English in Madrid

Source: Photo by Nick de Partee on Unsplash   What is the difference between these clothes related verbs? Let's start with put on . This verb is always used with an object. I put on my glasses to read the small print. You should put on a jumper . It's getting cold. I took off my black shoes and put the brown ones on . They're much more comfortable. Why aren't you wearing your seat belt? Put it on before the police catches us. You can see from the last example that you have to put something on before you can say you are wearing it. (Does that make sense?) It's the opposite of take off . You could say that put on is to start wearing and take off is to finish wearing something. Both put on and take off are separable phrasal verbs . This means that the object can go between the verb and preposition or come after the preposition . However, if you use a pronoun , it must be in the middle . She forgot to put her earrings on.  😍...

Source:  Random Institute on Unsplash Shanghai Metro 'dress code' warning sparks debate A Shanghai Metro microblog post urging women to ''pay attention to how you dress'' to avoid sexual harassment has sparked protests and strong reactions. The metro operator posted a picture of a woman in a see-through dress on its Twitter-like Weibo account, saying: "It's no wonder that some people get harassed if they dress like this." This drew criticism for discrimination and sexism from irate women. But in an online poll, most agreed that women should dress more conservatively. The post published by Shanghai No 2 Subway Co on Wednesday added that there were many perverts on the subway and asked women to ''cherish'' themselves. This set off a flurry of comments online, with many decrying the suggestion that women were to blame for sexual harassment by dressing scantily. "According to this logic, all men can harass ...

Princess Beatrice's royal wedding hat placed on eBay The elaborate hat worn by Princess Beatrice at Prince William's wedding has gone on sale on eBay to raise money for charity.  The Philip Treacy design is billed as a "unique sculptural celebratory headpiece".  The starting bid was £5,000 from entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne of Dragon's Den fame who said that, for once, he wouldn't mind losing. Proceeds from the sale will be shared between Unicef and Children in Crisis.  After the wedding, the hat was compared to a pretzel and a lavatory seat. A Facebook page set up in its honour attracted a following of more than 5,000 people.  Princess Beatrice defended her choice of hat in a recent magazine interview, saying it was "wonderful that it's had such a reaction".  'Delighted'   In a statement announcing the online auction she said: "I've been amazed by the amount of attention the hat has attracted. It's a wonderf...

Source: Wikipedia (Antony McCallum) WyrdLight.com   Ascot to turn away women for wearing short skirts   Women face being turned away from the Royal Enclosure during Royal Ascot if their skirts are too short or if their dresses have straps less than an inch wide. Visitors who display their midriff or wear off-the-shoulder tops or halter necks will also be ejected on the orders of the Queen's representative, the Duke of Devonshire. The duke, the chairman of the course, has clarified the strict dress code for next week's event in guidance sent to all 80,000 Royal Enclosure badge holders . The code dictates that only "formal day dress" is acceptable and that ladies must wear hats or "substantial fascinators" - Ascot's terminology for feathered adornments . Mini-skirts are considered "unsuitable", midriffs "must be covered" and trouser suits are acceptable but only if they are "full length and of matching material an...