Objective Proficiency p 131. Vocabulary

Ex 5

• Take something up: to accept something that is offered or available. E.g. to take up a challenge. She took up his offer of a drink.
• Reference: a letter written by somebody who knows you, giving information about your character and abilities, especially to a new employer. E.g. We will take up references after the interview.
• Dispatch: /dɪˈspætʃ/ to send a letter, package or message somewhere. E.g. Goods are dispatched within 24 hours of your order reaching us.
• Registered mail: a method of sending a letter or package in which the person sending it can claim money if it arrives late or is lost or damaged. 
• Go astray: to become lost; to be stolen. E.g. Several letters went astray or were not delivered. We locked up our valuables so they would not go astray.
• Trace somebody/something (to something): to find or discover somebody/something by looking carefully for them/it. Track down. Sp. seguir la pista / el rastro. E.g. We finally traced him to an address in Chicago. I have been unable to trace the letter you mentioned. 
• End: (of telephone line/journey) either of two places connected by a telephone call, journey, etc. E.g. I answered the phone but there was no one at the other end. Jean is going to meet me at the other end.
• Commute: /kəˈmjuːt/ to travel regularly by bus, train, car, etc. between your place of work and your home. E.g. She commutes from Oxford to London every day. He spent that year commuting between New York and Chicago. 
• At the crack of dawn: (informal) very early in the morning. E.g. I have to get up at the crack of dawn.

• Fern: a plant with large delicate leaves and no flowers that grows in wet areas or is grown in a pot. Sp. helecho. E.g. There are many types of fern.

• Moss: a very small green or yellow plant without flowers that spreads over damp surfaces, rocks, trees, etc. Sp. musgo. E.g. moss-covered walls.

• Overgrown: (adj) /ˌəʊvəˈɡrəʊn/ covered with plants that have been allowed to grow wild and have not been controlled. Sp. cubierto de vegetación. E.g. an overgrown path. The garden's completely overgrown with weeds. The steps were overgrown with ferns and mosses.

 

Ex 6

• Stale: a person who is stale has done the same thing for too long and so is unable to do it well or produce any new ideas. E.g. After ten years in the job, she felt stale and needed a change. The cast is changed regularly to stop the actors from getting stale. 

Style extra 

• Taciturn: /ˈtæsɪtɜːn/ (said about men) tending not to say very much, in a way that seems unfriendly. E.g. a taciturn and serious young man.

• Actor: (used of both, men and women) the suffix -ess in names of occupations such as actress, hostess and waitress shows that the person doing the job is a woman. Many people now avoid these. Instead you can use actor or host, (although actress and hostess are still very common) or a neutral word, such as server for waiter and waitress. When talking about jobs that are traditionally done by the other sex, some people say: a male secretary/nurse/model (NOT man) or a woman/female doctor/barrister/driver. However this is now not usually used unless you need to emphasize which sex the person is, or it is still unusual for the job to be done by a man/woman: E.g. My daughter prefers to see a woman doctor. They have a male nanny for their kids. A female racing driver. 
• Buffer: (also old buffer) (old-fashioned, British English) a silly old man. 
• Freshman: /ˈfreʃmən/ (used of both, men and women) a student who is in his or her first year at a university or college, or in the ninth grade at school. E.g. high school/college freshmen. During my freshman year.
• Mate: (used of both, men and women) a friend. E.g. They've been best mates since school. I was with a mate.
• Patriarch: /ˈpeɪtriɑːk/ the male head of a family or community.
• Vamp: /væmp/ (old-fashioned, disapproving) a sexually attractive woman who tries to control men. Sp. vampiresa.

• Bag: an insulting word for an unpleasant or bad-tempered older woman. Sp. bruja.

• Chairman: (plural chairmen) the person in charge of a meeting, a committee, a company, etc. E.g. The chairman of the company presented the annual report. The neutral word chairperson is often used instead. Neutral words like assistant, worker, person or officer are now often used instead of -man or -woman in the names of jobs. For example, you can use police officer instead of policeman or policewoman, and spokesperson instead of spokesman or spokeswoman. Neutral words are very common in newspapers, on television and radio and in official writing, in both British English and North American English.
• Geek:  /ɡiːk/ (usually used of men) 1 a person who is boring, wears clothes that are not fashionable, does not know how to behave in social situations, etc. Sp. bicho raro. 2 a person who is very interested in computers. E.g. a computer geek

• Neanderthal: /niˈændətɑːl/ (disapproving) (used of a men) an unpleasant, rude man who does not behave in a socially acceptable way.
• Wizz-kid: (used of both, men and women) a person who is very good and successful at something, especially at a young age. Sp. Lince, prodigio. E.g. financial whizz-kids.
• Bimbo: /ˈbɪmbəʊ/ plural bimbos (informal, disapproving) a young person, usually a woman, who is sexually attractive but not very intelligent. E.g. He's going out with an empty-headed bimbo half his age.

• Charmer: (usually used of men) a person who acts in a way that makes them attractive to other people, sometimes using this to influence others.

• Gofer: (also gopher) /ˈɡəʊfə(r)/(used of both, men and women) a person whose job is to do small boring tasks for other people in a company. E.g. They call me the gofer—go for this, go for that… 
• Nerd: /nɜːd / (informal, disapproving) (usually used of men) 1 a person who is boring, stupid and not fashionable. E.g. I feel like a nerd in these shoes. 2 a person who is very interested in computers.

• Bounder: /ˈbaʊndə(r)/ (old-fashioned, British English, informal) a man who behaves badly and cannot be trusted. Sp. sinvergüenza.
• Duchess: 1 the wife of a duke. E.g. the Duchess of York. 2 a woman who has the rank of a duke. 
• Lout: /laʊt/ a man or boy who behaves in a rude and aggressive way. Yob. E.g. lager lout (a young man who drinks too much alcohol and then behaves in a noisy and unpleasant way).

 

• Thug: (used of men) a violent person, especially a criminal. E.g. a gang of thugs.

• Bullish: (adj) (used of both, men and women) 1. Having a heavy muscular physique. 2. Unwilling to change your opinion about something, in a way that other people think is annoying and unreasonable. Bullheaded, obstinate, stubborn. 3. feeling confident and positive about the future. E.g. in a bullish mood. 
• Laddish: /ˈlædɪʃ/ (used of both, men and women) behaving in a way that is supposed to be typical of a young man. E.g. the laddish culture of beer and football. Laddish humour.
• Chivalrous: /ˈʃɪvəlrəs/ (of men) polite, kind and behaving with honour, especially towards women. Gallant. E.g. a chivalrous man is polite and kind and shows respect to women. I think you are the most chivalrous man I have ever met.

• Lanky: / ˈlæŋki/ (used of both, men and women but usually of men and boys) having long thin arms and legs and moving in an awkward way. E.g. a tall, lanky teenager.

• Doting: /ˈdəʊtɪŋ/ (used of both, men and women but it usually collocates with dad or father) showing a lot of love for somebody, often ignoring their faults. E.g. a doting mother/father. E.g. Doting dad Seb is delighted with his beautiful new daughter. 

Beckham is such a doting dad that he had Brooklyn's name tattooed on his back.

• Prickly: (informal) (of a person) easily annoyed or offended. Touchy. Sp. irritable. E.g. He can be very prickly. She's still a bit prickly about the whole incident.
• Effeminate: /ɪˈfemɪnət/ (of a man or a boy) looking, behaving or sounding like a woman or a girl.
• Wimpy: (informal, disapproving) a person who is not strong, brave or confident. 

• Futures [plural] (finance) goods or shares that are bought at agreed prices but that will be delivered and paid for at a later time. E.g. oil futures. The futures market (Sp. mercado de futuros).
• New man: a man who shares the work in the home that is traditionally done by women, such as cleaning, cooking and taking care of children. New men are considered sensitive and not aggressive. 

• Cut somebody: to hurt somebody emotionally. E.g. His cruel remarks cut her deeply. As Jon and I are the newest of new men, this insinuation of laddish sexism cuts very deeply.
• Centre forward: (in football) a player or position in the middle of the front line of players. Sp. delantero centro. E.g. The lanky centre forward found himself rushing towards a head-on collision with the goalkeeper.

• Head-on: 1. in which the front part of one vehicle hits the front part of another vehicle. Sp. frontal. E.g. a head-on crash/collision. 2. in which people express strong views and deal with something in a direct way. E.g. There was a head-on confrontation between management and unions.