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Lukewarm Tea, Sympathetic Dogs, and Growing UP Plants (or Not)

6/10/2025

 
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Last week, a few interesting language ideas popped into my sessions, and I thought I’d share three of them with you. They all look perfectly fine at first glance — but each one hides a small trap.
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📌Lukewarm tea
Can you order lukewarm tea in a café?
You could — and people would understand you — but it’s not something native speakers normally say.
Lukewarm usually has a negative meaning. It describes something not hot enough and often sounds like a complaint.
So if you say My tea is lukewarm, you’re probably not happy about it.
If that’s actually how you like your drink, it’s better to say:
Could I have it warm, not hot?
Just slightly warm, please.


Understandable — yes. Natural — not really.

📌Grow up (plants)
Can your plants grow up? 🌱
Not quite.
We say children or people grow up — they become adults.
Plants don’t grow up, they just grow.
I grow tomatoes in my garden.
My plants are growing fast this year.

So: People grow up. Plants grow.

📌​Sympathetic dog
Can your dog be sympathetic? 
In English, sympathetic doesn’t mean (miły, przyjazny) — it means understanding someone’s feelings.
She was very sympathetic when I told her about my problem.
If you want to describe your dog’s personality, use friendly instead:
My dog is very friendly.

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    WORDS

    All
    Accordingly
    After You
    Altogether
    Cheesy
    Chuffed
    Cold
    Difficult
    Dodgy
    Do You Have Any Questions?
    Everyday Phrases
    Expensive
    Fancy
    Fishy
    Flimsy
    Great
    Grow Up
    Gutted
    Hesitate
    I Can't Come To Your ...
    Iffy
    I Hate Winter
    I Have A Lot Of Work
    Let's Talk Shop
    Livid
    Lousy
    Lukewarm
    Mere
    Once And When
    Relax (v)
    Sad Versus Upset
    Sympathetic
    The Real Deal
    Truly
    What/how Do You Mean?
    Worry (v)

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