Words December 2023 Week 3

The Goodyear Rubber Company made the first rubber ducks in the 1800s, but they didn’t float. (Peter Ganine patented a rubber duck in 1947 and sold thousands of them around the world.)

Up to now, over 50,000,000 have been sold. (They were an instant success.)

Peter was a Russian American and he also designed chess pieces with human faces. (He was living in the US when he designed the rubber duck.)

They will use scaffolding when they pain our house. (In some Asian countries, bamboo is used for scaffolding.)

The government will subsidize solar paneling. (They will help pay for materials and installation.)

She got the apples from one of her relatives. (Relatives are family and relations would be family or any other people you have connections with.)

The water evaporated. (To evaporate means to change from a liquid to a vapor.)

The Handkerchief Tree is also called the Dove Tree. (The white flower looks like a handkerchief or a dove’s wings.)

He studied botany throughout his life. (He studied plant life his whole life.)

Even though he wasn’t a Tokyo University student, they allowed him to use their laboratory. (Campus facilities are usually only used by students and faculty.)

They trimmed my trees and bushes. (They made the branches look well kept.)

She wore a pedometer on her ankle. (This device counts how many steps you walk.)

I paid COD for the doll. (She paid cash on delivery, or she paid the cost of the doll to the delivery person.)

I’ll work two days and then off one day for the rest of this month. (He usually works every other day.)

The concrete block fence was three blocks high with a metal fence on top. (Their old fence was a tall concrete block fence that could fall over in an earthquake.)

They used a backhoe to build the fence. (They needed heavy equipment to construct the new fence.)

It is scheduled to be finished by the end of year. (They hope to finish the job by the end of this month.)

He doesn’t eat so much now. (He is 95 years old.)

He doesn’t eat as much as he used to. (As we get older, we tend to eat less.)

I bought some super glue. (As the name implies, this is a very strong glue.)

His visiting our town was surreal. (Murakami’s visit was more like a dream than reality for his fans there.)

She will give birth by C-section. (This is also called Cesarean birth.)

I have a pain in my lower back. (He was standing all day while cooking a big meal.)

I’m the chef and my wife is the sous-chef. (A sous-chef is the chef’s assistant. It is pronounced “su chef”)

My coworker had a party at her house for several other coworkers. (They have been coworkers and friends for decades.)

Was it a potluck party? (Will everybody bring a dish to the party?)

I forgot the lyrics, so I was lip-syncing. (She was only moving her lips with no sound.)

We sang a medley of Christmas songs. (They sang several different songs with no break between.)

I bought several pieces of furniture. (The word furniture is not countable.)

I glued the broken dish back together. (She then used the dish under a flowerpot.)

I used a long pole pruner. (My arms get tired after using one for a while.)

It is also called a telescopic pruner, long reach pruner, extension pruner, etc. (There may be other names for it.)

After rinsing the dishes, I put them on a dish rack or dish drying rack. (You can dry the dishes with a dish towel or let them air dry.)

Segregation is the separation of groups of people, usually racial segregation. (In 1964 segregation was outlawed in the US.)