Vocabulary - Week 39

Here are some words and phrases you can hear on languagecaster’s Full Podcast’s Good, Bad and Ugly section - a review of the footballing news. For more English practice check out our online quizzes and crosswords, worksheets and English for football phrases as well as the Learners’ Podcast.

  • loathe - hate, really does not like something

A good week for Chelsea loathe though I am to admit it.

  • to overcome - to beat, to defeat

Manchester United overcame Barcelona in the Champions League 1-0.

  • To be outshone (outshine) - if someone is better than you, to be beaten by someone’s performance.

Messi has been outshone by Ronaldo over the season.

  • To seal up - to sew up, to confirm, to ensure no problems

Real Madrid and Bayern are sealing up their respective league.

  • To renew a contract - to extend a contract

Thaksin Shinawatra will not be renewing Sven Goarn Eriksson’s contract at Manchester City.

  • Bitter rivals - extreme rivals,  lots of very bad feeling between the two teams.

Barcelona may have to present the trophy to their bitter rivals Real Madrid at next week’s game.

  • Pepper spray - a spray used to disperse crowds or attackers. It can burn your eyes.

Sao Paulo players ran for cover after pepper spray had been let off in their dressing room.

  • Bizarre - very, very strange.

Ronaldo’s story was a bizarre one indeed.

  • Transvestites - people dressed up in the opposite gender’s clothing.

Ronaldo picked up three transvestites last week and is facing charges of assault.

  • To rear its ugly head - a nasty issue has reappeared.

Racism has reared its ugly head again.

  • To be abused - to be attacked (verbally or physically)

An Albacete player was racially abused throughout the game he was playing by another team’s player.

  • To spark - to start, to incite

The trouble at Stamford Bridge was sparked by a possible racist comment.

  • fisticuffs - punches

There were some fisticuffs between the Manchester United players and the Chelsea groundstaff last week.

  • To be kicked out - to be thrown out of a competition

PSG have been kicked out of next year’s League Cup competition in France.

  • unfurled - opening a flag or banner

Some PSG fans had unfurled a racist banner at a game in the north of France.

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • bodytext
  • Sphinn
  • del.icio.us
  • Facebook
  • Mixx
  • Google
  • E-mail this story to a friend!
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon

Leave a Reply

Trackback URI | Comments RSS