MY nephew is in Std 6. In his last English Language paper for his monthly test, he had to answer this question:

What is the meaning of the word “sautéed” in Sautéed Butter Prawns.

a. Fried

b. Baked

c. Grilled

d. Steamed

My nephew answered “a. Fried”. The teacher said it was “c. Grilled” and refused to accept my nephew’s answer.

We saw the principal, who gave us the runaround at first but later said she would discuss the question with the teacher. My nephew later told us that they had agreed to accept his answer but they would also accept “grilled”.

Is this the way it should be?

Wikipedia states that: Sautéing is a method of cooking food, similar to stir frying, that uses a small amount of fat in a shallow pan over relatively high heat.

And thefreedictionary defines it thus: Adj. 1. sautéed – fried quickly in a little fat

How can the teacher accept both answers when only one is correct? – De Silva

Your nephew gave the only correct answer. As you pointed out, “sautéed” means “fried quickly in a little hot fat”.

“Grilling” is a different method of cooking altogether. It involves using a grill, which is “the part of a cooker that directs heat downwards to cook food that is placed underneath it”, OR cooking the food over an open fire (online Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary).

Thus, we need a grill to make “cheese-on-toast” (also known as Welsh rarebit). Some sliced or grated cheese is placed over the toast and grilled quickly in the grill part of the oven. The heat from above melts the cheese. This is certainly not frying or sautéing! We can also say that satay is made by grilling pieces of marinated meat on a stick over an open fire, and this too is not frying or sautéing either.

Memorising words

I would like to find out how to memorise English words. After a few days, I often forget them. I read books and newspapers, but it hasn’t helped. Please give me some tips on vocabulary and grammar. I hope to improve my vocabulary and write good essays. – Jin Wei

When you learn a new word, it is a good idea to use it. Write sentences with it, use it in talking to your good friends (who are also learning the same word and won’t laugh at you), or even put it into a song!

Also, don’t learn too many words at a time. That will just clog your brain. You can, for example, learn about five words at a time and try putting those words into the same sentence. Play games with these new words, read them out loud and find words that rhyme with them.

When you are having fun, you can learn more! Try it.

Meaning of phrases

In one scene from the movie Armageddon, the character Harry Stamper was visiting his father and told him, “She is giving me hard time.” Harry’s father replies, “God gave us children so we can have roses in December.”

In an Archie comic, Mr Lodge comments about his daughter’s friend, Jughead: “What does he know? He is just a college kid while I had traded business before breakfast.”

What do both those phrases mean? – Lou Hou Kheen

Roses in December: What Harry’s father said to Harry is a variation of a quotation from the English writer J.M.Barrie, best known for his book Peter Pan. Barrie’s words are: “God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.” Roses are beautiful things and in England you have them in June, which is a summer month, and not in cold wintry December. So Barrie’s saying means that our God-given memory enables us to remember and be cheered by the beauty of the summer rose in the cold and dark month of December.

I haven’t seen this film, but I think that Harry’s father, in using a variation of the quotation is telling Harry to see the positive aspect of having a child, who is not just someone who gives a parent “a hard time”, but a young person who may make a parent recall his own youth.

Trade business before breakfast: I’ve never heard this expression,which sounds American to me. I think “trade business” means “do business”. If someone does something serious before breakfast, he must be a very hard worker indeed. So “I had traded business before breakfast.” may mean “I have worked very hard” and so know more than someone “who is just a college kid.”

I will stand corrected by anyone who is familiar with this expression and can explain what it means.

Simple but confusing

This question in a recent exam really frustrated me.

It seems that we cannot see eye to eye on this matter.

What does cannot see eye to eye mean?

A. Cannot agree

B. Agree whole-heartedly

I chose B because the “see eye to eye” was underlined but the answer is A. My teachers and friends also chose A because they said “cannot” (next to see eye to eye) should be considered as well. If that’s the case, then why was the phrase underlined? – Desperate for answers

The whole phrase “cannot see eye to eye” should have been underlined, so as not to confuse students. There is a phrase “see eye to eye”, besides the more common “not see eye to eye” which has the opposite meaning. The online Cambridge Dictionary of Idioms contains the phrase “see eye to eye” which it defines as “if two people see eye to eye, they agree with each other”.

• Survey: Britons love tea more than coffee
• New York City relies on automation technologies to face challenges of urbanisation
• Oil palm firms team up with Sabah to protect Malua Forest Reserve
• Powering the Big Apple
• Build robust cities
• Fun with words
• Rail marvel in New York
• Fun with synonyms
• Carnegie Hall gets green facelift
• Win The Good Food Cook Book!

Latest Jobs from Star-Jobs