デザート

There are lots of types of dessert in Britain.

Some desserts have amusing names such as:

knickerbocker glory

spotted dick

jam roly poly

Sometimes we use different words for dessert such as:

• pudding
• sweet
• afters

Most desserts are offered with custard, cream or ice cream.

忙しい

Idioms meaning very busy:

• got a lot on one's plate
• tied up
• snowed under

Examples:

• Don't bother her; she's got a lot on her plate.
• I can't meet you because I'm tied up at the office.
• He's snowed under with work.

ストレス

Got a lot on one's plate also means:

• busy + stressed
• lots of problems
• a very big problem

イギリス朝食

上手

Are you good at English?

上手

• good at + activity
• good at + school subject
• good with + noun

Examples:

• He's good at swimming.
• She's good at maths.
• He's good with computers.

技術

In business, we often use this pattern:

• have + adjective + noun + skills

Examples:

• The Human Resources manager has good people skills.
• You should be a translator because you have great language skills.
• My husband has excellent negotiating skills so he's been promoted to sales director.

かわいい、キッチュ

The usual translation for「かわいい」is cute.

Japanese people use cute for lots of things; we can hear the word every day. However, cute is not so widely used in English. Generally, cute is used for:

• babies
• young children, especially girls
• older girls, sometimes young women
• some small animals
• some soft toys such as teddy bears or dolls

I often wonder why Japanese society is so obsessed with cuteness. We can see cute cartoon characters everywhere on warning signs and information leaflets, for example. In Britain, cute cartoon characters are used only to target young children.

キッチュ

（かわいい　+　悪趣味　＝　キッチュ）

There is a big difference in culture with the word cute. Many Japanese products and celebrities are described as cute but English speaking people would say kitsch. Of course, everyone has different tastes and many Japanese people cringe at the sight of kitsch Japanese sub-culture, such as schoolgirl pop groups.

So how would you describe this video? Is it cute or kitsch?

If you can't see the video above, please click here to see it on YouTube.

マンション

マンション can be translated as:

• flat
• apartment
• condominium
• condo

In English, mansion is a very big house. Another word is stately home. Very rich people live in a mansion.