ESL 24:
Missing Words

English uses a lot of attributive nouns, that is, nouns used as adjectives. For example: "world peace," where "world" is a noun which describes "peace." Often, if a phrase becomes popular, the second noun is dropped. This also happens with ordinary adjectives. Below is a paragraph containing many examples of this phenomenon. See how many you can figure out using your dictionary.

I was watching a soap on cable (which I have because it is so much better than broadcast) and wishing it was a western when the thought struck: Will I need a physical to get major medical? I put in my contacts and, wearing my favorite polyester and high-top tennies, went to get a facial and a perm before my cameo on Channel 2. I took my portable since my little sub-compact (which is a stick with air and cruise, by the way) has no stereo. At the studio I met a sub wearing cords. We had a cup of decaf with lo-cal and a danish while we discussed the taping. Afterwards, I took in a dollar matinee, got some take-out Chinese and then invited some friends over for a couple of hours of penny-ante.

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