F2F Class Notes December 2nd (Ben)

Grammar

become / became / (have) become

The company has become weaker and weaker.

Vocabulary

a nephew 侄子

a niece 侄女

an idiom

“It’s on the tip of my tongue” is a common idiom.

idol 偶像 someone who is admired and loved very much

Lei Feng used to be the idol of a whole generation of Chinese people.

English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese all come from Latin and Greek.

a bistro = a tavern = a small restaurant / bar

etymology = the origin of a word 词源学

A popular folk etymology of the word claims that it originated among Russian troops who occupied Paris following the Napoleonic Wars. In taverns they would shout the Russian быстро ‎(bystro, “quickly”) to the waiters, so that “bistro” took on the meaning of a place where food was served quickly.

It’s on the tip of my tongue.

I had a question to ask you, but I forgot it. It’s on the tip of my tongue.