Speakout Advanced p 8. Vocabulary

Ex 1A
Nickname: an informal, often humorous, name for a person that is connected with their real name, their personality or appearance, or with something they have done. E.g. He hates his real name, so everybody knows him by his nickname.
 
Ex 2A
First name (also given name especially in North American English) (also forename formal) a name that was given to you when you were born, that comes before your family name (also surname or last name). E.g. His first name is Tom and his surname is Green. Please check that your surname and forenames have been correctly entered.
To be on first-name terms with somebody (= to call them by their first name as a sign of a friendly informal relationship). E.g. staff and pupils were on first-name terms.

Middle name: a name that comes between your first name and your family name. E.g. Louis is also one of William's middle names.
Be somebody's middle name: (informal) used to say that somebody has a lot of a particular quality. E.g. ‘Patience’ is my middle name! Optimism is my middle name.

Maiden name: /ˈmeɪdn/ a woman's family name before marriage. E.g. Kate kept her maiden name when she got married (= did not change her surname to that of her husband).
Maiden: (literary) a young girl or woman who is not married. E.g. stories of knights and fair (beautiful) maidens.
Maiden: (adj) being the first of its kind. E.g. a maiden flight/voyage(= the first journey made by a plane/ship). The Titanic’s maiden voyage.

A married name is a family name or surname adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person (traditionally, the wife) assumes the family name of her spouse, that name replaces the person's birth name, which in the case of the wife is usually referred to as the maiden name. 

Name: (verb)
1. to give a name to somebody/something. E.g. He was named after his father (= given his father's first name). The diesel engine, named after its inventor Rudolf Diesel. They named their son John.
2. to say the name of somebody/something. Identify. E.g. The victim has not yet been named. Can you name all the American states? The missing man has been named as James Kelly.
3. name something to state something exactly. Specify. E.g. Name your price. They're engaged, but they haven't yet named the day (= chosen the date for their wedding). Activities available include squash, archery and swimming, to name but a few. Chairs, tables, cabinets— you name it, she makes it (= she makes anything you can imagine).

Live up to something: to do as well as or be as good as other people expect you to. Sp. estar a la altura. E.g. He failed to live up to his parents' expectations. The team called ‘The No-Hopers’ certainly lived up to its name. I'm from a famous family and it's not easy to live up to my name.

Name: a reputation that somebody/something has; the opinion that people have about somebody/something:
Make a name for yourself: become famous. E.g. He's made quite a name for himself. I worked hard for twenty years and made a name for myself in film. He's made a name for himself as a talented journalist.
She first made her name as a writer of children's books.
The college has a good name for languages. 
This kind of behaviour gives students a bad name.
Even though she was innocent, it took her years to clear her name.

Household name: a name that has become very well known. E.g. She became a household name in the 1960s. He used to be a household name but young people don't know him.

Put yourself/somebody forward: to suggest yourself/somebody as a candidate for a job or position. Can I put you/your name forward for club secretary? He has put himself forward for a place on the national executive. I put my name forward for class president.

3B
Impossibly: E.g. an impossibly difficult problem (= impossible to solve). He was impossibly handsome (= it was difficult to believe that he could be so handsome).


Glamorous: /ˈɡlæmərəs/ especially attractive and exciting, and different from ordinary things or people
glamorous movie stars. A glamorous job.


Somewhat: /ˈsʌmwɒt/ to some degree. Rather. E.g. I was somewhat surprised to see him. What happened to them remains somewhat of a mystery.

Frumpy:  /ˈfrʌmpɪ/ (of a woman or her clothes) wearing clothes that are not attractive or fashionable. Dowdy /ˈdaʊdi/. E.g. a frumpy housewife. Her frumpy (old-fashioned), shapeless dresses. He had a rather frumpy wife.

Get lumped with: (informal) be given something (e.g. an object or a responsibility) that you don’t want. E.g.  I don't want to get lumped with a big repair bill. I was just unlucky to get lumped with such a poor team.

 Emeritus: /iˈmerɪtəs/ used with a title to show that a person, usually a university teacher, keeps the title as an honour, although he or she has stopped working. E.g. the Emeritus Professor of Biology.

Striking: /ˈstraɪkɪŋ/ interesting and unusual enough to attract attention. E.g. it is striking that no research into the problem is being carried out.

Highlighting interesting data:
What is surprising about these results is that boys are more likely to be left-handed than girls. 
Surprisingly, boys are more likely to be left-handed than girls. 
Interestingly, even when both parents are left-handed, there is still only a 26% chance of their children being left-handed. 
One of the most interesting findings is that only 2% of the left-handers surveyed have two left-handed parents.
It is interesting to note that people are more likely to be left-handed if their mother is left-handed than if their father is. 
The most striking feature of these results is that left-handed mothers are more likely to have left-handed children.

Turn out to be: to be discovered to be; to prove to be. E.g. The job turned out to be harder than we thought. The house they had offered us turned out to be a tiny apartment. 

Particularly: /pəˈtɪkjələli / especially; more than usual or more than others. E.g. particularly good/important/useful. Traffic is bad, particularly in the city centre. I enjoyed the play, particularly the second half. The lecture was not particularly(= not very) interesting. ‘Did you enjoy it?’ ‘No, not particularly (= not very much).’

When it comes to something/to doing something: when it is a question of something. E.g. When it comes to getting things done, he's useless.

Take: to understand or consider something in a particular way. E.g. What did you take his comments to mean?

Attribute: /ˈætrɪbjuːt/ a quality or feature of somebody/something. E.g. Patience is one of the most important attributes in a teacher. The most basic attribute of all animals is consciousness.

Take: to need or require something in order to happen or be done. E.g. It only takes one careless driver to cause an accident. It doesn't take much to make her angry. 

Reach the top of the tree: to reach a position of power or a top position (e.g. professionally).

-wise: concerning. E.g. Things aren't too good businesswise. 

Cut and dried: decided in a way that cannot be changed or argued about. E.g. The inquiry is by no means cut and dried. The championship is not as cut and dried as everyone thinks.

Conclusive: proving something, and allowing no doubt or confusion. E.g. conclusive evidence/proof/results. The evidence is by no means conclusive.

Recall: to remember something. E.g. She could not recall his name.

Submit: /səbˈmɪt/ to give a document, proposal, etc. to somebody in authority so that they can study or consider it. E.g. to submit an application/a claim/a complaint. Completed projects must be submitted by 10 March.

Call-back: when a company calls potential employees for an interview after looking at their CV or for a second interview.

Take a dim view of somebody/something: to disapprove of somebody/something; to not have a good opinion of somebody/something. Sp. ver con malos ojos. E.g. She took a dim view of my suggestion.

Lead: To be the best at something; to be in first place. E.g. lead (somebody/something) (in something) The department led the world in cancer research. We lead the way in space technology.

Bizarre: /bɪˈzɑː(r)/ very strange or unusual. Weird. E.g. a bizarre situation/incident/story. Bizarre behaviour.

in the… stakes: used to say how much of a particular quality a person has, as if they were in a competition in which some people are more successful than others. E.g. John doesn't do too well in the personality stakes. Who are the main contenders in the party leadership stakes? In the popularity/fitness/beauty etc stakes: They're running neck and neck in the popularity stakes. 

Lumber somebody (with somebody/something) (informal) to give somebody a responsibility, etc, that they do not want and that they cannot get rid of. E.g. When our parents went out, my sister got lumbered with me for the evening. 

Outlandish: /aʊtˈlændɪʃ/ strange or extremely unusual. Bizarre. E.g. outlandish ideas. As the show progressed, it got ever more outlandish. An outlandish hairstyle.

Take on something (informal) the particular opinion or idea that somebody has about something. E.g. What's his take on the plan? A new take on the Romeo and Juliet story (= a way of presenting it).

Eager: /ˈiːɡə(r)/ very interested and excited by something that is going to happen or about something that you want to do. Keen. E.g. Everyone in the class seemed eager to learn.