This is the title of a guest posting that I have written for the Macmillan Dictionary blog (link given below). In the posting, I look at the theory behind a YouTube clip that I made a few months ago:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5XNR419aXE

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You can read the posting here.

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Two cash machines saying the same thing in different ways:

[Top up as a verb]

[Top up as a noun]
This is what language in use is all about - having multiple ways of saying what you want to express.

Can you lend me your pen?
Can I borrow your pen?

Not last night but the night before
The night before […]

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I saw some good examples of noun-noun compounds recently in the London Underground on these advertisements for a fitness club:

According to Wikipedia, “Bingo wings is a slang term used to describe the build-up of fat and/or extra skin that hangs from the underside of the upper arms. It occurs most frequently in elderly ladies and […]

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This teaching idea may be a good way to introduce or revise the infinitive of purpose. You will need to have online access (an IT room, for example).
Write the following on the board:
Life’s too short to …
Ask your learners if they can think of any way in which this sentence can be completed. If […]

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