We enjoying learning “English.”  Proper English.  It is an ongoing lesson, and we are having a ball.

Here are a few more that we have learned, or maybe remembered, along the way:

Liaise– To communicate with someone.  I like this because I don’t know whether to tell someone to call me, text me, e-mail me, write me, come by, or talk to me in person. So let’s liaise.

A sign from the Tube showing you the way.

Fly Tipping–I saw this one in a headline first.  Then I saw it on a sign outside a tip, er, dump.  Basically “fly-tipping” is dumping illegally.  Don’t tip your trash on the fly.  That would be wrong.

Way Out–Much better way to say “Exit”, don’t you think?

Queries–Questions.  As in, “If you have any further queries, please feel free to liaise with us.”

Colleague–This is a common term for someone in a place of business to refer to someone else with whom you need to speak.  “If you have any further queries, please liaise with my colleague.”

Cheers–This is a term that means, “Thank you”, “see you later”, “come again”, “I appreciate you”, “you did a good job”, “well done”.  It is not necessary to raise a glass of ale when you say “cheers.”  I actually haven’t seen that at all.  Instead, you say “Cheers” when you leave a place of business, get off the bus, or leave your table at a cafe.  “Cheers” is a nice way to say many things.

Brrrrrrrush–We were in a hotel in Scotland, and we realised that we forgot a comb.  I went down to the front desk to ask for one.  I had a hard time liaising with the gentleman behind the desk to explain my query about a comb.  Finally he said, “Oh, you mean a brrrrrrrrush.”  He held up a 6 inch plastic comb with pride.  His “rolling R” was longer than the comb.

Clamming–this is Geordie slang for hungry.  I think I am going to weave this into a proper conversation in a restaurant one day: “Excuse me, I have a query.  Could you liaise with your colleague about the status of my meal?  I am clamming and if my food doesn’t come soon, I may have to find the way out.  Cheers.”  Well, maybe not.

~Rob