ESL Podcast 854 - Singing Christmas Carols
Christmas carol - a song traditionally sung in December in the weeks before Christmas, usually about the birth of Jesus Christ or about the holiday season in general
"Silver Bells" and "Deck the Halls" are two of Janice's favorite Christmas carols.
to carol - for a group of people to sing Christmas carols for entertainment, usually outdoors in a neighborhood, or in a nursing home or a hospital
Each year, their church organizes groups of people to go caroling in the local neighborhoods.
to sing in tune - to follow the melody of a song, matching the pitch and not singing higher or lower than everyone else
That school concert was amazing! How did you get so many five- and six-year- olds to sing in tune?
lyrics - words that are sung in a song
If you can't understand the lyrics when you hear a song, try to look for them online.
to outshine - to be superior; to be better or more impressive than other people or things
The facilities in the new company office outshine all our other offices.
singer - a person who makes music by using one's voice and lips to make a melody through words
Lisa spent years working in New York as an opera singer.
to hide (one's) light under a bushel - to not let other people know or see how good one is at doing something, or how smart or talented one is
Zhanna is a very good violinist, but she has been hiding her light under a bushel so you've probably never heard her play.
just this once - one time only, especially when talking about doing something differently from how one normally does it
Could you please write the report for me, just this once?
good fit - having the characteristics of the other people or things in a group; similar to other people or things and able to spend time with them or be next to them in an organized way
Kele grew up in a small town and tried to go to college in a large city, but he just wasn't a good fit in that environment.
traditional - with a long history of past use, especially when talking about culture or customs
Are you going to wear traditional clothes for the ceremony?
to compose - to create a new piece of music and write it down so that other people can re-create it
How old was Mozart when he composed his first symphony?
original - unique; new; not having been created before and/or not related to things that have been done in the past
This painting is an original piece by a young artist in our community.
singing voice - how musical a voice is when a person is singing, referring to whether one can sing well and is pleasant to listen to
Trent has a beautiful singing voice, so I bet he'd sound great on the radio, too.
jingle bells - a popular holiday song describing the "jingling" (ringing in a musical way) sound of "bells" (metal objects with a piece of metal inside that produces a noise when it hits the sides), especially on a "sleigh" (a vehicle pulled over the snow by horses)
Samson associates Christmas with the sound of jingle bells, the smell of pine trees, and the taste of hot chocolate.