Tag: communication

Jeudi is indeed the French word for Thursday. The days of the week in French are lundi (Monday), mardi (Tuesday), mercredi (Wednesday), jeudi (Thursday), vendredi (Friday), samedi (Saturday), and dimanche (Sunday). This is a straightforward vocabulary fact.

La tour Eiffel is correct - La dame de fer (the iron lady) is the nickname for the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Champ de mars is the park where the tower is located, not the tower itself. Le tour eiffel has incorrect capitalization (tour should be lowercase and Eiffel capitalized). Champ du mars is a misspelling of champ de mars.

The idiom 'keep one's head above water' means to manage to survive or stay afloat in a difficult situation. Charlie is struggling with business problems but is barely managing to survive financially. 'Not drowning' is too literal, while 'keeping dry' and 'trying to swim' miss the survival aspect.

The idiom 'have a bee in one's bonnet' means to be obsessed with or have a problem constantly on one's mind. The speaker is indicating they're preoccupied with or fixated on a particular issue. A 'fly in head' and 'difficulty with hair' are too literal; 'headache' is a different idiom entirely.

The idiom 'add up' means to make sense or be logical. The speaker cannot understand why someone did something because it doesn't make logical sense. 'Doesn't calculate' is too literal, 'isn't mathematics' misses the figurative meaning, and 'makes the wrong addition' incorrectly focuses on arithmetic.

The phrasal verb 'take in' means to understand, grasp, or absorb information. The speaker apologizes for not understanding what was said. 'Listen', 'hear', and 'note' are related to receiving information but not to comprehension or understanding.

The idiom 'lead a dog's life' means to have an unhappy, oppressed existence with no freedom. The man's wife controls everything he does, so he's miserable. 'Eats what he can' and 'goes everywhere on foot' are too literal; 'never sleeps' is not related to this idiom.

The idiom 'be all ears' means to be listening carefully and with full attention. The speaker is expressing that they are ready and eager to hear what the other person has to say. 'Listening quietly', 'listening quickly', and 'listening completely' are not the correct meanings of this idiom.

The idiom 'cost an arm and a leg' means to be extremely expensive. The speaker is referring to a car that cost a huge amount of money. 'Fair amount', 'small amount', and 'good amount' all understate the intensity of this idiom.

The idiom 'big cheese' means an important or powerful person, someone in a position of authority. The man being greeted holds an important job. 'Man with big ears', 'yellow teeth', and 'big smile' are all too literal interpretations.