Cultural English

Topics: Ask an American: The value of church services; outbreak versus break out; to pull off versus to pull over versus to pull in; to act silly

Topics: Famous Americans: Thomas Edison; Liberia; symposium versus workshop versus seminar; to account for; “Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate.”

Topics: Jaws; The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the Congressional Gold Star, and the Medal of Honor; to go in versus to go into versus to get in versus to get into; overwhelming; off-kilter

Topics: American Presidents: Bill Clinton; Louisiana Voodoo; articulation versus enunciation versus pronunciation; to start versus commence; I believe you versus I believe in you

Topics: Famous Songs: I’ve Been Working on the Railroad; Burning Man; irony versus sarcasm versus satire; agreement versus contract; to fall for (someone) versus to fall for (something)

Topics: Ask an American: Health effects of city living; how do you say versus what do you call; résumé

Topics: Famous Americans: Booker T. Washington; things Americans believe are lucky; horribly versus terribly versus awfully; full tuition reimbursement; carbon copy

Topics: Famous Authors: Herman Melville; the Ku Klux Klan; to locate versus to position versus to localize; to keep on your toes; to roll with the punches; to suffer from versus to die of/from

Topics: Movie - West Side Story; Uncle Sam; “ship” and other suffixes; grab a spoon/fork; to take the big game down

Topics: Famous Americans: Clara Barton; The California Gold Rush; problem versus issue versus concern; cordless versus wireless; brothers and sisters

Topics: Ask an American: Concussions Affect U.S. Teen Athletes; customer versus client; overwhelming; exciting; discussion on/about

Topics: Jimmy Hoffa and the Teamsters; The National Geographic Society; shade versus shadow; rarely versus seldom; every cloud has a silver lining

Topics: Salem Witch Trials; National Endowment for the Arts; in fact versus as a matter of fact; even versus even though; to look at

Topics: Famous Songs: “Kumbaya”; Crater Lake National Park; free time versus spare time; at the end versus in the end; booking versus reservation

Topics: American Presidents: John F. Kennedy; Great Britain versus Britain versus England versus United Kingdom; who versus which versus that; hot shot

Topics: Ask an American: Libraries Using Ad Campaigns to Improve Image and Funding; making introductions; stack versus stock

Topics: Movie: Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; Detroit and the Rust Belt; to knead versus to mash; the infinitive versus gerund form of a verb (to look for versus looking for); bona fide Words:

Topics: Famous Americans: Warren Buffet; The Chicken Soup book series; few versus little; only so many; to be due

Topics: Famous Americans: T.S. Eliot; log and log in/log on; explanation versus interpretation; pronouncing consonant clusters

Topics: American Cities: Columbus, Ohio; Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII; limit versus limitation; for X person to undercut set targets; to sponge off (someone)

Topics: Ask an American: National Jukebox; using "to" with to give and to send; a dime a dozen; complimenting doctors and nurses

Topics: No-Tuition Colleges; the Sacco-Vanzetti Trial; crazy versus mad versus psycho versus mentally ill; using –ed words as adjectives; lo and behold

Topics: American Presidents: John Adams; the Boy/Girl Scouts; What time is it? versus What is the time?; to rock; for all intents and purposes

Topics: Stephen Foster and his songs; “ish” suffix; California casual; “If it be your will”

Topics: Movie: Bonnie and Clyde; Community Supported Agriculture (CSA); to cut (someone) loose versus to set (someone) free versus unrestrained; adjectives versus “who” phrases; words used to describe computer touch screens

Topics: Ask an American: U.S. Families Adjust to Life Overseas; outpatient; to gulp versus to gobble; swell

Topics: Famous Americans: Lucille Ball; The Great Depression; hermit versus loner versus introvert; other than versus rather than; Et tu, Brute?

Topics: The Scopes Trial; American Cities: Aspen and Vail, Colorado; The City of New York versus New York City; verge versus brink; to compliment versus to complement

Topics: American Presidents: Jimmy Carter; The Lost Ship of the Desert Legend; phrases used to ask for status updates; to start off for; likely versus probable

Topics: American Authors: Toni Morrison; Homeboy/Homegirl Industries and Father Greg Boyle; screw versus bolt versus nut; to kidnap versus to abduct; to sharpen (one’s) axe