Heartland English School – Word of the Day

Theme: Name brand products which have become common generic nouns

Word: frisbee

Meaning: a flying disc used for throwing and catching

History: At Yale University in the 1950s, the Frisbie Pie Company sold students pies, and the students threw the round pie plates at each other for fun, and they called the discs Frisbies.  The Wham-O company made a plastic disc, paid the pie company for the rights to the Frisbie name, and changed the spelling slightly. The Wham-O Company has been manufacturing frisbees since 1957. Nowadays, Ultimate Frisbee is a wonderful team sport.

Example: Jon sometimes gives Ultimate Frisbee lessons to Heartland students!

Theme: Name brand products which have become common generic nouns

Word: trampoline

Meaning: a piece of strong cloth attached to a steel frame with many springs, used for bouncing on

History: Canada’s Inuit people invented a trampoline-like game thousands of years ago, but the first modern trampoline was built in the U.S. in 1936. The word comes from the Spanish word for diving board.

Example: There are some fun trampoline facilities where you can bounce for hours. Trampolining has been an Olympic sport since 2000.

Theme: Name brand products which have become common generic nouns

Word: escalator

Meaning: a moving staircase between floors of a building

History: In 1899, the Otis Elevator Company of the U.S. marketed the first escalator, though an inventor patented it in 1859.

Example: Escalators are usually in big public buildings like shopping malls, airports, and stadiums.

Theme: Name brand products which have become common generic nouns

Word: kleenex

Meaning: a paper tissue

History: Paper tissues were invented in Japan in 1918. Kleenex brand paper tissues started being marketed in the U.S. in 1925, and have been popular ever since.

Example: He was crying, so she passed him a kleenex.

Theme: Name brand products which have become common generic nouns

Word: bandaid

Meaning: a small cloth or plastic bandage with a cotton pad, used to cover small cuts

History: Bandaids were invented in 1920 in the U.S. by a man who needed a bandage that people could put on themselves, without help. Bandaids have been sold by Johnson & Johnson since then.

Example: He had a blister on his foot, so he put a bandaid on it.

Note: Sometimes bandaid is used to mean a temporary solution: Giving a man a fish is a bandaid solution to his hunger. Teaching him how to fish will help feed him for life.

Theme: Sports Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb: cool down

Sports Meaning: after sports or exercise, to stretch and do easy exercises to cool the body

Other Meaning: stop feeling hot or angry

Sports Example: It’s important to cool down after a workout; otherwise, you might feel sick.

Other Example: After yelling at the kids, Father cooled down and started joking again.

Theme: Sports Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb: strike out

Sports Meaning: in baseball, to fail to hit the ball

Other Meaning: to fail

Sports Example: Kevin Pillar struck out, and the Toronto Blue Jays lost the game.

Other Example: I struck out on my IELTS test, so I will have to do it again.

Theme: Sports Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb: root for

Sports Meaning: support a specific player or sports team against another player or sports team

Other Meaning: support someone in something they do

Sports Example: Everyone in Canada rooted for the Winnipeg Jets during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Other Example: I always root for my best friend, whatever she does.

Theme: Sports Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb: kick off

Sports Meaning: to start a game by kicking a ball

Other Meaning: to start an event

Sports Example: We kicked off the soccer game at 7:00.

Other Example: The Winnipeg Folk Festival will kick off on Thursday, July 5.

Theme: Sports Phrasal Verbs

Phrasal Verb: warm up

Sports Meaning: to prepare your body for sports, by stretching and doing exercises

Other Meaning: to get ready for an activity

Sports Example: The players warmed up before the game, to avoid injury.

Other Example: The teacher did a warm-up to help students remember vocabulary before the test.