Today certainly had much better football to watch, except for the first game. What happened to Greece? Euro 2004 wasn't that long ago was it? And excuse me Mr. English Butterfingers but could you please hurl your fairly small body on the ball next time? Please. Well we all make mistakes don't we?
To help you make a few less mistakes, here are today's selection of words or phrases we chose to explain as heard from our CBC football announcers. We were asked to give some more examples and to add information about the appropriate use of the words. Hopefully, this is improved.
1) "Frankly..." - This word means "honestly" but with a little bit of boldness added. For example, You want to always be honest with your children but you would not often be frank with them. Being frank suggests that you will tell the truth with no soft words or real consideration for the listener's feelings. So you would use this word with friends but not as commonly at the office. If you were asked to lend some money to your boss you might say, "Honestly, I don't have any cash available right now." But if your friend asked to borrow some money you might say, "Frankly, I'm still waiting for you to pay me the money you borrowed last month. So my answer is no."
2) "the man is unmarked" - In the case of football, we mean that the player we are discussing doesn't have a member on the other team following or "covering" him. If a man is unmarked near the goal, he would be the obvious choice to pass the ball in for an attempt at goal. We do use the word marked in general English but the meaning is slightly different. If we talk about a "marked woman", we may be referring to a sexual indiscretion. This is because a long time ago, women who had an affair or were in any way considered to be engaging in unladylike behaviour with anyone, she would be literally have to wear a sign on her clothes, on her face, or she would have her hair cut (badly). Now assuming a less sexist situation, a "marked man or woman" at the office may be the one expected to be fired next. Or in some way, everyone has learned of some problem the marked person was involved in or responsible for and this person is expected to receive some punishment.
3) "the shot was painfully wide" - Painful here is used to describe the feeling of the viewer. The shot would have been "very" wide of the goal and this isn't a happy situation. The most common place where we use painful (that I can think of) is in the expression "painfully shy". This would be used to describe someone whose cheeks don't just get red when someone speaks to them. This would describe someone unable to speak to another person and look them in the eye. They certainly wouldn't be able to speak in public. This is most commonly used as a negative description of some teenagers at a certain point in puberty.
4) "The referee is giving a bit of a talking to the player." - "A bit of a talking to" is a nice way to describe someone getting yelled at. It is much gentler to say this than to sue the term "shout". For example, I would rather hear that your daughter will get "a proper talking to" or "a bit of a talking to" instead of "I will shout at her until the neighbours complain but she will understand."
5) "He gave the ball away cheaply." - Usually, "cheap" is the harsher version of the word "inexpensive". When something is "inexpensive", the price is low but the quality is not in question. However, when something is called "cheap", it often means that the quality as well as the price is low. In this case, the player kicked the ball poorly and so the other team got the benefit of the ball without having to pay in hard work. Always be careful using the word "cheap" unless you intend to state that the quality of something is low. Cheap can also be used to refer to a person, usually a girl or woman who dresses suggestively. The added suggestion is that any man taking her out on a date wouldn't have to pay too much in money or compliments to enjoy her company in a physical way. So, careful with your use in this case.
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