Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[kerstin]

1.
b *do yourself justice* to display your own abilities fully or perform to your full potentialoften used in the negative
How is that often negative and can that be used in a positive way?

2.
How is *concilation* different from *reconcilation*?

3.
Does *opaue* equal *blurry*?

4. You can take on job training at boss' *dime*= at his cost?

5. Can *bite* be used as "eagerly anticipate"?

6.Mail-out envelope=mass distribution of mail. Like flyer?


Thanks to you guys!

[bud]

1. That's from a dictionary? What they mean is that the negative form (using "not") is often used. Grammatically, it's negative, but the thought is usually a positive one.

Ex.

That picture doesn't do you justice. = You are prettier (more handsome) than your picture.

The raise you got didn't do you justice. = You deserved a bigger raise.

2. I don't think I've ever seen or heard "conciliation" used. I looked at a couple of dictionaries and I don't see how they differ at all... So I'd say they mean the same thing. Maybe it's one of those wods that lawyers use, but no one else does.

3. No. "Opaque" is something that does not let light pass through. You might install opaque glass in a bathroom window so that people cannot see through it (although maybe they will still be able to see an extremely blurry image of someone using the bathroom).

4. Yes.

5. Not that I can think of... There is an expression "chomping at the bit" which means to eagerly anticipate. In this case, a "bit" is the metal part that fits into a saddle horse's mouth.

6. Are you sure you have that right? A "return envelope" is an envelope included in a letter sent to you so that you can return something to the sender (maybe a form or an application). I can't think of any special term for the envelopes used for a mass mailing.

[CP]

[missdaredevil]

How do I say "I have aroused your interest in this matter" in a natural way?


Thanks

[bud]

Two possibilities:

"You look interested (about this)."

"I see you're interested (about this)."

"About this" is optional and would most often be omitted, I think.