hey guys u have no idea how useful is this lesson for me due to i´ll start to work tomorrow ¡¡¡¡ so i really hope not being late haha i mean im not good with the punctuality ( its not good, i know and im working on it). actually maybe i´ll have an english interview, im not sure about it... so, about the lesson...backed up, stuck in traffic, traffic jam, mm all are so similars i mean ur stuck in a traffic jam, but backed up? its the same, isnt? u cant move ¡¡¡ or could somebody explain me , pleaseee =) ...

ccuevas, Yeah,I'd say traffic jam and backed up are pretty much the same thing for all intents and purposes.However I suppose I could envisage a situation where there is perhaps a subtle difference,though I suppose its debatable.Traffic jam to me merely means that something is obstructing the flow of traffic [sure,often because it's backed up and there's so many vehicles around you that you can't drive any faster than bumper to bumper].If you imagine though that you are one of the first cars to arrive at an intersection where there has been a traffic accident.At this point,sections of the road may be closed off,you may not be able to proceed.Cars are arriving from all directions,and perhaps someone is directing the arriving traffic allowing say one car through at a time.You could say that you are temporarily stuck in a traffic jam,but at least initially there may not be too many cars backed up behind you.If it is usually a busy intersection,then it's likely in a short period of time there will be a big line of cars waiting to get through though [really backed up].IHTH. Similar expressions to "I'll be there in a sec": I'll be there in a tic I'll be there in a moment.

Hey guys! Pretty useful lesson today! I think that getting a coffee is not such a lame excuse of being late though ;o) Come on guys, coffee is important for many people. It's an outrage if you can't grab a coffee in the moring, before you start working ;o) Hey, Cc! Goood luck with the first day at work! Good question about 'traffic', btw. And Baba, what a wonerful comment! I love the language you usually use. It's always pretty hard to understand some words. And this time I had to look up some of them in a dictionary as well. So, I'd like to share with you guys my results. Please, correct me if it's nessecary: to envisage = to anticipate subtle = a little bit; slight merely = just; only to obstruct = to trouble; to prevent to proceed = to continue going/moving to get through = to pass HTH

Maxim, Your meanings are correct,but for a couple of them,they were being used in a slightly different context.That is: While "envisage" can mean to anticipate[which tends to imply that you're looking toward some future event] in some contexts,in this context it was being used more in the context of "imagine" or "conceive".In other words,I could think of some instances where there was a slight difference in meaning. For "obstruct"..while "trouble" works to a degree,it's probably not the best fit in this context.In this context it means something more along the lines of "block" or "get in the way"...prevent from proceeding,or at least hinder it. You are completely right with subtle.So you know how I think about this word,I would probably best explain it by saying it's the opposite of obvious.