nerves (noun) are a group of long thin fibres that carry information or instructions between the brain and other parts of the body. A nerve is like an electric cable that passes electric current. When your hand touches a something hot, the hand sends the feeling to the brain through nerves.
You don't have to be a doctor to use the word nerve because it is used in a few natural English expressions you should know.
Here's part of a conversation I overheard in the office this morning.
Take a look at this sentence which appears on businessweek's website report on an official visit by a US politician to China:
"U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner’s visit to Beijing is a “very encouraging” development that offers an “olive branch” to China ahead of a series of meetings."
Here are five idioms and phrases that are useful when talking about education.
To memorise something in such a way that you can say it from memory.
"I learnt the poem by heart."
To succeed easily, with a very high mark or grade.
"I'm confident that Jenny will pass her English exam with flying colours."
Look at the different explanations of each idiom and then order the words of the idiom that match the explanation.
1) Tony really drinks a lot of alcohol.
Tony fish like a drinks
2) Whenever the boss is out of the office, the colleagues do whatever they want.
mice will the cat’s When the away play
3) I am really nervous about my job interview.
When someone gets tricked, cheated or decieved, we say that they have been had. Being mistreated, cheated or dealt with badly, is known as being had.
This expression uses the verb to have in the sense of getting someone in one's power or at a disadvantage.
Take a look at these ten words. They are all related to health. Using the letters, match each word to the correct definition. Type A into the correct space, not weather.
How many did you get correct? Can you use these words in your own example sentences?
Today's cartoon is about the idiom someone's lips are sealed:
When you promise to keep something a secret you say my lips are sealed. It's something you say to let someone know that you will not tell anyone else what they have just told you.
"Don't worry, Joseph. I won't tell anyone what you told me. My lips are sealed."
February 14 is St. Valentine's Day; a day when lovers express their love for each other by giving flowers, gifts, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").
In honour of St. Valentine's Day, here are 5 idioms which use the word heart. These are not examples of romantic idioms. The heart idioms cover a number of situations.
When you learn something by heart, you learn it exactly and from memory.