Use These Words Correctly

Fragile / Frail

Fragile: delicate, easily broken; frail: weak in health; without strong support.

e.g. This piece of glassware is fragile; please handle it with care.

e.g. You look pale and frail today. What's wrong with you?

e.g. The presidential candidate received frail support from his own State.

High / Highly

High: referring to altitude or position; highly: the degree or intensity. 

e.g. The airplane is flying high.

e.g. This disease is highly contagious.

Portend / Portent

Portend: foretell or forewarn; portent: self-importance.

e.g. This political decision may portend more trouble in the coming election.

e.g. The arrogant demeanor reflects the portent of the candidate.

Genteel / Gentle

Genteel: trying to be polite, and imitating good manners; gentle: kind, friendly.

e.g. He is living in genteel poverty (i.e. he is living a lifestyle that imitates that of the rich).

e.g. She is gentle in nature, and people like her.

Exhausting / Exhaustive

Exhausting: using much energy; exhaustive: very thorough or complete.

e.g. The exhausting work of working in the garden made me want to go to bed right away.

e.g. The police conducted an exhaustive investigation into this crime.

Observance / Observation

Observance: following rules and regulations; observation: seeing or paying attention to.

e.g. Tell me about your observation of the future of this company.

e.g. What do you think of the observance of the law on texting while driving?

Precede / Proceed

Precede: come or go before in time or place; proceed: go forward.

e.g. Soaking the beans overnight should precede the cooking.
e.g. We decided to proceed with the plan, even without the funding.

Half-blood / Half-breed

Half-blood: a person having one parent in common with another; half-breed: a person whose parents are of different races.

e.g. He is my half-blood: we have the same mother.

e.g. My girlfriend is a half-breed: her father is Danish, and her mother is Chinese.

Overall / Total

Overall: describing a measurement between two extremities, from one end to the other; total: complete;

e.g  What is the overall length of the bridge?

e.g. The project was a total success (not overall) 

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

American Slang

 Not in the same street: not in the same class or category.

e.g. Of course, my car in not in the same street as yours: you paid a lot more.

Look alive: hurry up.

e.g. Look alive! We don't want to miss our flight.

Go under: fail.

 e.g. I am sorry to say that all your proposals have gone under.

Gray matter: brains.

e.g. To solve this complex problem, you need gray matter, which you don;t have. 

Make it snappy: be quick.

e.g. Common on, make it snappy! We don't have all the time in the world!

Ark: an old car.

e.g. Why don't you get rid of your ark, and get a new one?

Half-inch: steal.

e.g. Where did you get it from? You didn't half-inch it, did you?

Gift of the gab: ability to give effective speeches.

e.g. The new Mayor has the gift of the gab: people like listening to him.

Hang out: reveal everything.

e.g. I want the truth, and nothing but the truth. Let it all hang out!

Go round: be enough for all.

e.g. Do you think we've enough drinks to go round at the party tonight?

Give the lie to: contradict; prove something is false.

e.g. I have to give the lie to what you just said: I did not take your money.

Stephen Lau     

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

SLANG AND COLLOQUIAL EXPRESSIONS

Learning a language takes time and effort, especially if it is not your first language. Even if it is your mother tongue, you still need time and effort to master it because almost every language has its own slang and colloquial expressions, and the English language is no exception.

Language is forever changing. What is currently acceptable or popular may be replaced by something else in years to come, and the use of slang is a strong testament to that. Slang is just an alternative way of saying something. It is sometimes hard to identify what is slang and what is not. Slang and colloquial expressions are often acceptable in informal writing because they are used in communication in movies, newspapers, radio, television, and other mass media The more you learn, the more you will know when to use or not to use them in your formal writing. No matter what, knowing these common everyday expressions is a plus for all ESL learners.

Words Easily Confused

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.

LIGHT / LIGHTEN

Light: (as a verb) come across; happen to find.

e.g. I lighted upon a very interesting book in the library.

Lighten (as a verb) brighten up; make something less heavy.

e.g. Can you lighten the dark corridor?

e.g. Your financial support lightened my burden.

 NEURAL / NEUTRAL

Neural: having to do with brain cells or nervous system.

e.g. My brother is a neural scientist.

Neutral: not helping or taking any side.

e.g. He remained neutral in this controversial issue.

CONTRARY / CONTRAST

Contrary: the exact opposite

e.g. You think I did not help him. On the contrary, I did everything I could to help him.

Contrast: comparison.

e.g. Contrast may make you see things very differently

PORTEND / PORTENT

Portend: foretell.

e.g. These minor quakes might portend a big earthquake in the near future.

Portent: a sign or warning; a marvelous thing in the future.

e.g. A bright future is your portent.

CONTRIBUTION / CONTRITION

Contribution: donation; an act of helping and supporting.

e.g. Thank you for your contribution to the project.

Contrition: sincere sorrow for sin.

e.g. The convicted criminal showed contrition when he apologized to the family of the victim.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Prepositional Words and Phrases

Argue about: dispute or quarrel with someone over.

e.g. They often argue about racial injustice over the dinner table.

Argue against: make a case against someone or something.

e.g. The police discovered new evidence that argued against the criminal charge.

Argue back: answer back.

e.g. I wish he would not argue back so much.

Argue down: defeat someone in a debate.

e.g. He tries to argue down everyone who has opposite views.

Argue for: make a case for someone.

e.g. My lawyer will argue for me in court.

Argue into: convince someone to do something.

e.g. I could not argue myself into helping you in this project.

Argue with: challenge someone or something.

e.g. I won’t argue with what you do; after all, it is your choice.

Therefore, learn more prepositional phrases and find out how they are different in meaning with different prepositions.

TALK

Talk back: answer impolitely.

e.g. It's rude to talk back to your parents like that.

Talk over: discuss.

e.g. We'll talk over the matter before we see your parents.

BACK

Back down: retreat from a position in an argument.

e.g. Knowing that he did not have a valid point, he backed down.

Back out: desert; fail to keep a promise.

e.g. You said you would help us, but you backed out.

Back out of: fail to keep a promise.

e.g. We cannot back out of the contract; we are legally obligated to do what we are supposed to do.

Back up: support

e.g. Are you going to back me up if I decide to go ahead with the project?

TOUCH

Touch on: mention briefly.

e.g. The professor barely touched on the subject of Civil War.

Touch up: repair.

e.g. Can you touch up the scratches on the door?

PREPOSITIONAL WORDS AND PHRASES

Prepositions are words that indicate the relationships between various elements within a sentence. In formal English, prepositions are almost always followed by objects.

e.g. The policeman shot (verb) the man (object) with (preposition identifying the man being shot) a knife.

e.g. I put (verb) the pen (direct object) on (preposition indicating the position of the pen) the table (indirect object).

e.g. I put (verb) the pen (direct object) under (preposition indicating the position of the pen) the table (indirect object).

Prepositional phrases always consist of the object and the preposition. Prepositional phrases can act as adjectives or adverbs. When they are used as adjectives, they modify nouns and pronouns in the same way single-word adjectives do. When prepositional phrases are used as adverbs, they also act in the same way single-word adverbs and adverb clauses do, modifying adjectives, verbs, and other adverbs.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

American Idioms

Mind one’s p’s and q’s: pay attention to one’s manners

e.g. When you meet the President, you must mind your p’s and q’s.

Go through the roof: very angry

e.g. When he found out that you took his money, he went through the roof.

That’s the ticket: what is needed

e.g. That’s the ticket! If you do as I tell you, you will succeed.

Run in the family: a characteristic in all members of a family

e.g. Longevity runs in the family: they all live to a ripe old age.

All at sea: confused

e.g. The lawyer was all at sea when he read the two conflicting reports of the incident.

Handwriting on the wall: a warning

e.g. If the Governor had seen the handwriting on the wall, he would not have adopted those unpopular proposals.

Go through the roof: very angry

e.g. When he found out that you took his money, he went through the roof.

Fork out: pay

e.g. I like this computer, but I don’t want to fork out a lot of money.

Odd man out: atypical person or thing

e.g. Everybody has a partner, and you are an odd man out because you don’t have one.

Take the bull by the horns: deal with the challenge directly

e.g. This is a very difficult situation, but we must take the bull by the horns.

That’s the ticket: what is needed

e.g. That’s the ticket! If you do as I tell you, you will succeed.

Rule the roost: be the boss

e.g. Who rules the roost at your house?

Then and there: on the spot

e.g. As soon as the candidate finished his speech, he was shot then and there.

Dance to another tune: change to a different attitude or behavior

e.g. If your parents were here, you would dance to another tune.

In nothing flat: in exactly no time at all

e.g. Don’t worry! I’ll get you to the airport in nothing flat.

Make a stab at: try to do something

e.g. I knew you would make a stab at finishing the project.

Ins and outs of something: details to do something right

e.g. Take your time; you need to know the ins and outs of this procedure in order to do it right.

Has had its day: no longer popular

e.g. This bulky lawn mower has had its day. We need to get a new one.

Everyday American Idioms for ESL Learners

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Words and Phrases Frequently Confused and Misused

ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES FREQUENTLY CONFUSED AND MISUSED

Words are neither effective nor ineffective; they just impart different meanings to the sentences in which they are used. It is the writer's effective use of words and phrases that makes sentences effective or ineffective.

The English language is made up of nearly a million words and phrases. A writer, especially one whose English is not his or her first language, may face two major problems in writing: not knowing "enough" words; and not knowing how to choose the "right" words. 

Writing is made up of words. Effective writing requires having a good stock of vocabulary, as well as selecting the most suitable words and phrases to express the intended ideas.

There are many English words and phrases that are frequently confused and misused by ESL learners. This book provides hundreds of those words and phrases with examples to show how they should be used correctly.

Stephen Lau     

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Books By Stephen Lau

Everyday Colloquial Expressions

The following are some common everyday colloquial expressions for ESL learners: . 

Good hunting: good luck in your enterprise.

e.g. "I'm going to invest in gold." "Good hunting!"

Go easy with: use sparingly.

e.g. Go easy with your hard-earned money.

Darned sight more: a lot more.

e.g. "Do you think he should put more effort on this?" "A darned sight more!"

Pooped: exhausted.

e.g. I was pooped after working for nine hours in the yard.

Hard at it: busy.

e.g. "Are you working on the project?" "You bet! I'm hard at it."

Not so dusty: quite good.

e.g. Well the performance was not so dusty; much better than I expected.

Are you with me?: understand or agree with me.

e.g. I've been explaining this for an hour. Are you with me?

Bang out: reveal.

e.g. If you go into politics, you must be prepared to let all your secrets bang out.

Deliver the goods: do what is expected or required.

e.g. The new employee seems to deliver the goods -- very hard working and conscientious.

Half-baked: silly.

e.g. What do you take me for? A fool half-baked!

Guinea-pig: person used as a subject for tests or investigations.

e.g. I wouldn't like to be a guinea-pig in this scientific research, if I were you.

Good for you: well done!

e.g. "I aced my test." "Good for you!"

Beat hollow: be superior to.

e.g. She is bossy, beating everyone hollow.

Jump down one's throat: criticize or scold severely.

e.g. The boss jumped down my throat for not completing the project on time.

Excuse my French: pardon my bad language.

e.g. Ladies, please excuse my French; he really made me mad.

Back to square one: back to where one started.

e.g. We're back to square one: no deal.

Hit the roof: explode with anger.

e.g. When he heard the bad news, he hit the roof.

Jump on: blame or criticize strongly.

e.g. You jumped on him every time he opened his mouth.

Gift of the gab: ability to give effective speeches.

e.g. The new Mayor has the gift of the gab: people like listening to him.

Keep one's head above water: stay out of debt or a difficult situation.

e.g. In this economic environment, it is not easy to keep your head above water.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Everyday Slang Expressions for ESL Learners

In the raw: naked.

e.g. Did you see that man on the street? He was dancing in the raw.

Do one's bit: do one's share of responsibility.

e.g. I've done my bit; I hope it's going to work.

Are you with me?: understand or agree with me.

e.g. I've been explaining this for an hour. Are you with me?

Get out of bed of the wrong side: be irritable.

e.g. Your Mom seems to have got out of bed on the wrong side.

Bang out: reveal.

e.g. If you go into politics, you must be prepared to let all your secrets bang out.

Jam full / packed: fully packed.

e.g. The room is jam packed with boxes.

Gift of the gab: ability to give effective speeches.

e.g. The new Mayor has the gift of the gab: people like listening to him.

Keep one's head above water: stay out of debt or a difficult situation.

e.g. In this economic environment, it is not easy to keep your head above water.

Hard at it: busy.

e.g. "Are you working on the project?" "You bet! I'm hard at it."

Go down with: be accepted or approved by.

e.g. The President's speech went down with the Spanish community.

Stephen Lau     

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

http://www.booksbystephenlau.com/idioms-and-slang.html

Wisdom in Living

Wisdom in Living

This is a completely updated website on how to live your life as if everything is a miracle.

The journey of life is long and unpredictable. We all need wisdom to guide us along the way so that we will not get lost; even if we do, we may still find out way back to where it will eventually lead us to our final destination.

This new website may provide you with wisdom as your compass and roadmap on your life journey.

Wisdom in living comprises seeking God's wisdom through understanding human wisdom in order to live a meaningful and purposeful life, even in the golden years. The ancient wisdom of Tao holds the key to applying these principles of life and living in this modern world.

Stephen Lau