Knick Knacks

Intro

What does your house say about you? Is it clean and clutter free? Or do you   have keepsakes and tchotchke filling every space on the wall?  While some people love to keep gifts and decorations, too many knick-knacks drive other people crazy. If your roommate or your partner has covered every inch of your wall with stuff, you might be dying to rip some of it down and lose it. It’s true that heirlooms are special and should be kept, but it might be good to invite a friend over to pare you down if you have too many items from your favorite vintage shop. There can be too much of a good thing, especially knick-knacks.

Learn how Jessica and Marni like to decorate in today’s English lesson.

Dialogue

Marni: Jessica.
Jessica: Yes.
Marni: There is this new vintage store around the corner that I’m dying to check out. I need some new knick-knacks. You want to come with me?
Jessica: I guess so. I hate clutter, though. I don’t need any more decorations for my home.
Marni: Really?
Jessica: Yeah.
Marni: Oh my god. I love a good knick-knack. A little tchotchke. A lot of the ones that I have in my own home are actually hand-me-downs from my grandmother, and so they’re family items.
Jessica: Oh, that’s kind of neat.
Marni: I might call them family heirlooms. But I just love little keepsakes, just little things to really give your house some personality.
Jessica: Absolutely. I’m more of a minimalist, though. I have this motto: “If you don’t use it, lose it.”
Marni: Wow.
Jessica: Yeah.
Marni: Man, you might think my house is kind of junky, then. But I think it’s got a lot of pizzazz.
Jessica: Maybe I’ll have to come over, and we’ll pare you down a bit with your knick-knacks.
Marni: OK, but let’s go to the store and just maybe get a few more first.
Jessica: OK. Just a few minutes.

Discussion

Marni invites Jessica to go shopping at the new vintage store. Jessica groans. It’s obvious she doesn’t want to go. Jessica likes spending time with Marni, but she doesn’t want to buy any new decorations for her house. To her, extra items are just extra clutter, and she likes to keep her house as empty as possible.

Marni, on the other hand, loves tchotchkes of all kinds. She has a lot of heirlooms and other keepsakes. They’re special to her, and she thinks they make her house exciting.

Jessica strongly disagrees with Marni’s decorating style. She’ll go to the shop with Marni, but she also plans to help Marni throw away some of her knick-knacks.

Do you collect items for your home? What’s the most interesting knick-knack you own?

Grammar Point

Phrasal Verbs

Jessica thinks Marni has too many knick-knacks, so she wants to pare her down a bit. Pare down is an example of a phrasal verb.

Phrasal verbs are composed of a verb + a preposition oradverb that changes the original meaning of the verb. For instance, a lot of phrasal verbs take the preposition “out.” Examples include break out (get away from), hand out (give to people), and, of course, make out (kiss a lot).

Some phrasal verbs are non-separable, meaning the preposition must directly follow the verb. For instance, you can say “I dropped by the bar,” but not “I dropped the bar by,” because drop by is non-separable.

On the other hand, drop off is separable. You can say, “I have to drop off my son at school,” or, “I have to drop my son off at school.”

Which sentence has a phrasal verb, “We’re going to read up on the new project,” or, “We’re going to read up the street at the library”?

Vocab

dying to v.

Definition

want to, long to

Example

I’ve been dying to see that movie ever since I heard about it.

lose it v.

Definition

throw away, get rid of

Example

I wasn’t using my camping gear anymore, so I decided to lose it.

tchotchke n.

Definition

small object used for decoration instead of function

Example

My grandmother’s house is full of tchotchkes.

heirloom n.

Definition

item that a family keeps for generations

Example

My great grandfather’s rifle is a family heirloom. We keep it mounted on our wall.

pare down v.

Definition

reduce in number

Example

The contest will pare down the applicants until there are only two left.

vintage store n.

Definition

shop that sells used items and clothes

Example

The vintage shop downtown is my favorite place to shop!

check out v.

Definition

try; look into; investigate

Example

I’m going to check out a new bar downtown. Do you want to come?

pizzazz n.

Definition

when something is exciting or interesting; attractive style

Example

The car we bought had the most pizzazz in the lot. We liked it right away.

clutter n.

Definition

collection of things, unorganized group of objects

Example

There is so much clutter in this house! I can’t stand it! We have to clean it all up immediately.

keepsakes n.

Definition

souvenirs; things from the past

Example

Because my family lost everything when our house burned down, I don’t have any keepsakes from my childhood.