I really hope you have had a relaxed summer and that you have a whale of a time. My summer has gone way too fast in between canvas, oil paintins, English grammar books and of course some 'tapas' and lots of ice-cream.
So, let's get down to business and start this school year full of beans and with out batteries charged.
To start the month I decided to go with a fun idiom: Have a whale of a time.
The idiom has been created with a little help of the student slang at the end of the nineteenth century, as 'whale' was used in reference to someone exceptionally strong or brilliant. 'He's a whale at soccer.' 'She's a whale in English.' And so, a whale of a time, means a great time in large quantities (let's not forget whales are rather big animals). Of course, you might have curiosity about how whale got to mean great, there's more info here, but the recent meaning of the idiom is certainly not too old.
Also, I've learnt that sometimes my students are more keen on knowning differents uses for the same expression, so this year we will be doing a bit of both: origin and usage.
Have a nice beginning of the course!
See you around,
B.P
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