What’s the difference between these two sentences?
– I may go out tonight – I might go out tonight
As far as I’m concerned, they are the same, both of them mean that there is a possibility that I will go out tonight.
According to some, ‘might’ is slightly less possible that ‘may’, but I have no reason to believe that native speakers conscienciously make this distinction. Maybe I use ‘might’ more that ‘may’ in conversation, but that’s no reason why you should.
I could do with : j’ai besoin, j’ai envie, je veux
fancy going down the pub? Ca te dirais d’aller au pub?
to moonlight, moonlighting: travailler au noir, le travail au noir
Transcript
I haven’t had a break this morning, and I could do with a coffee.
I could do with something a bit stronger!
Fancy going down the pub at lunch time?
Yeah, why not? Anyway, where were you this morning during the meeting? I had a lot of trouble explaining your forecasts, and could have done with your help.
Sorry, I had to go to the bank to see about our loans. We could do with borrowing more money if we are going to survive the recession.
I’m not sure I’m going to survive the recession. I could do with getting another job!
You mean doing some moonlighting?
No, I mean leaving this job and getting another one with a better salary!
ran into the back of me : m’a rentré dedans
shaken : secoué
bumper : pare-choc
scratch : rayure
asshole : (grossier) lit.’trou du cul’ mais en anglais le mot s’emploie plus souvent et est l’équivalent de ‘connard’ en français.
I’m so sorry I’m late, I had an accident just as was leaving home.
Oh no. What happened?
Well I was just pulling out of the car park and this guy just ran into the back of me. He can’t have been looking where he was going.
Are you hurt? Do you need to go to hospital?
No, I’m fine. Just a little shaken, that’s all.
What about your car? Is there much damage?
It’s got a big dent in the rear bumper and a scratch above the lights, but it’s still driveable.
I hope you got his insurance details.
Yeah. He seemed like a nice guy.
Good. There are some real assholes out there who won’t give their details even when they know it’s their fault.
Date: the twenty-first of December
Accents: British
Expressions:
kick-off : coup d’envoi
to move the goal posts : (déplacer les buts) changer les règles en plein milieu d’une activité/projet/programme
to be as sick as a parrot: (malade comme un péroquet) – être déçu d’avoir perdu
to be over the moon: au septième ciel, aux anges
transcript
So, do you like football?
Well, I guess I do, really.
Me too. It’s a great game. In England, they call it the beautiful game.
There are quite a few expressions in English that come from football.
Go on. Let’s hear them.
Well, we’re going to kick off soon, so I can’t tell you all of them.
Kick-off is one of them isn’t it?
Yes, we can say kick-off to talk about about the start of something.
There’s another one about goalposts, isn’t there?
Yes, to move the goalposts means changing the rules during the project. It’s like cheating really, and makes everyone confused and angry.
I don’t know about you, but people say that footballers use a lot of stupid expressions because they are not very good at communicating.
Well I do know that to be as sick as a parrot used to be common among footballers. That’s a stupid one, isn’t it?
Certainly is. But saying “I’m over the moon” is OK, isn’t it? I mean it’s not just footballers that say it.
Date: the nineteenth of December
the flu : la grippe
a cold : un rhume
runny nose: le nez qui coule
sore throat: mal à la gorge
a bug = a virus
a cough : une toux, to cough: tousser
take a day off (sick) : poser une journée (pour maladie)
a pain in the neck : embêtant, (personne) casse-pieds
stomach bug: gastro
Sorry the video’s late today, I’m really not well today, and have spent most of the day in bed. I’m not sure exactly what I’ve got, it feels like the flu because I have a lot of pain in my back and head. I also have a runny nose and a sore throat. It’s probably just a heavy cold or some virus. My kids are ill, too. They are tired after a long school term, and are vulnerable to all the bugs that are going around. They both have a bad cough, too. I hope I won’t get that. I tried to rest as much as I could today, because I have to go to work tomorrow. There’s no way I can take a day off sick, I got too much to do. Even if I have a temperature, I’ll still have to drag myself into work. It’s a real pain in the neck, but it’s normal for this time of year. At least we haven’t had stomach bugs so far this winter, that’s the worst. Well I hope you’re well, and that you won’t catch what I’ve got.
date: the eighteenth of December
Accent: British
Words:
redundancy: lincenciement
to be made redundant: être licencié
a temp (=temporary worker) interimaire
to get the sack/to get fired : se faire virer (familier) (pour faute professionnel, par exemple)
to resign: démissioner
to hire: embaucher
to quit: démissioner/quitter (en claquant la porte!)
transcript
Hello, it’s the eighteenth of December, not long to go before the holidays. Unfortunately it’s not all fun and parties. A lot of people are still worrying about losing their jobs in this fragile economy. We’ve got some temps working here at the moment, but I’m pretty sure that their contracts won’t be renewed. Some of the managers are talking about compulsory redundancies too. I was made redundant once. I was working for an accountancy firm that lost an important client, so their was no more work for me. At the time, it was easy to find another job, but it’s not the same today.
If you lose your job because you are incompetent or have done something dishonest, you can say that you got the sack. In America, they say to get fired. We had a secretary who got sacked last week for stealing stationary from the store room. But because of the crisis, I don’t think we will hire a replacement.
One of my colleagues has just resigned to go and work for an investment bank in the city. Lucky him! I’m just hoping to win the win the lottery one day. If I do, I’ll quit my job and go and live somewhere hot. Thanks for stopping by to talk to me. Bye bye.
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comment dire “se faire virer” en anglais
traduction de “licenciement” en anglais
que veut dire “he got the sack”
Date: the seventeenth of December
Accents: American, British
Word of the day: accountant :comptable
bookkeeper: aide comptable
Transcript
Tell me, Jeremy, what exactly do you do here?
I’m an accountant. I work in the accounts department. One of my responsibilities is to make sure that the company pays the right amount of tax.
Oh right. What’s the difference between an accountant and a bookkeeper?
An accountant is more qualified than a book keeper. A bookkeeper is someone who records financial information. An accountant uses financial information to help the company run successfully.
OK. Some people say that the world today is run by accountants.
Well, the business world is run by accountants, and that has a large influence on the world. When people say that, they mean that the only thing that is important is profit. Accountants measure success in terms of profits, so they are criticized for only being concerned with money.
What about you?
I went into accounting because I’m good at maths and have an analytical mind. I enjoy working with numbers.
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