WORDS AND IDIOMS

** ringtone /rtn; AmE -ton/ (also ring tone)
noun the sound a telephone makes when sb is calling you. Ringtones are often short tunes, and the word is especially used to refer to the different sounds mobile phones/ cell phones make when they ring: Now you can request all your favourite songs to be converted into a mobile ringtone! Don’t wait to get bored of your ringtone - change it now! Customize your mobile phone with cool ringtones, including the latest Top 40 releases. You can have your ringtone delivered automatically to your phone in less than a minute. Have you ever thought about changing the ringtones in your cell phone? If not, now is the time to start! The websites charge people to download ringtones based on tunes such as ‘Mission Impossible II’.

Although mobile phones come with a variety of different ringtones, nowadays it is very popular to get other ringtones for your phone, especially tunes from pop songs and themes from television programmes. These can be downloaded from the Internet or ordered over the phone for a small charge.


startup /sttp; AmE strt-/ noun a company that is just beginning to operate, especially an Internet company: dotcom startups the fast-moving world of Internet startups A successful Internet startup will grow from 2 to 100 people within a year. Only 6 in 1000 startups succeed.

The noun startup can also be written with a hyphen (start-up). A startup is a new company, often based on an idea for making money on the Internet. Startups usually begin with only a few employees and have to borrow money in order to begin operating. In order to be successful, startups need to establish themselves and grow very quickly.

stem cell noun a basic type of cell which can divide and develop into cells with particular functions; all the different kinds of cells in the human body develop from stem cells: Stem cells are the key to the body’s ability to renew itself. Skin stem cells give rise to various types of skin cells. Tests suggest that stem cells could be used to regenerate damaged body parts. Stem cell research is the essential first step for cloning.

Stem cells have featured a lot in the news recently. Scientists hope to use stem cells to prevent and cure diseases and to enable people to live longer. But many people believe that stem cell research is wrong and should be stopped. This is mainly because at present stem cell research involves using cells from human embryos and because the technology developed in the research could be used for the purposes of cloning.


text messaging noun [U] the activity of sending a written message from one mobile phone to another. a free text messaging service Text messaging is a cost-effective way to communicate using your mobile. In order to make text messaging quick and easy messages are often written using the smallest number of letters possible. Pronouns, prepositions and articles may be omitted and abbreviations are widely used. These are some examples of how words might be shown in a text message:

Can you understand these messages?
C U L8R
R U BUSY @ W/E?
PHONE ME 2DAY B4 U LEAVE
THX 4 PRESENT :-) LUV JO

The popularity of text messaging has also led to the introduction of a new verb into English:

text /tekst/ verb [vn] to send sb a written message using a mobile phone: Text me when you’re ready.

think out of the box: to think about sth, or how to do sth, in a new, a different or an imaginative way: Discover how thinking out of the box delivers creative solutions for your needs. Thinking out of the box would improve public education. Some entrepreneurs hit it big by simply thinking out of the box. I understand this whole concept of wanting to think out of the box and challenge people and so forth.

This new idiom is especially common in connection with business, particularly when talking about finding solutions to problems, developing new concepts or changing the way that people work.

try-and-buy adj. [only before noun] (used especially about computer programs and equipment) that can be used free of charge for a limited period of time, during which you can decide whether you want to buy it or not: There is a try-and-buy version of the software which you can download from the Internet. A 90-day try-and-buy version is available on CD-ROM. The company has announced a try-and-buy program for its portable computers.

WAP /wæp/ abbr. wireless application protocol; a technology that links devices such as MOBILE PHONES to the Internet. It consists of rules for changing Internet information so that it can be shown on a very small screen.: WAP technology a WAP phone We sell several types of WAP-enabled phone. a WAP mobile phone banking service WAP is the key to the development of m-commerce (= mobile commerce).

There still seems to be some uncertainty among non-specialists about how to pronounce WAP. Should it rhyme with 'tap' or 'top'? But the specialists agree that it is pronounced to rhyme with 'tap'.


warchalking /wtk; AmE wr-/ noun [U] the action of drawing a symbol on a wall or other surface in chalk to show that you can get a free Internet connection near that place: Warchalking signals have been springing up in areas such as London and Silicon Valley over recent months. The debate over the legality of warchalking is still going on. This recent term is based on the word wardialing, which refers to hackers' practice of setting computers to continually dial different phone numbers until they find one which allows them to break into a computer network via the modem.
As with many new words in English, this one is quite flexible, and derived forms have appeared:

A few wild warchalks are starting to appear in places such as Maryland, Copenhagen, London and San Jose.
Oxford Street has been warchalked.
One warchalker has already discovered that some of the kiosks dotting London’s Oxford Street contain wireless nodes that anyone can use.

white-van man: noun (informal) used in Britain to refer to a man driving a white van in an aggressive way. Such drivers are often thought of as a symbol of the rude and sometimes violent way in which some men behave today.

click through: phrasal verb click through (sth) (to sth) (computing) to view an Internet page by clicking with your mouse on a picture or piece of text (= a link) that automatically connects your computer to it: You can click through to the recipes listed below. Please click through the ad to make a donation online. The advertisement allows you to click through for more information. We pay you for every new customer that has clicked through the banner on your site.

Often phrasal verbs have nouns that are related to them. In the case of click through there is the noun clickthrough, which is used when talking about the number of people who visit an advertisement on the Internet:

A clickthrough occurs each time somebody clicks on the advertisement.
Advertising is sold at 10 cents per clickthrough.
an advertisement with a high clickthrough rate

O.U.P. - 2203

1) 'ratchet' /rætt/ verb

'ratchet (sth) up to keep increasing by small amounts'; to make sth increase in this way:
- Overuse of credit cards has ratcheted up consumer debt to unacceptable levels.
- She believes that economic growth will accelerate in the second half of the year, with base interest rates being ratcheted up to 5%.
- The unions have managed to ratchet up drivers' pay.
- The EU has sought to ratchet up pressure on the government over its controversial policies.
- Tensions in the area have ratcheted up a notch with the latest attack.


The particle up, which combines with ratchet to form the phrasal verb ratchet up is the most commonly used particle in English phrasal verbs. It is often used to suggest that something is increasing. In the case of ratchet up, the increase often relates to money. In other phrasal verbs the increase might relate to things like speed (The train started to speed up after it left the station.), strength (You need to build up your strength before going back to work.) or reputation (The government wants to play up the importance of the meeting.).

It is commonly believed that you cannot predict the meaning of a phrasal verb from its individual parts. But, in fact, if you know something about the possible meanings of particles, the meanings of phrasal verbs become much clearer.


Oxford University Press - June 2002


2) blue-sky /adj.

blue-sky adj. [only before noun] involving new and interesting ideas which are not yet possible or practical:
- The government has been doing some blue-sky thinking on how to improve public transport.
- The laboratory tries to maintain a balance between applied research and blue-sky research.
- A team of designers have been briefed to come up with blue-sky ideas to overhaul the company's image.

The colour blue features in several idiomatic expressions. In the expression 'blue-sky research', the use of the word blue seems to suggest that the research is not limited by any barriers, in the same way that when we look up into a blue sky there are no barriers to our vision.

3) Idioms:
to believe in; to go into; to run over; to run across; to touch on.

to believe in: to have trust, confidence in; to favor, to support.

I'm sure the meeting will not fall through; I believe in Ann's ability to organize it well.

If you believe in joining our political party, you should donate some money.

to go into: to examine, to consider, to discuss in detail.

In his speech, the president went into the many problems of the company.

This book goes into the life of Albert Einstein in much detail.

to run over: to review, to rehearse.

You should run over new vocabulary every day.

Right before the test, run over your notes briefly.

to run across: to meet or find unexpectedly

While he was looking on at the football match he ran across an old classmate from his high-school days.

In the library, I ran across a good reference for my term paper.

to touch on: to talk briefly about, to discuss superficially.

The President touched on many ideas in his speech; he talked only for a short while on each idea.

The TV news can only touch on several daily events; it can't examine them deeply.

4) Idiomatic Expressions: Discussion, Argument, Anger

En esta oportunidad, analizaremos expresiones idiomáticas usualmente utilizadas en discusiones a través de la resolución del siguiente ejercicio:

For each of the following sentences, find an idiom from the list which expresses a similar idea.
1 That's nonsense.
2 Why don't you say something?
3 Your ideas contradict each other.
4 You must decide whose side you're on.
5 You've said exactly what I was going to say.
6 You're misrepresenting me; that's not what I want to say.
7 Have you considered all the advantages and disadvantages?
8 Nothing you say will make me change my mind.
9 I wish I could make you understand.
10 What you say is exactly right.
11 I want to express my opinion.
12 I'm wasting my time; you just won't listen to me!

A You can argue till the cows come home.
B Stop sitting on the fence. Either you agree or you don't
C You're talking through your hat. Where did you get those facts?
D You've hit the nail on the head. That's exactly why it happened.
E Have you weighed up the pros and cons? There are both good and bad points ...
F Why won't you let me have my say? Aren't you interested in my point of view?
G I wish you'd reconsider. Will nothing I say bring you to your senses?
H You're very quiet. Have you lost your tongue?
I My feelings exactly. You've taken the words out of my mouth.
J Don't put words into my mouth. I didn't mean to suggest that at all.
K You seem to want two different things. You can't have it both ways.
L I've tried to tell you so many times, but it's like talking to a brick wall.

Key: 1C - 2H - 3K - 4B - 5I - 6J - 7E - 8A - 9G - 10D - 11F - 12L

Now, match the idioms with one of the explanations from the list on the right

1 It drives me up the wall.

2 They don't see eye to eye. A to be a cause of
anger

3 He speaks his mind. B to get very angry

4 He calls a spade a spade. C to be frank

5 It's like a red rag to a bull. D to disagree

6 He goes off the deep end.

7 He hit the roof.

8 That set the cat among the pigeons.

9 He bit my head off.

10 He jumps down my throat.

11 He blows his top.

Key:
1 A - 2 D - 3 C - 4 C - 5 A - 6 B - 7 B - 8 A - 9 B - 10 B - 11 B

American Forum - Oct. 02