Monday, July 26, 2010

[www.keralites.net] More Binomials




There are many phrases in English that use two words connected with 'and'. For example, black and white, milk and sugar. These expressions are known as binomials. In these phrases the word order is usually fixed; we say black and white, we don't say white and black.

Nouns - colours and shapes: 

black and white: written down
She was really excited to see her name in
 black and white in the newspaper. It made her feel very important.

black and blue: bruised, an injury or mark where the skin is darker in colour, often as a result of being hit by something
Poor guy! First they stole his wallet and then they beat him
 black and blue. He was in hospital for a week after the attack.

salt and pepper: hair that is a mixture of dark hairs and grey or white hairs
She's only 30 but she looks so distinguished with her
 salt and pepperhair.

stars and stripes: the USA flag
The athlete cried when she heard the national anthem and saw the
stars and stripes raised in the Olympic stadium.

Nouns - food:

sweet and sour: two flavours that give food the combined flavours of sugar and spice
Fancy some
 sweet and sour chicken from the Chinese take-away tonight?

bread and butter: simple, plain sandwich
I'm not really hungry. I'll just have some
 bread and butter for lunch.

ham and eggs: typical British breakfast of pig meat (pork) and eggs
He loves to have a big fried breakfast at the weekend, with
 ham and eggs and all the rest. 

bangers and mash: (informal) sausages and mashed potatoes
The kids love
 bangers and mash. It's so easy to make so that's great for me too.

Verbs and adjectives - housework:

cook and clean: (verb) make a meal or bake a cake and then wash and tidy up afterwards
I've been
 cooking and cleaning all day long. I'm exhausted.

wash and dry: (verb) using water and washing up liquid to clean dishes and then to dry them with a cloth
The party was great. Let's leave the
 washing and drying till tomorrow morning.

clean and tidy: (adjective) cleared up 
Go up to your room and get to work! I want to see it
 clean and tidybefore you go out.

spic and span: (adjective) very clean
She's incredibly house-proud. The whole place is always so
 spic and span. I don't know how she finds the time to keep it so tidy.

 Engjoy English!!





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