ESL Podcast 415 - Being Clean and Dirty
spring cleaning - a period of time spent cleaning a home very well, usually once a year, getting rid of the things that one no longer wants or needs and cleaning the things that one wants to keep
The whole family got involved in spring cleaning: Mom cleaned the kitchen, Dad worked floors and windows, and the kids cleaned out the closets.
duster - a small tool with a piece of wood or plastic to hold onto and many feathers or a light cloth at one end, used on tables, shelves, and other surfaces to move small pieces of dirt off of them
He used a duster to get rid of the small dead bugs that were lying at the bottom of the window.
broom - a long tool with a long piece of wood or plastic to hold onto and many small pieces of straw or plastic at one end, used to move small pieces of dirt on a floor into one place so that they can be picked up and thrown away
Arka spilled flour on the kitchen floor and used a broom to clean it up.
nit-picky - one who pays a lot of attention to detail and is happy only if things are a certain way; demanding
Our teacher is so nit-picky that if we spell even one word wrong she makes us do the whole assignment all over again.
neat and tidy - very organized and clean, with everything where it should be
Rose's house is never neat and tidy because her children leave their toys everywhere.
pigsty - a place where pigs live, also used to talk about a very dirty and unorganized place
Their whole house is very clean, except for their son's room, which is a pigsty with dirty clothes and pizza boxes all over the floor.
messy - unorganized; with many things where they should not be
The garage is so messy! We have to get some boxes and start to put everything away.
dusty - covered with very small pieces of dirt
The library has many old books that are dusty because they haven't been opened in years.
to straighten up - to organize objects while cleaning; to put things away
Miranda quickly straightened up the bathroom, hanging towels and putting away her toothbrush.
to pitch in - to help with a project; to give assistance to help complete something
Sheila said, "I wish you would pitch in around the house more, helping me cook and clean."
to slave away - to work very hard; to do difficult work for a long period of time
After slaving away at work all day, Rolf wanted to come home, eat dinner, and sleep.
spotless - perfectly clean, without any dirt or other problems
Their home is so spotless that you could eat off the floor and not get sick!
neat freak - a person who always wants everything to be extremely clean and organized
Genevieve is such a neat freak that all her books and CDs are in alphabetical order.
well enough - a phrase used to show that one can do something or knows something sufficiently, even if he or she doesn't know it perfectly
I might not be great at algebra, but I can do math well enough to figure out how much to pay at the store.
to spoil (one's) fun - to make something less fun for someone; to make something less enjoyable
Wendy wanted to spend her birthday on the beach, but cold weather spoiled her fun.
to complain - to say that one is unhappy about something; to say that one does not like something
Vana always complains about how salty the food is here.