TEACHERS NOTES
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onestopenglish is 15!
Overview: A special lesson plan to celebrate onestopenglishs fifteenth anniversary, using a
selection of popular Macmillan Dictionary BuzzWords including emojis, afterparty and jeggings.
Happy birthday onestopenglish!
Total time for worksheet activities: 35 minutes
Suggested level: Intermediate and above
1. If you are interested in reading about the
origin, meaning and use of any of the
BuzzWords used in this lesson plan, go
to the complete AZ archive of BuzzWord
articles at the web address given at the
beginning of the worksheet.
2. Encourage your students to discuss and
compare their answers in Exercise 1. Then
check the answers as a class. Ask the class
if they ever experience an annoying song
5. In Exercises 4 and 5, ask the students to read
that they cant get out of their head for hours
or sometimes days (an earworm). Ask for
examples of songs.
3. After you have checked the answers to
Exercise 2, ask if any members of the class
6. In Exercise 6, elicit suggestions from the
ever experience ringxiety (the feeling that their
mobile phone is ringing when it isnt). Ask if
they ever use emojis and, if so, what their
favourite emojis are.
4. Ask your students to complete Exercise 3
individually and then to compare their answers
in pairs or small groups. Elicit possible
meanings for the two-word expressions from
the class. These are the definitions:
1. senior moment: a brief period when
someone, particularly an elderly person, is
unable to remember something
2. digital native: a person who has grown up
in a world with digital technology such as
the internet and mobile phones
3. slow food: food which is carefully
prepared using traditional cooking
methods and organic ingredients, and is
intended to be eaten and enjoyed slowly
for maximum benefit
4. small plate: used to describe food which is
served in small portions and on small plates
Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2016
MACMILLAN DICTIONARY BUZZWORD / onestopenglish is 15!
5. stealth tax: a new tax or tax increase that
is introduced in a way that people do not
easily notice, or a new payment which
is the same as a tax but is not officially
classed as one
6. exercise widow: a woman who does not
see her husband as much as she would
like because he spends a lot of time trying
to keep fit by doing physical exercise
the definitions carefully before adding the
prefixes or matching the environmental words.
Ask them to complete the exercises and then
discuss their answers with a partner.
class. After each pair of words has been
agreed, elicit a possible definition for each
one. These are the definitions:
1. brinner: a meal served in the evening
which consists of foods traditionally eaten
at breakfast
2. stuffocation: a feeling of stress caused
by having so many things that you do not
know how to use or store them all
3. glamping: a luxury form of camping which
includes expensive equipment, high-class
facilities, luxury food and drink, etc
4. coatigan: a long knitted jacket with long
sleeves which is worn over other clothes
and looks similar to a coat
5. clicktivism: the use of the internet as a tool
for influencing public opinions or achieving
political or social aims
6. jeggings: trousers worn by women that
stretch and fit very closely to their legs that
look similar to jeans
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 WORKSHEET
www.macmillandictionary.com
onestopenglish is 15!

Go to the Macmillan Dictionary BuzzWord archive at:

http://www.macmillandictionary.com/buzzword/AtoZ.html

1 Choose the meaning

Choose the correct meaning for each of these BuzzWords.
1. omnishambles
a. something that is badly organized and ineffective in every possible way
b. something that everyone can enjoy irrespective of their taste in music or art
2. earworm
a. a small insect that is attracted to warm spaces, such as the human ear
b. a song or tune that a person hears repeatedly in their head
3. chronotherapy
a. treating an illness by taking into account the bodys rest and activity patterns
b. treating an illness by analysing the times when it is most serious
4. unicorn
a. a start-up company whose value is more than one billion US dollars
b. a type of hat with a pointed peak that resembles the horn of the mythical beast
5. sandwich generation
a. people who are so busy at work that they never have time to eat a proper lunch
b. people who balance work with looking after their children and their elderly parents
6. iceberg home
a. a dwelling in the polar regions of the world such as an igloo
b. a house with an extension in the basement that is bigger than the rest of the house

2 Complete the sentence

Use these BuzzWords to fill the gaps in the sentences.

kimchi ringxiety barista exoplanet emoji phantonym

1. A __________ is someone serving in a coffee shop who is professionally trained in making different kinds
of coffee.
2. An __________ is a small digital image used in electronic communication to express emotion or other
simple concepts.
3. __________ is the annoying feeling of mistakenly thinking your mobile phone is ringing.
4. A __________ is a word which looks like it means a particular thing but in fact means something quite different.
5. __________ is a Korean dish made from fermented cabbage or other vegetables, garlic and spices.
6. An __________ is a planet which is outside earths solar system.
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MACMILLAN DICTIONARY BUZZWORD / onestopenglish is 15!

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onestopenglish is 15!
3 Two-word expressions
Match the words in the left-hand column with those in the right-hand column to make BuzzWords.
1. senior a. plate
2. digital b. widow
3. slow c. moment
4. small d. tax
5. stealth e. food
6. exercise f. native
What do you think each phrase means?

4 Prefixes
Complete the BuzzWords using these prefixes

de- after- un- pre- over- re-

1. ____ heritance: financial support given by living parents to their children or grandchildren as an alternative to
leaving them money in their will
2. ____follow: to stop subscribing to someones messages on Twitter
3. ____gift: to give someone a present you originally received from someone else
4. ____party: a relaxed social gathering that takes place after a concert or similar event
5. ____friend: to remove someone from your list of contacts on a social networking site
6. ____parenting: being so worried about the safety or success of your children that you do too many things for
them and stop them being independent

5 The environment
Match the environmental BuzzWords with their definitions.
1. ecocide a. buying particular products depending on how recyclable they are
2. rewilding b. ecological products that do not produce or save much energy relative to their costs
3. precycling c. a person whose interest in the environment affects their choice of romantic partner
4. upcycling d. damage to or destruction of the natural environment
5. eco-bling e. reusing an object to produce one of higher value than the original one
6. ecosexual f. returning areas of land to their natural state by reintroducing animal species previously
found there
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onestopenglish is 15!
6 Blends
Which two words are used to form these blends?
1. brinner
2. stuffocation
3. glamping
4. coatigan
5. clicktivism
6. jeggings
What do you think each word means?

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MACMILLAN DICTIONARY BUZZWORD / onestopenglish is 15!

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onestopenglish is 15!

KEY
1 Choose the meaning 4 Prefixes

1. a 1. preheritance
2. b 2. unfollow
3. a 3. regift
4. a 4. afterparty
5. b 5. defriend
6. b 6. overparenting

2 Complete the sentence 5 The environment

1. barista 1. d
2. emoji 2. f
3. ringxiety 3. a
4. phantonym 4. e
5. kimchi 5. b
6. exoplanet 6. c

3 Two-word expressions 6 Blends

1. c 1. breakfast and dinner

2. f 2. stuff and suffocation
3. e 3. glamorous and camping
4. a 4. coat and cardigan
5. d 5. click and activism
6. b 6. jeans and leggings
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MACMILLAN DICTIONARY BUZZWORD / onestopenglish is 15!

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