English From Zero to Hero

#Phrasal_Verb

💠 Breeze through sth
{slightly informal}

💫 To succeed in something [e.g. exam] very easily

🔰 Ex:- The exam won't be a problem for her - she'll just breeze through it.

#idioms

🔘TILT AT WINDMILLS

➖to fight against impossible odds in an attempt to
do good

▪️Don’t waste your time and energy trying to change a
situation that cannot be changed. The bureaucracy is
too big to fight. You’ll just be tilting at wind

▪️I’ve always been one to try to help the helpless, even when I know I have little chance of success fighting against the powerful. I guess I’ll always tilt
at windmills.

▪️The expression originates from Miguel de Cervantes’s novel
Don Quixote, in which Quixote comes upon several windmills
and, thinking that they are giants, tries to defeat them in
battle by tilting at them (stabbing while running or riding past) with his lance (long spear).

#idioms

🔘ON THE UP AND UP

➖honest; ethical; fair

▪️The salesman offered us an unbelievable price on
computer equipment. Do you think his offer is on the
up and up?


▪️Governor Russell is a very honest politician. He
would never do anything that was not on the up and
up.

#idioms

🔘 HAVE (SOMEONE) /BE IN STITCHES.

➖to make someone laugh very hard.

▪️We hired a very funny clown to perform at the
company picnic. He had the children in stitches from
beginning to end.

▪️The movie was hilarious. We couldn’t stop laughing.
We were in stitches.

#Common_Expressions
#Idioms

▪️blow one’s own horn يمدح نفسه

🔹He is always blowing his own horn and is very annoying at times.


▪️break the news. يأتي بالأخبار الجديدة

🔹He is planning to break the news to her about his transfer tomorrow.


▪️bring someone into line يقنعه على الأ تفاق معه

🔹He was finally able to bring the other members of the committee into line

▪️bring to mind يتذكر شيئا ما

🔹Her perfect acting brought to mind some of the great actresses of the past.

▪️brush up on something يراجع ما قد درسه

🔹I’m going to brush up on my English before my trip to New York.

▪️burn a hole in one’s pocket بسرعة يصرف مال


🔹I just got paid today and this money is burning a hole in my pocket.

▪️ burn the midnight oil. يدرس لوقت متأخر من الّليل

🔹We burned the midnight oil for three nights in a row in order to study for the exam.


▪️bury (hide) one’s head in the sand يرفض مواجهة أمراً ما

🔹He always buries his head in the sand and never wants to deal with his family problems at all.

#Vocabulary

🔘corroborate
/kəˈrɒbəreɪt $ kəˈrɑː-/


verb [T] (formal)to provide information that supports or helps to prove someone else’s statement, idea etc

➖ SYN back up


➖We now have new evidence to corroborate the defendant’s story.

➖Experiments elsewhere corroborate these results.


— corroboration (noun)  [U]


— corroborative (adjective)
corroborative evidence

#COLLOCATIONS

◼️ Unanimous {adjective}

💠 agreed or decided by  everyone in a group

✨ ADVERBS
◾️ almost/ nearly/ virtually unanimous

✨ NOUNS
◾️ a unanimous decision/ choice
◾️ a unanimous vote/ verdict
◾️ unanimous agreement/ approval/ consent
◾️ unanimous support/ backing
◾️ the unanimous view/ opinion

✨ PREPOSITIONS
◾️ unanimous on/ about sth British
◾️ unanimous in doing sth

✨ PHRASES
◾️ be far from unanimous (=there is a lot of disagreement)

#COLLOCATIONS

◼️ Unacceptable {adjective}

💠 so wrong or bad that it should not be allowed

✨ ADVERBS
◾️ completely/ totally/ wholly unacceptable
◾️ simply unacceptable (=used when you want to emphasize that you strongly disapprove of something)
◾️ politically unacceptable
◾️ socially unacceptable
◾️ morally unacceptable

✨ VERBS
◾️ be considered (to be) unacceptable
◾️ be regarded as unacceptable (=be considered unacceptable)

✨ NOUNS
◾️ unacceptable behaviour BrE unacceptable behavior AmE
◾️ an unacceptable level/ degree
◾️ an unacceptable risk

✨ PREPOSITIONS
◾️ sth is unacceptable to sb

✨ PHRASES
◾️ it is unacceptable for sb to do sth

#COLLOCATIONS

◼️ Unable {adjective}

💠 [not before noun]  not able to do something

✨ ADVERBS
◾️ completely/ totally unable to do sth also utterly unable to do sth formal
◾️ almost/ nearly/ virtually unable to do sth
◾️ quite unable to do sth formal (=completely unable)

✨ VERBS
◾️ feel unable to do sth
◾️ leave sb unable to do sth
◾️ find yourself unable to do sth formal

✨ PHRASES
unwilling or unable to do sth



♨️ Note:- ♨️

💢 Be unable to or can’t/ couldn’t?

❇️ Be unable to sounds more formal than can’t/ couldn’t, which are more common in everyday spoken English.

🌀 Be unable to can be used with adverbs such as completely or totally
🔰 Ex:- He was completely unable to remember the accident.

🌀 With can’t/ couldn’t, you use at all
🔰 Ex:- He couldn’t remember the accident at all.

#COLLOCATIONS

◼️ Ultimatum {noun}

💠 a threat to punish someone if they do not do something

✨ VERBS
◾️ give sb an ultimatum
◾️ issue/ deliver an ultimatum (=officially give someone an ultimatum)
◾️ present sb with an ultimatum formal (=give them one)
◾️ receive an ultimatum
◾️ comply with an ultimatum (=do what someone wants)
◾️ ignore an ultimatum (=not do what someone wants)

✨ PREPOSITIONS
◾️ an ultimatum from sb

✨ PHRASES
the terms of an ultimatum