English with English Video 010 – Probability vs Opportunity

Video 010. Probability vs Opportunity – Contrasting English Words

Four equal expressions: to flip a coin, to do a coin-flip, to toss a coin, to do a coin-toss
to get heads, to get tails; it's heads, it's tails
American and Canadian coins: the penny, the nickel, the dime, the quarter

Note: In English today, most people use "dice" for the singular and plural – one dice, two dice
one cube die, one cube dice, two cube dice, three cube dice
polyhedral dice - dice with many sides (all dice are polyhedral)
A tetradhedron die has four sides.
A cube die has six sides.
An octohedron die has eight sides.
A pentagonal trapezohedron die has ten sides.
A dodecahedron die has twelve sides.
An icosahedron die has twenty sides.

a roulette wheel, to play roulette
a lottery ticket, to buy a lottery ticket, to play the lottery
California is an American state. Oregon is an American state.
(American) football
The New England Patriot is a football team in Massachusetts. Massachusetts is an American state.
The New York Jets is a football team in New Jersey. New Jersey is an American state near New York.
The Chicago Lions is a football team in Chicago.
The Detroit Bears is a football team in Detriot.

The odds are ...
The probability is ...
In a coin toss, the odds of getting heads are one in two.
In a coin toss, the probability of getting heads is 50%.
In a coin toss, the odds of getting tails are one in two.
In a coin toss, the probability of getting tails is 50%.
When rolling a six-sided die, the odds of getting a two are one in six.
When rolling a six-sided die, the probability of getting a two is 17%.
When rolling two six-sided dice, the odds of getting double sixes are one in thirty-six.
When rolling two six-sided dice, the probability of getting double sixes is about 2.8%.
When a roulette wheel is spun, the odds of getting a seventeen are one in thirty-eight. (French roulette is different.)
When a roulette wheel is spun, the probability of getting a seventeen is about 2.6%.

This is a job ad. The word "ad" is short for "advertisement."
A barista works in a coffee shop making espresso. A bartender works in a bar making alcoholic drinks.
This an opportunity to get a job. It's an opportunity to get a job as a barista.
This an opportunity to get a job and move to China.
This an opportunity to get a job as a travel agent in London.
This an opportunity to become rich.

A penny is worth one cent.
A nickel is worth five cents.
A dime is worth ten cents. (The dime is smaller than the penny and the nickel.)
A quarter is worth twenty-five cents.
The US and Canada make fifty-cent coins called "fifty-cent pieces," but they are not commonly used.
In Canada, the loonie is a dollar coin and the toonie is a two-dollar coin.
The US has dollar coins, but they are not commonly used.

Watch Video 010 in the EwE Word Contrast series on YouTube.