Shy 差一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)
Hi, I recently read this sentence: "...has ceased one year shy of its 120th anniversary". What does shy mean in this sentence? And is that a special usage of the word shy?
Tina, Nanjing
收聽與下載
This week Li and Natalie look into the different meanings of the word shy.
Usually quiet people are described as shy, but in English the word 'shy' can be used in many different ways, even to describe the movement of a horse.
Do you know what the word shy means in these sentences?
She is one year shy of her 18th birthday.
What is Yang Li so afraid of?
I shy away from singing in public.
I hope they don't describe us as work-shy.
They are very publicity-shy.
Listen to the programme to find out if you are right. You will also hear an unusual guest and find out who is camera-shy in the BBC Learning English China Team.
If you have a question you would like to ask our team, email us at questions.chinaelt@bbc.co.uk. We might make a programme about your question.
