BIRTH

Expecting = to be pregnant (n. pregnancy)

Euphemisms (idioms and synonyms):
- anticipating
- waiting for a blessed event
- to be in trouble
- to be in the club
- to be in the family way
- waiting for a little stranger
- waiting to hear the patter of tiny feet
- waiting for a little stranger
- heir conditioned
- having a bun in the oven

antenatal = prenatal

to have a baby = to give birth to a baby
She is having a baby = she is in labour
Going into labour, labour pains
She has a baby = she is a mother
To bear (somebody) a child
Bear, bore, born
e.g. She bore him 3 sons.

Midwife (n.), midwifery (n.)

Birth certificate babies are registered at birth and issued with a birth certificate

Infant, new born (baby)
Toddler - when older

Baby shower

Christening (n.), christen (v.) = to baptize
Nappy = diaper (US)
Pram = baby carriage (US), pushchair (when babies are older)
Dummy = pacifier (US)


Congratulations on the birth of your baby girl / boy!
MARRIAGE

Proposal - the man goes down on one knee to pop the question
To get engaged
engagement ring

Fianc (masc.)
Fiance (fem.) / fia:nsei/

pre-wedding nerves = when you are nervous before the wedding

Bridegroom (groom)
Bride
The best man
Bridesmaid
Maid of Honour

Civil ceremony - conducted at the Registry Office
White wedding - held in a church
Bridesmaids wear matching dresses
Tuxedo
Wedding dress with a train

The bride should have:

SOMETHING OLD,
SOMETHING NEW,
SOMETHING BORROWED,
SOMETHING BLUE,
(AND A SILVER SIXPENCE IN HER SHOE.)

Wedding ceremony
The bride's father walks her down the aisle
Wedding March
Objections to the marriage
Wedding vows = the promises that the bride and groom make to each other during the
ceremony. Some of these vows could be to love each other "until death do us part" and to
love "for richer or poorer, for better or worse, in sickness and in good health".
Exchange rings and are proclaimed "man and wife".
Wedding band = wedding ring
Sign the marriage register
Wedding bells = the traditional tune that the church bells play as the couple leave the
church
Reception - wedding party


wedding cake = a traditional cake with three "tiers" eaten at the end of the wedding meal

Best wishes on your marriage.
Best wishes on your wedding day.
Congratulations!
All the best for the future.

To get divorced
Divorc (masc.) /divosei/
Divorce (fem.) /divo:si:/

Widow (fem.)
Widower (masc.)
DEATH

To die synonyms and euphemisms
- to pass away
- to go
- to decease - the deceased = a person who has died
- to go to ones rest
- to be with the angels
- to meet ones maker
- to depart
- to be released
- to perish (esp. in a terrible or sudden way)
Informal:
- to take the big jump
- to kick the bucket
- to bite the dust
- to call it a day
- drop dead
- cash in ones chips

mourners = bereaved
wake

funeral = burial
coffin = casket(US)
hearse
cemetery = graveyard
tomb
tombstone
epitaph
wreath


an obituary

sympathy, to express condolence
to condole


I'm sorry for your loss.
Please accept my sincere condolences.





BORN OUT OF WEDLOCK Of parents not legally married to each other:
a marriage/match made in heaven
1. a marriage which is likely to be happy and successful because the two people arevery well suited to each other Jan
e and Pete had exactly the same likes and interests -it was a marriage made in heaven.

a shotgun wedding (British, American & Australian old-fashioned) also a shotgunmarriage (American old-
fashioned)
a marriage that is arranged very quickly because the woman is going to have a babyAfter a shotgun wedding at 20, sh
e had 3 children before divorcing from her husband.
See also: shotgun, wedding
an open marriage
a marriage in which the partners are free to have sexual relationships with other peopleWe have an open marriage, bu
t I never tell my husband about my other lovers.

A knobstick wedding is the forced marriage of a pregnant single woman with the man known or believed
to be the father.