Learn English Expressions: What are binomials?

[Sings] By no means, binomial -- hi. James, from EngVid. Today's lesson is going to be

on expressions. Well, I want to do something on expressions. And it's rather interesting

that these expressions are different. You'll notice number one, all the expressions I have

here are joined by a conjunction. A conjunction is usually "and", "but", or "or". And a conjunction

puts two things together. You'll also notice that there are two different types of them.

There are sound patterns, and synonyms. And the third thing that we have to do, too -- it's

a lesson on "two" it seems, right? These patterns are sometimes called "binomials". And you're

probably going "bi what?" I don't blame you. But to make it easy, remember I've been speaking

about two? "Bi" means "two" in English. "Bicycle", right? "Bifocals". "Nomial" just means "name".

"Name", right? So "name" or -- I should say, "word". So basically, a binomial is two words.

And what we're going to work on today is, well, expressions with two words.

Now, in English, there are a couple of them. There are actually four, but I'm only going

to do two today. We have -- the first one I'm going to work on is sound patterns. "Sound

patterns" means when you say it, they kind of sound similar. "Odds and ends", "prim and

proper", "wine and dine", "part and parcel". They kind of rhyme a little bit, or they have,

you know, a similar type of sound. So a lot of our sound patterns and binomials, they

do have a meaning, and I'm going to explain four for you today so you can make your vocabulary

or your expression vocabulary larger. All right? So let's do the first one.

"Odds and ends". What are "odds and ends"? "Odd" means "strange". "End" means "finish".

Not in this case. "Odds and ends" means small, unimportant things. So if I ask Mr. E, "Mr.

E, can you move the big boxes, and I'll move the odds and ends later?" It means -- I mean,

what is this stuff? Just stuff. Just move this stuff later. It's odds and ends. It's

odd stuff. It doesn't have a pattern it fits into. Not important. Odds and ends, right?

Now, I like this one. You have to be -- I've got it here again. I'm going to do it if I

can. In England, "prim and proper". "Prim and proper". It means "fancy and fussy". Fancy

and fussy. Fancy as in, you know, the British like to speak like this. And "fussy" means

being very particular about something. So when you say someone is "prim and proper",

their shirts will be just -- their shirts will be proper; they will stand with a certain

posture like they've got a stick up their bum bum; and they will walk like this and

talk like this. "Prim and proper." They will not use contractions like "don't" and "can't".

That's not proper. Okay? So if someone says you need to be "prim and proper", they mean

you need to be somewhat serious, and you know, do not use those contractions, and act properly.

All right? "Prim and proper". A little bit fussy, a little particular, a little snooty,

snobby. All right? Yeah.

Okay, what about "wine and dine"? Well, you can wine and dine E and I anytime you wish.

Just come to my house -- no. Take me to a fancy restaurant. "Wine and dine." Just think

of it this way: "Wine" -- you know you go to a nice restaurant, and "dine" means to

eat. When you "wine and dine" someone, it means to entertain. "Come to my place, I'll

wine and dine you. I'll entertain you." Simple, right? But it's got that rhyming thing, and

it's a little nicer. It rolls off the tongue. All right?

And how about this: "part and parcel". It means "belong to". What? Well, the word "parcel"

means a "package". A "part" means -- well, you know what "part" means. There are four

pieces; each is a "part". So it's part of a package. Let's do this, okay? So part of

a package. So here's a parcel. I'm not exactly the best drawer, right? It's a box. You get

a parcel in the mail, yeah? Well, this is a part of that. So when you say "part and

parcel", it means it belongs to that. Cool enough, yeah?

Just like "wine and dine", you can think "wine", and then a plate of food. They don't pay me

for art here, people. When someone's "wining and dining" you. "Prim and proper" -- I'm

just going to draw a -- no I won't. I was going to draw a bum and say this -- you're

-- "snooty". Let's just put a nose. And the nose is high in the air. Okay? So "snooty".

"Odds and ends", you know, like a pen, a ruler, a knife. Let's put an ax. These are odd things

together, "odd and ends", right? But they go together. Crazy.

So this is when we talk about sounds patterns. When you look for the sound pattern, look

for a kind of a little bit of a rhyme. Okay? A little rhyming. Or similar P and P, wine,

dine, rhyme, P-P, par-par, D-D. Cool? All right. So that'd the first part of our expressions

we're doing, okay, that are binomials. What about the other ones?

Well, this is interesting. In English, we tend to tell people not to put words together

that are too much the same because it becomes repetitive. But this is the exception, and

you get to get away with it when we do binomials with synonyms. It's to actually enhance it

or make it stronger. Right? A little bit stronger. "R&R". Well, R here stands for "rest". Okay?

"Rest", -est. And then, "recreation". Sorry. This is really bad, but forgive me. Forgive

me, English gods! And "recreation". Okay? "Recreation" means, you know, to do things.

When you have recreation, it's things you do to relax like play baseball or play soccer.

That's recreation. Watching TV. Recreational sports, you know? Now, "R&R" means to relax.

So when you say, "I need R&R", "I need some rest and recreation. It's something I need

to rest, sleep, and do something fun." But you notice it's a synonym. Rest and recreation,

relax -- similar. But we want to make it stronger. I don't want to just rest; I want to have

fun and rest.

What about "law and order"? Well, "order" is a certain way things are done. "Law" -- you

better do them that way, right? So we're going to draw a little badge here. Not the best

badge. NYPD. NYPD -- the police. "Open up! It's the police!" Now, they make sure things

are done the right way, and they are the law. So this is, once again, almost repetitive.

If it's an order, you have to follow it, right? If it's the law, you have to follow it right?

But when we say "law and order", we're saying we want to police to enforce or make sure

the people do what they're supposed to do. "We want law and order in this town." NYPD

Blue. That was a good program. Okay.

Here's another one. A little bit repetitive again, much like this conversation. I feel

like I'm saying it again and again. But it's just to help you understand. "First and foremost."

Well, "first" means -- you know, trophy, okay. FIFA World Cup. Yay! You came first. "Foremost"

means to come first. "Foremost in my mind" -- priority. A "priority" means, like, number

one. So when we say "first and foremost", we mean important. Duh. If it's first and

it's first in my mind, it's probably important. So "first and foremost" means "first or importantly".

You'll hear people say speeches, "First and foremost, I'd like to thank all off of you

for coming this evening. Thank you!" It's an important thing to do. Thanks for coming

EngVid. Anyway.

"Leaps and bounds." Ever seen a frog? You're not going to see one today because I'm a terrible

drawer. Look, the guy here is saying, "Don't do it! Don't do it! They didn't do anything

bad!" But here's my frog, okay? Here's the frog's leg. Here's the frog's head. Here's

the other frog's leg. And ribbit, ribbit. There. Ribbit. There. Ribbit. I said it. That's

a frog. Well, frogs jump. Right? They jump. A "leap" is a big jump. A "bound" is a big

jump. It's "jump and jump". Really? Jump and jump? Yeah, but look. I'll explain in a way

you'll know. If you look at the first video -- so that's right. Go back to the dark, dark

era of EngVid, and go to 2008. Mr. E was approximately this big. A very a small part of this whole

great organization. By 2014, he's almost twice the size. So in six years, he has grown a

lot -- or by "leaps and bounds". See? When you say, "My business has grown by leaps and

bounds", I mean "a great amount". "My love for you has grown by leaps and bounds by every

passing day, William Shatner, with your bad acting." Okay? It means it's grown and grown

and grown. All right? And I'm groaning at such a bad joke. All right? When you "groan",

it's like something hurts you. All right? "My stomach hurts. Ow! Groans!" William Shatner

-- love him.

So just to go over it again, these particular expressions are called "binomials". And by

no means is it a bad thing to remember. "Bi" means two, "nomial" means "word". So it's

two words brought together by a conjunction. Remember: Conjunctions bring two ideas together.

And today, we studied two types of binomials. One are sound patterns where there's rhyming,

and the other one is synonyms where we use similar words to express something, right?

To make it stronger. You liked that? I liked it. Anyway.

I don't mean to try and get out of this, but this is part and parcel of a lesson. You know

this. Go to www.engvid.com, "eng" as in "English", "vid" as in "video", where my friend who has

grown by leaps and bounds for the last little while -- he and I will meet you. But don't

forget first and foremost to go and do the quiz, right? Because that's important. All

right? It's like R&R for you because it's a fun way to learn English. I've got to go.

We'll talk shortly. It's been fun. Bye, E. You and your big head.