are hard-charging, take-no-prisoners, cut-throat competitors out to make the deal or cut their losses. Sort of like Wal-Mart.
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