ENGLISH ON THE GO

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: A lot of pluck perhaps, but there's not much urgency here. The annual World Hen Racing Championships hoped to rival human sport - but for these chicks, racing is for the birds.
MIKE GIBSON, HEN OWNER: "Well the UK is doing well in the Olympics, so why not the chicken?"
REPORTER: Rules are sparse: no dogs, no pecking and winners were almost as scarce as hen's teeth. In fact, organizer John Barry said performance was downright fowl.
JOHN BARRY, ORGANIZER: "I've been here for twenty years now running the hen racing, since 1992, and I can definitely say apart from the final, that is definitely the worst set of hens I have ever seen in my life, shocking, absolutely shocking, the owners need to go back and have another word with themselves!"
REPORTER: And despite many ruffled feathers, there was eventually a winner.

VOCABULARY
How many hen-related puns did you spot? Here's a list:
1. Pecking order is the colloquial term for a hierarchical system of social organization in chickens (if a bird pecks at something it moves its beak forward quickly and bites at it). The term pecking order is also used to describe the relative status or power of people within a group.
2. Pluck is another word for courage, and if you pluck a chicken, you pull out its feathers to prepare it for cooking.
3. If you say that something is for the birds, you think that it is worthless or ridiculous.
4. If something is as scarce as hen's teeth, it is very difficult or impossible to find. • It was the President's inauguration and hotel rooms in Washington were as scarce as hen's teeth.
5. Fowl is another word for bird, especially one that can be eaten as food such as a duck or a chicken. It's homophone foul means unpleasant or disgusting.
6. If a bird ruffles its feathers, it makes them stand out on its body, for example when cleaning itself or when it is frightened. The figurative expression to ruffle someone's feathers means to cause them to become very angry, nervous or upset. • His direct, often abrasive approach will doubtless ruffle a few feathers.

From The English Blog

Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift and "The Twilight Saga" continued their runs as teenage fan favorites, sweeping in numerous awards at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards on Sunday evening (July 22). Country music star Swift picked up five awards, including choice music female artist and female country artist, as well as voice actress for her role in animated comedy "The Lorax." SOUNDBITE Taylor Swift saying (English): "The fact that you guys voted for me for this, this is a really huge award and I'm so excited and I just feel so honored that I get to have you guys in my life. I'm so happy right now, thank you so much," said the singer as she accepted her award. Canadian pop star Bieber was not far behind Swift, receiving a four awards, adding up to a total of 12 Teen Choice awards in a span of three years. Before accepting his surf board shaped award, the singer performed song "Boyfriend" and latest single, "As Long As You Love Me" with rapper Big Sean. The singer's wins include for the evening include choice music male artist and single by male artist for "Boyfriend." Teen Choice favorite film "The Twilight Saga" picked up the Ultimate Choice Award this year, ahead of the franchise's final installment, "Breaking Dawn - Part 2" scheduled to be released in theaters in November. The Teen Choice Awards, voted for by teen viewers online, gives actors, musicians and other artists who are popular with kids the chance to thank their fans. John Russell, Reuters.

TRANSCRIPT
REPORTER: An eggsciting sport ... that leaves some thoroughly beaten. Egg throwing involves the tossing and catching of raw eggs at increasing distances - with mounting risks. Several eggy events took place in Lincolnshire, England. Not quite as deadly as the "Russian" version, but this game of roulette can result in, well ... egg on your face. Two contenders take turns to choose an egg from a box of six - five are hard-boiled, but one is raw. The person choosing the raw egg loses.
COMPETITOR: "I could tell it was the raw egg, after I had lifted it obviously, but it was cold, the rest of them weren't cold but this one was cold but by that stage I'd picked it, it's too late to put it back."
REPORTER: Organiser Andy Dunlop says Egg Russian Roulette is not just a game of chance.
ANDY DUNLOP, ORGANIZER: Andy Dunlop, organizer, saying (English): "We tried last year to get it recognised by the English Sports council but they rejected that discipline, they said there was no skill involved. We are here today to prove that there is skill."
REPORTER: And when it comes down to the last egg in the box, the outcome is sadly, inevitable. A win for Englishman Jerry Cullen. Who's no egghead. Tara Cleary, Reuters.

EGG-RELATED IDIOMS
1. If you end up with egg on your face, you are made to look foolish.
2. If someone puts all their eggs in one basket, they put all their effort and resources into doing one thing, so that, if it fails, they have no alternatives left.
3. If you egg a person on, you encourage them to do something, especially something dangerous or foolish. 

COMMENT
The English may be useless at football, but when it comes to Egg Russian Roulette we're unbeatable (pun intended). 

from The English Blog.

Gerunds and infinitives

First explain the English prepositional verb. Prepositional verbs are defined as intransitive verbs that consist of a verb followed by a prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase functions as a verb phrase complement. A verb phrase complement is defined as a word or phrase that directly follows and completes the meaning of the verb. The following English verbs are prepositional verbs:

For example:

• Her parents approve of her boyfriend.
• The patient is asking for pain medication.
• He has been coping with his increased workload.
• The doctor insisted on several tests.
• We can now laugh about the accident.
• The neighbors listen to terrible music.

Phrasal Verbs  

• act up (misbehave)
• butt in (interrupt)
• drop in on (visit)
• get in (arrive)
• mix up (confuse)
• take after (resemble)

• My students have been acting up lately.
• His coworker always butts in on his private conversations.
• We dropped in on our grandparents yesterday.
• What time does the train get in?
• I always mix their names up!
• She takes after her father.

• The baby just woke up. (intransitive)
• My little brother ran away from home. (intransitive)
• Two toddlers threw up today. (intransitive)
• The construction crew blew up the old building. (transitive)
• The courts have done away with corporeal punishment. (transitive)
• He will pay off his debt. (transitive)

• The entertainment finally showed up. (nonseparable)
• The boss just laid in on our lazy coworker. (nonseparable)
• The ushers pass out the programs. (optionally separable)
• The ushers pass the programs out. (optionally separable)
• The child looked up the information. (optionally separable)
• The child looked the information up. (optionally separable)
• The child looked it up. (obligatorily separable)

Taken FROM

After dinner we turned the lights out and played 'hide-and-seek'. In the dark, I touched a hand, a very cold hand. Now, because of the game, I had to hide in the dark with . . . with this cold person - not speaking, not knowing who it was. Slowly the others found us, hid with us, until we were all there - all thirteen. Thirteen? But there were only twelve people in the house!

Reported Speech