Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Not in my books: not according to my views.

e.g. "Is this good enough?" "Not in my books."

It blows my mind: it's amazing, almost unbelievable.

e.g. "Did you hear that he passed the exam with flying colors?" "It blows my mind."

I can live with that: I'm okay with that; I'll get used to it.

e.g. "That one may cost more." "I can live with that." 

Make heads or tails of: Do not understand.

Keep one's shirt on: Calm down; don't get too excited.

e.g. "Cool off! Keep your shirt on. This is not the end of the world can't make heads or tails of what you're saying.  You're totally beyond me."

Snap it up: be quick.

e.g. "Snap it up! We need to finish it before noon."

No sweat: it's ok; no problem.

e.g. "I'm sorry I'm late." "No sweat! We've all the time in the world."

Over my dead body: absolutely not!

e.g. "Can I come with you? " "Over my dead body!"

Yesterday wouldn't be too soon: as soon as possible.

e.g. "When do you want me to give this to you?" "Yesterday wouldn't be too soon!"

Turkey: a failure; a sham.

e.g. The whole business was a turkey—there were no investors at all!.

Dead set: very determined.

e.g. We were dead set to finish the project despite the shortage of funds.

Jaw breaker: difficult word to pronounce.

e.g. Can you help me with this jaw breaker? It looks like a foreign word to me.

What would you say if: asking for an opinion; what about?

e.g. "I heard you were recently offered a job." "What would you say if I decline the offer?"

Speak out of turn: speak at the wrong time.

e.g. "Beware of what you're going to say at the meeting. Don't speak out of turn by talking about your divorce."

What gives?: what's wrong? what's the problem?

e.g. "You were screaming at each other. What gives?"

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Common Colloquial Expressions

No can do: I cannot do it..

e.g. "Can you do this now?" "No can do.”

Turkey: a failure; a sham.

e.g. The whole business was a turkey—there were no investors at all!.

Dead set: very determined.

e.g. We were dead set to finish the project despite the shortage of funds.

Jaw breaker: difficult word to pronounce.

e.g. Can you help me with this jaw breaker? It looks like a foreign word to me.

Try as I may: I regret or fail to do something.

e.g. "Can you do something with this machine?" "Try as I may, I can't make it work."

Worst-case scenario: the worst consequence.

e.g.  A blizzard is coming. The worst-case scenario is that all public transport will be suspended.

Pipe dream: Something impossible or unrealistic

e.g. The Mayor said that building another highway would be a pipe dream in the current economic environment.

Not budging / Not giving an inch / Sticking to my guns: Being firm.

e.g. "We're not going to cancel the charges. We're not budging."

e.g. Despite the protests, the government would not give an inch.

e.g.  "I'm not moving out. That's out of the question. I'm sticking to my guns."

See to it right away: Take care of a complaint or problem.

e.g. "The tap is leaking." "Yes, I'll see to it right away."

Call for an apology: Demand an apology.

e.g. Your reckless behavior calls for an apology.

In a nutshell: In summary

e.g. "We're having serious financial and relationship problems." "In a nutshell, you want to divorce your wife?"

Beats me: I don't know; I've no idea.

e.g. "Do you know how this works?" "Bets me."

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Don't Misuse These Words

COMMON / COMMONPLACE

Common: shared or used by many; commonplace: ordinary, not unusual.

e.g. English is a common language used in Europe.

e.g. Nowadays, carrying a gun is commonplace.

PERISHABLE / PERISHING

Perishable: liable to die or perish quickly.

e.g. Fresh vegetables are perishable if you don't put them in the refrigerator.

Perishing: causing suffering.

e.g. Negative thinking may cause perishing emotions and thoughts.

REFRAIN / sUSTAIN

Refrain means to hold back; sustain means to hold up.

e.g. You have to refrain from making any noise.

e.g. Can you sustain the silence?

PUNDIT / PUNT

Pundit: a scholar; a learned person.

e.g. My neighbor is a pundit he seems to know everything.

Punt: a flat-bottomed boar, moved by a long pole.

e.g. In Venice, people move around in punts.

SOME TIME / SOMETIME/ SOMETIMES

Some time means a period of time.

Sometime, as an adverb, means approximately; as an adjective, means former or occasional.

Sometimes, as an adverb, means now and then.

e.g. We have been for the train for some time.

e.g. Why don't you visit me sometime?

e.g. She was my sometime girlfriend.

e.g. Sometimes I like her, and sometimes I don't -- that's our relationship.

MUCH MORE / MUCH LESS

Much more: especially in a positive sense; much less: not to mention in a negative sense.

e.g. I would help a stranger in need, much more if he is my son.

e.g. She wouldn't even look at me, much less talk to me.

SENSUAL / SENSUOUS

Sensual: related to the body; sensuous: related to the five senses.

e.g. It is difficult to be spiritual when one focuses too much on sensual pleasures.

e.g. The painter is able to provide some sensuous images in his painting.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Go the whole hog: go through thoroughly.

e.g. The prosecutor went the whole hog when he inspected the murder weapon.

Bean time: dinnertime.

e.g. Come on, guys, wash your hands; it’s bean time.

Turn in: go to bed.

e.g. Come on, guys, it’s time to turn in.

Bushed: exhausted.

e.g. After a hard day at the office, I'm completely bushed.

Turkey: a failure; a sham.

e.g. The whole business was a turkey—there were no investors at all!.

Get the sack: fired; be dismissed from work.

e.g. The company was downsizing, and he got the sack.

Easy on the eye: good looking.

e.g. I say, your girlfriend is easy on the eye.

Act your age: behave yourself according to your age..

e.g. You’re almost an adult. Come on, act your age, and stop behaving like a spoiled brat!

Get with it: hurry up and get busy.

e.g. Come on, get with it; we’ve a lot to do.

In for it: likely to have trouble.

e.g. If you don't listen to my advice, you're in for it.

No oil painting: ugly.

e.g. To tell the truth, the dress you bought me is no oil painting.

By a long chalk: by a great amount.

e.g. He lost his re-election by a long chalk.

Get wise to: discover; realize.

e.g. Soon you’ll get wise to what is really happening under the roof.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Effective Use of Words

Effective writing requires the correct use of words when you write. Be aware of your choice of words, especially as you begin to know more words.

Avoiding wordiness or unnecessary words

Do not use a phrase if a word will do:

e.g. Many students have a tendency to skim through the instructions on the test.

e.g. Many students tend to skim through the instructions on the test. (better)

e.g. I will show you the way in which to do it.

e.g. I will show you the way to do it. (better)

 e.g. I will show you how to do it. (better)

e.g. The Senate did not pass the bill due to the fact that it was unconstitutional.

 e.g. The Senate did not pass the bill because it was unconstitutional. (better)

e.g. You should take the advice given to you by your doctor.

e.g. You should take your doctor’s advice. (better)

e.g. I was supportive of your decision.

 e.g. I supported your decision. (better)

e.g. The man conducted himself with irrational behavior.

 e.g. The man behaved irrationally. (better)

Do not say the obvious:

e.g. Her hat was red in color.

e.g. Her hat was red. (better)

e.g. The basketball player was tall in height.

e.g. The basketball player was tall. (better)

Avoid unnecessary adjectives, nouns, or adverbs:

e.g. These are vital essentials of life.

e.g. These are essentials of life. (better)

e.g. Do not question his technique employed.

e.g. Do not question his technique. (better)

e.g. There is too much danger involved.

e.g. There is too much danger. (better)

e.g. The Congress would make decisions about changing the Constitution.

e.g. The Congress would decide on changing the Constitution. (better)

e.g. You committed an act of violence.

e.g. You committed violence. (better)

e.g. It took a long period of time.

e.g. It took a long time. (better)

e.g. It was clearly evident that he took the money.

e.g. It was evident that he took the money. (better)

e.g. Evidently, he took the money. (better)

Avoid constructions with it is … and there are …:

e.g. It is truth that will prevail.

e.g. Truth will prevail. (better)

e.g. There were many people inside the cinema when the bomb exploded.

e.g. Many people were inside the cinema when the bomb exploded. (better)

However, it is and there are may have their legitimate uses in emphasizing an idea.

e.g. It is the truth that we are seeking, not the myth.

e.g. Fortunately, there were only two persons inside the cinema when the bomb exploded.

Avoid excess use of abstract nouns:

e.g. The effectiveness of writing requires an element of conciseness.

e.g. Effective writing requires conciseness. (better)

Avoid flowery or high-sounding language:

e.g. now NOT at this point in time

e.g. nowadays NOT in this day and age

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Correct Use of Prepositional Words and Phrases

The use of prepositions is one of the difficult aspects of learning English. A preposition is a function word that appears before nouns and relates to some other constructions in the sentence.

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and one or more prepositions that functions as a single unit of meaning. Phrasal verbs are commonly used in writing. As an ESL learner, learn some phrases.

MOVE

Move ahead: advance beyond.

e.g. If you wish to move ahead in you career, you need a higher degree.

Move along: continue to move.

e.g. Come on! Move along; there's nothing to see here

Move around: walk around a bit here and there.

e.g. Can you sit still, instead of moving around?

Move aside: step out of the way.

e.g. Please move aside so that the crowd can get through.

Move away: withdraw from someone or something.

e.g. Let's move away from those smokers.

Move back: move back and away.

e.g. Please move back! We need more space here.

Move on something: do something about something.

e.g. This is an issue we must move on.

e.g. You must move on this matter and give it your top priority.

Move up: advance; go higher.

e.g. She is trying to move her son up the social ladder/

EASE

Ease of: relieve or reduce someone of something.

e.g. The doctor eased me of my back pain with some medication.

Ease off: diminish; let up doing something.

e.g. The rain has eased off; we'd better leave now.

e.g. Come on, he's just a kid. Ease off!

Ease up on: treat gently.

e.g. Come on! Ease up on the gas! We’re going too fast!

REMAIN

Remain ahead of :keep up with.

e.g. I don't think we can remain ahead of all the orders coming in.

Remain away: stay away from.

e.g.. I wonder how long he would remain away from drugs.

Remain in: stay within something.

e.g. Please remain in the house until I come back.

Remain on: stay on (a medication)

e.g. Doctor, how long will I remain on this medication?

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau