Lesson Transcript
Hello, welcome back, my name is Emmelda. Today we will be learning terms used in Microsoft word but we will be learning them so that we can understand English better. So for my dear advanced students if you think that these words are too simple for you, please hold on because I’m going to tell you how these words are used differently and have a lot more meaning than what it looks like.
Okay, so let’s get started with the first word of the day, which is cut. Now a lot of people would know, in MS word or in MS office, the word cut is used for information, okay. So basically, you cut information; you hold on to it, you may want to paste it in some other area right? This is used for information. But notice this word, break. The word break is used in Microsoft office for a page. For example, insert a page break, right? However, when you are speaking to someone or in spoken English, these words are not used for these two things. While cut is used actually for page. What is cut? Cut is separating an object from another by using a sharp object such as knife or a scissor. So you don’t cut information, you cut something which is tangible. For example, you cut a page or a cloth or may be a wood. So you cut using a sharp object, cut a page. You don’t say I want to break a page, no you’ll say I want to cut a page. Cut, however information is used with break. When you say this information is broken or distorted. So this is for MS or Microsoft, this is in spoken English. So cut is used for a page, whereas break is used for information. Moving on to the third word is table. What do you know as table, what do you a table is? Table from Microsoft means a systematic display of information, right? However, if you want to speak about table in real English or if you are going to UK, they will use this word as a verb, okay and for British they can say, I want this issue to be tabled for a meeting. That means they want to bring a particular item to be discussed in a meeting thoroughly, that’s when the British will use the word table. However, Americans when they say table as a verb, what they would mean is when they want to postpone an idea that needs to be discussed. This word used as a verb, usually is used in very formal English. That’s why you don’t hear table very often but if you are speaking to someone who is probably from UK or the US, you can say, i would like to bring this issue or I would want to bring these topics to be tabled in the meeting. That means you want to discuss these topics in a meeting. But to an American, it means you want to postpone the discussion to another meeting or to another session, okay. So that’s how you use the word table. For an American, you would say, I would like to table these items for another meeting. It’s as simple as that. But something unique, I’m pretty sure you would not have come across this word elsewhere as a verb, okay.
So the next one I have for you is insert. What is insert? Insert means to put or place, sorry place something in between something, okay. How do use the word insert? You don’t only use insert in MS office, you can use this word instead even in a regular spoken English, in day to day English. You insert a key in a keyhole. The doctor inserted injection into my veins, okay so that’s how you use the word insert. You can open up your vocabulary and use this word in many other ways as well, okay, right? Got it? Shall we move on to the next one? The next one I have for you is, home. What is a home? Home actually means house. However, whenever you say home, there is a lot of emotional attachment to that place, okay. So home is describing a place where people belong to or people originate from. Do you realize that anywhere, anytime you get lost, you quickly go to your home? You are like, you know what I can’t find the way, let me go back home, I’m done with this. Why because that’s where you origin from? That’s where you can start thinking. Similarly in a Microsoft word, why would they use this term home? Because in Microsoft word, it’s a place where all the information is displayed very clearly and it will help you navigate better. Am I correct? So that’s how Microsoft word uses. But you can use in a regular sentence or you can use this word in day to day conversation as, my country is home to many people who have different ethnicity. For example, America is home to millions of people regardless of race or colour or any other ethnicity or this particular zoo, may be let’s say the National park is home to many animals. So you don’t have to say many animals live in national park, there’s a better way of saying it, and national park is home to many animals. Simple, yet very effective. Why, because this actually, the home word actually means emotional attachment.
Moving on to the next word I have is file. A lot of people get confused with file. File does not only mean a folder. Okay a folder looks something like this, right? Does not mean only a folder. A file can also be a box. Okay it’s a box where you, pile your things in an orderly fashion. How can you use this word in spoken English? You can say, I have to file. Okay you need to understand, while file is a noun, you can use it as a verb. Maybe somebody is handing over some papers to you. So you’ll say I need to file these papers in an orderly fashion. That’s how you use the word file as a verb and in regular English, especially if you are in an office. Or I’m going to file away these papers that means, you’re going to store these papers elsewhere and you may not be looking back at them anytime soon.
The second last but the most interesting word I have for you is, Microsoft. What is Microsoft? What does micro mean? Micro means small and soft means not hard or opposite to hard. Okay. How do you use the word, micro? You can say a microchip, you can talk about may be microcomputers. Actually Microsoft came from the word microcomputers and software, okay. In regular English, you know if you want to describe about somebody’s dress like for example, a girl’s dress, you can say that girl is wearing a micro mini skirt. Miniskirts everybody knows, but if it’s too short or if the shorts are like really small where you can see the cheeks, you can say, she is wearing or he is wearing micro mini shorts. That’s how you use the word micro. Similarly, soft can not only go for objects, it can also go for skills. That’s why you have soft skills. How do you call them for using in regular English? You can say that soft skills are actually something which is very pleasing and it does not have a very sharp definition. That means the way I am speaking to you, if you like it, you will address this issue as a soft skill. You will tell, oh her soft skills are very good, because I love the way she speaks, you cannot define how I am speaking. Am I right? So you’ll use the word soft not only for objects but also for skills or for character.
The last word I have for you is, the word itself. Well word in Microsoft office was actually a program, where it’s supposed to get the words and try to arrange them and you try to make sense out of it. But word in real English means, combination of alphabets coming together which has a meaning. How can we use word is spoken English? You can use it as a verb. For example, you are thinking something, you’re thinking, you don’t know how to put this in a right way so that people can understand what you are trying to say. But if you want to say something, you say I don’t how to word my thoughts. That means I don’t how to express them, okay. So in spoken English, word can be used in place of express. I would like to word my thoughts Why dont you word what you have to say? That’s how you are supposed to use the word.
See there are so many simple words, but they have unique meaning and you can use these words in your spoken English but to make you sound even more eloquent and more confident when you are speaking to someone. I hope you liked the lesson; I’ll be back with another one, see you then, bye.
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