toilet, lavatory, loo, wc, bathroom In English, there is a wide range of words that refer to the bowl used by people when they want to get rid of waste from their bodies.. The same words[r]
Trang 1Th ẩm Tâm Vy, September 09, 2020 ENGLISH CONFUSABLE WORDS 15
ENGLISH CONFUSABLE WORDS 15
tiresome, tiring
A person or thing that is tiresome makes you feel annoyed, irritated, or bored
- some rather tiresome questions
- He was drumming on his knee in a way which his solicitor found peculiarly tiresome
- Mrs Partridge spoke patiently, as to a tiresome child
A task or a journey that is tiring makes you feel tired
- Our mother said we should have an early night after such a tiring day
- I tried to remember that I had made a long and tiring journey
toilet, lavatory, loo, wc, bathroom
In English, there is a wide range of words that refer to the bowl used by people when
they want to get rid of waste from their bodies The same words are used to refer to the
room that contains the bowl
The most widely used words in ordinary English are toilet and lavatory Lavatory is
slightly more formal
- He asked to go to the toilet
- To a child, the toilet is the most interesting room in any house
- “Have you been to the lavatory ? ”, said my wife as we set off for Buckingham Palace
- The lavatories are through that door over there
In conversation, many British speakers use the word loo
- The houses on the estate were clean, centrally heated, with indoor loos
- He absolutely refused (and still does) to clean the loo
The term wc is used mainly in writing when referring to a toilet as a facility, for
example in advertisements for houses or hotels, wc stands for ‘water closet’
- All rooms have an en-suite bathroom with wc , wash-basin and bath or shower
- one cold water tap outside; outside wc leaks
A bathroom is a room with a bath, washbasin, and often a toilet, but many speakers,
especially Americans, talk about going to the bathroom to refer to going to the toilet
- One of the girls left to go to the bathroom
- The kids had to go to the bathroom - you know how it is with kids
In some public buildings, the toilets are called the ‘cloakrooms’
- We went along together to the cloakroom , where there were still two or three girls
powdering their noses
- … the staff Cloakroom
town, city
Towns and cities are areas covered in streets where people live and work, and where
there are shops, offices, factories, schools, and places for entertainment
Usually towns are smaller than cities, but a large number of people may live there
- Fraserburgh is a bustling fishing town
- 'You know McCarthy? —In this town , everybody knows everybody.'
- They aimed to attract industry to the new towns
Cities are usually large Officially, a city has a charter which gives it certain
privileges This charter is given by the monarch in Britain, and in America by the state
Most British cities have a cathedral
- Life ỉn a smaller community may suit you better than that in a large city the millions who have migrated to the cities because they could not survive on the land
van, lorry, truck
A van is a vehicle that is used for carrying goods on roads It has a roof, and no windows in the compartment where the goods are kept Some vans are about the same
length as a car others can be about a metre longer
- Mind the patch of mud near the she d; the baker’s van got stuck in that last night
- Delivery vans could hardly get through the traffic
A lorry is also used for carrying goods on roads It is larger than a van, and much
larger than a car
- Convoy after convoy of giant lorries thunders along the roads
- I almost hit the timber lorry before I even realised it was there
In American English, a vehicle like this is called a truck
- Huge articulated trucks constantly arrive with thousands of turkeys
- He had a fleet of freight hauling trucks that made him a fortune
above, over
Above and over are both used to talk about position and height If something is higher
than something else, but an imaginary line joining them is not vertical, you have to use
above
- The trees rose above the houses
If you go over something, you cross it and get to the other side
- Castle stepped over the dog
- a soaring seagull swooping over Central Park
If you are wearing two items of clothing one on top of the other, you can say that you are wearing one over the other
- Rudolph was wearing a sweater over a wool shirt, and a silk scarf
You can use either above or over tf something is higher than something else and an
imaginary line could be drawn vertically joining them
- He opened a cupboard above the sink
- She leaned forward until her face was directly over the basin
Above and over are also both used to talk about measurements
You use over to say that a distance or period of time is longer than the one mentioned
- The plane flew at a height of over twelve thousand feet
- So we had this beautiful relationship for over a year
You can use above or over when you are talking about a point that is higher than
another point, especially a point on a scale
- The amount of tax you should pay is determined by what you earn above a Certain figure
- Any money earned over that level is taxed at the rate of 59 per cent
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Trang 2Th ẩm Tâm Vy, September 09, 2020 ENGLISH CONFUSABLE WORDS 15
- In each case I want to know the height of the man Everybody above five feet eight
inches is suspect
Above and over are both used to talk about people’s ranks and importance relative to
others
You use above to talk about people who are more important and in a higher position
than other people
- behaving as if she was in a position above even the staff, and certainly above us
If someone is over you, they give orders or instructions to you
- an officer set in authority over him
accuse [ đổ lỗi ], charge [t ố cáo ]
If you accuse someone of doing something wrong, you say that they did it For
example, someone can be accused of being dishonest, or of a fault like laziness If
someone has done something that is against the law, they can be accused of a crime
and put on trial in a court of law
- He himself was accused of incompetence
- And then you would start crying and accusing us of not caring if you died
- They were in great distress because they had been wrongfully accused of theft
- He is accused of killing ten young women
When the police charge someone or charge them with committing a crime, they
formally accuse them of it The police charge a person with a crime when they have
evidence that the person was responsible for it You can also charge someone with
things like not doing their duty or lying You do not use ‘charge’ when referring to
minor faults
- Colonel Burr was arrested by order of President Thomas Jefferson and charged with
treason
- He was arrested and charged with committing a variety of offences
- He was declared not responsible for the criminal acts with which he had been
charged
- Mr Horta charged the premier with being politically weak
admit [th ừa nhận ], confess [thú nh ận ]
If you admit something bad, unpleasant, or embarrassing, you agree, usually rather
reluctantly, that it is true You can admit that something is true, admit something, or
admit to something
- I would beforced to admit that I had used Ewen Waite’s gun
- He admitted that the mounting cost was a matter ofserious concern
- Boylan began to play Rudolph had to admit he played well
- Again the manufacturers, employers and government were reluctant to admit the
danger
- She was obviously in considerable pain, but she wouldn’t admit it
- She admits to being difficult to live with
If you confess something, you say that you have done something you should not have
done Usually you feel regret or embarrassment when you confess something You can
confess that you have done something, confess something, or confess to someone
- Finally, the boy confessed that he had been lying throughout
- The mother could not be persuaded to confess her previous error
- It turned out that he’d confessed to Castle that he hadn’t gone to the dentist
If someone confesses to something such as a crime, they say they did it
- Bianchi had confessed to five of the murders
- They confess to murders they haven’t committed
- Three days after Mr Profumo confessed and resigned, Stephen Ward was arrested
You can also use both admit and confess in expressions like ‘I admit’, ‘I must admit’, ‘I confess’, and ‘I must confess’ when you mention a fact that embarrasses you slightly or that you think might upset the person you are speaking to
- Well, I ’ll admit he seems harmless
- I have to admit that this has been only partially successful
- This is not a neat household, I confess
- I must confess that, to put it plainly, I find him a bore
alternately, alternatively
You use alternately to say that two actions or processes keep happening regularly
after each other
- Each piece of material is washed alternately in soft water and coconut oil
- The little girl had alternately sulked and made scenes
You use alternatively to give a different explanation from one that has just been
mentioned, or to suggest a different course of action
- Or alternatively was he short ofcash because he had never been to the Rosses' house
at all?
- Alternatively , change seats at once
apologize [xin l ỗi ], excuse oneself [xin th ứ lỗi; viện cớ ]
If you apologize to someone, you say that you are sorry for doing something that they
disapprove of, that upsets them, or that causes them trouble
- He apologized for interrupting her and quickly left
- Indeed not more than a week after her terrible accusations she apologized to
Michaelfor what she had said
- ‘If I hurt you, Гт sorry —‘Don’t apologize ’
If you excuse yourself, you give reasons to justify something that you have done and
that other people might disapprove of These reasons are often not very good ones
- She was late for work every morning and excused herself by saying that she had overslept
- What a fool he’d been to send her that expensive scarf to excuse himself for not having kept the appointment
• Note that you also excuse yourself when you explain that you have to leave someone
to go somewhere else
- The doorbell rings Lewis excuses himself and pushes through the crowd
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