20 Advanced English Vocabulary Words and Phrasal Verbs
Vanessa: Hi, I’m Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Are you ready to expand your vocabulary?
Let’s do it.
Vanessa: Last week I shared a special conversation
video with you where my husband Dan and I
played a board game called Codenames.
Throughout this game, you learn some new vocabulary,
but we didn’t really explain the vocabulary
as we were playing the game.
We were just playing the game naturally.
So today I’d like to take 20 of those vocabulary
words and explain them in detail, give you
some examples and help you to integrate them
into your own conversations.
As I was creating this lesson for you, I realized
that most of these expressions we used in
the Codenames board game video were phrasal
verbs.
I guess phrasal verbs are commonly used, of
course in daily conversation, but especially
in games.
So I hope that this will help to expand your
phrasal verb vocabulary and help you feel
comfortable.
Vanessa: All right, let’s get started with
the first expression, number one, to pick
up.
There are a lot of different meanings for
this phrasal verb, to pick up.
In fact, there are several meanings for all
of the expressions that we’re going to talk
about today, but I’d like to focus on specifically
how it was used in the conversation.
This means to learn something naturally without
studying.
This could be in a good way or it could be
in a bad way.
So let me give you some sample sentences.
In the conversation lesson I said, “You’ll
pick it up.”
That means that you’ll learn naturally without
studying.
Dan was trying to explain some of the rules
of the board game and I said, “Ah, you’ll
pick it up.”
That means you’ll learn the rules as we’re
playing without studying them.
This is in a positive way.
You want to be able to pick up new ideas in
English, new expressions.
When you’re listening to my videos or when
you’re listening to the radio, you’ll probably
pick up new expressions.
You didn’t study them.
You just simply learned them naturally.
Vanessa: This is positive, but we could also
use this in a more negative way.
My five year old daughter picked up some bad
habits when she visited our neighbor’s house.
That means that maybe our neighbors were using
some bad words or they were fighting with
each other.
Well, these are bad habits, so she picked
up the bad habits when she visited the neighbor’s
house.
This is a negative thing.
You don’t want to naturally learn bad behavior,
but you know, it happens.
So what we’re going to do with each of these
expressions is you’re about to see a clip
from the original conversation where we used
the expressions.
You’re going to see Dan and I having that
board game conversation, and I hope that it
will help you to just see how they’re used
in the original context.
All right, let’s watch the clip.
Dan: Give each other a one word hint to guess
the right word or the word we’re trying to
think of.
Vanessa: Yeah, you’ll pick it up.
Dan: Give each other a one word hint to guess
the right word or the word we’re trying to
think of.
Vanessa: Yeah, you’ll pick it up.
Vanessa: Number two, to be a stretch.
You might know that stretching is the kind
of exercise that you do before you go running.
You need to stretch your muscles.
This expression though, it’s a little bit
different, but it has a similar idea.
This means that it’s far from reality.
We used this expression a lot in the conversation
lesson.
We were specifically talking about connecting
words together and sometimes the words didn’t
exactly connect so easily, so we said some
words are a stretch.
This means that they might not connect so
easily.
If you’ve already watched that lesson, then
you know what I’m talking about, but it’s
still interesting and useful to use.
Vanessa: We can also say, I know that it’s
a stretch, but could you walk my dog for the
next two weeks while I’m gone?
This is kind of a lot to ask of somebody.
Two weeks walking your dog, that’s a lot of
extra work.
You’re also assuming that your friend is available,
that your friend has time, that your friend
wants to do it, so you’re adding the expression,
I know that it’s a stretch, but could you
help me with this big task?
So you’re already letting them know, I know
it’s a big deal.
I know that this is a lot to ask you and you’re
adding that expression, I know that it’s a
stretch.
Vanessa: Or if you have a business meeting
and your boss says, “Okay, I need all of the
reports finished by three o’clock.”
Well, if there’s a lot to do, you might say,
“Well, it’s going to be a stretch to finish
the reports by three o’clock.”
It’s going to be kind of far from reality.
It’s going to be pretty difficult.
It’s not impossible, but it’s a little difficult.
It’s going to be a stretch to finish the reports
by three o’clock.
All right, let’s see the original clips that
you can see how to use, to be a stretch.
Vanessa: There are three cards here on the
table that relate to that word.
Some of them might be closely related, some
of them might be a stretch.
Vanessa: There are three cards here on the
table that relate to that word.
Some of them might be closely related, some
of them might be a stretch.
Vanessa: The next expression is, to mark off.
This is another phrasal verb and it means
you’re noting something as completed.
It’s the same as to check off something, you
are marking it off.
So let’s take a look at some sample sentences.
In the conversation I said, “I’m going to
mark it off.”
That means that I had a list of words and
I’m simply going to check that word or cross
it off.
As you can see, there are a lot of phrasal
verbs that have a similar meaning … to mark
off something, to check off something, to
cross off something.
This means that I’m just noting this word
is finished, this word is completed.
Vanessa: You can also say, “I feel satisfied
when I mark off items from my to do list.”
If you’re the kind of person who likes to
make lists in the morning of every day, you
say, “Today, these are the three things I
want to accomplish.”
Well at the end of the day, hopefully you
will be able to mark off, I did this, I did
this, I did this.
You’ll be able to mark them off and you’ll
feel satisfied because you accomplished what
you wanted to accomplish.
All right, let’s watch the clips so you can
see how to use this.
Vanessa: So that means that this word is finished.
All right, I’m going to mark it off on my
paper.
Vanessa: So that means that this word is finished.
All right, I’m going to mark it off on my
paper.
Vanessa: The next expression is, to give away.
There are a couple of different ways to use
this expression, but in the conversation we
were talking about revealing a surprise.
So I said, “I can’t give it away.”
When you are the person who is giving a clue
to someone else in this game, you can’t give
away what the answer is.
You need to keep it a secret.
You can’t reveal the secret.
I can’t give it away, I need to keep it a
secret.
Or you might say, it was amazing that none
of my students gave away the Christmas surprise.
Vanessa: So many years ago when Dan and I
were teaching English to elementary school
kids in Korea, for Christmas I wanted to give
him a special Christmas present.
I went to all of his students and each student
said something special to him.
A lot of them said, “Oh, you’re so kind, teacher.
Oh, you’re so funny.
I love your class.”
Just a little comment like this, and I filmed
all of them.
There were probably 50, 60, 70 students.
Usually kids aren’t good at keeping secrets,
but do you know what?
I couldn’t believe that none of the students
gave it away.
So when I actually gave him that video as
a Christmas present, he had no idea.
I was pretty shocked because I thought that
for sure one of the students will say, “Teacher
Daniel, we filmed a video for you.”
But no, everyone kept their mouth shut.
No one gave it away.
So this is a great way to use this expression,
to give away something.
Another phrasal verb.
All right, let’s watch the video so you can
see how to use this and its original context.
Dan: Well, cheese comes in a wheel.
You call it a cheese wheel.
You call it a cheese wheel.
Vanessa: Don’t make me make a facial expression,
I can’t give it away.
Dan: Wheel.
Dan: Well, cheese comes in a wheel.
You call it a cheese wheel.
You call it a cheese wheel.
Vanessa: Don’t make me make a facial expression,
I can’t give it away.
Dan: Wheel.
Vanessa: The next expression, another phrasal
verb, is to clash with something.
This means that it doesn’t go with or it goes
against something.
In the conversation I said, “It’s not going
to clash with the other words.”
I wanted to make sure that my word, my hint,
or my clue, it went well with the other words.
So I used the expression, to clash with.
It didn’t clash with the other words.
Vanessa: Let’s take a look at another example.
The green striped shirt and the yellow polka
dotted pants clashed with each other.
So this means they don’t look good together.
If you wore those two things together, it
would look a little bit strange.
So we can say in this situation, they don’t
go well together.
They clash with each other.
All right, let’s take a look at how this is
used in the original conversation.
Vanessa: Another hint.
Dan: Another hint.
Vanessa: I have another hint ready.
Dan: Okay.
Vanessa: Let me make sure that it’s not going
to clash with any of the other words.
Vanessa: Another hint.
Dan: Another hint.
Vanessa: I have another hint ready.
Dan: Okay.
Vanessa: Let me make sure that it’s not going
to clash with any of the other words.
Vanessa: The next expression, the next phrasal
verb, is to start out with.
This is used when you’re starting a series
of events.
So other things are going to happen after
that first event.
I said, “I’m going to start out with gear.”
Gear was the word that I chose, so I pointed
to that word.
This means I’m going to choose other words
after the word gear, but that’s just the first
one.
So that’s why I use this phrasal verb, start
out with.
Vanessa: Let’s look at another example.
When you make bread, you need to start out
with all of the ingredients.
This is a simple thing.
Of course, you need to start out with a good
recipe, and of course you need to start out
with all of the ingredients.
Ideally put all of the ingredients on your
table, and then you can start the process
of making bread.
So this is the first thing in a series of
events.
Start out with all of the ingredients and
then you are at least on the right path.
All right, let’s watch the original clip.
Dan: So I’m going to start out with gear.
Vanessa: Good work.
Dan: That’s easy.
Vanessa: All right, we got gear.
Dan: So I’m going to start out with gear.
Vanessa: Good work.
Dan: That’s easy.
Vanessa: All right, we got gear.
Vanessa: The next expression is a little slang
and it is, to be lame.
Lame usually refers to someone who can’t walk
and it’s not a very kind expression, but in
this situation it just means something that’s
not cool.
This is very casual.
So in the conversation, Dan said, “It’s lame
of me to do this.”
He just simply meant it’s not cool of me to
do this.
In the board game, you’re trying to think
of a clue for multiple words, but he only
made a clue for one word.
This is kind of easy, kind of simple.
It’s not very amazing.
So he said, “It’s lame to do this.”
It’s not so cool to do this.
Vanessa: Well, let’s take a look at another
way that we commonly use this.
If your friend is telling you about her date
that she had last night, she might say, “My
boyfriend said he was going to come at 6:00
PM, but he didn’t come until 7.”
You can reply, “Wow, that’s lame.”
That means that’s not cool.
This is not acceptable.
Especially if he didn’t call you in advance.
He didn’t have a good excuse.
You could just say, “Wow, that’s lame.”
So when someone tells you something that you
think is not cool, you can just simply say,
“Oh, that’s lame.”
I’m sure you’re going to hear this all the
time in movies and TV shows, so now you know
what it means.
All right, let’s watch the original clip.
Dan: I have a hint ready.
Vanessa: Okay.
Dan: I’m going to try to make it easy.
It’s kind of lame of me to do this, but …
Dan: I have a hint ready.
Vanessa: Okay.
Dan: I’m going to try to make it easy.
It’s kind of lame of me to do this, but …
Vanessa: The next expression, the next phrasal
verb, is to go with something.
You might think that this means you are leaving
the house with someone, to go with someone,
but no, in this situation it just means to
choose, to choose something.
So in the conversation with Dan, the original
conversation, I said, “I’m going to go with
rice.”
Go with rice, and rice is just the option
that I chose.
We often use this in restaurant situations
when you’re ordering.
So you could say, “I’m going to go with the
daily special and a glass of wine.”
This just means I would like to order those
two things.
If you’d like to check out some more expressions
and common questions that are used at restaurants,
especially if you’re going to order food in
the US, make sure you check out this video
I made up here because you can learn all about
restaurant situations.
Vanessa: Before we look at the clip.
Let’s look at another example.
When you’re talking about your vacation, you
might say, “We decided to go with the city
tour instead of the museum tour.”
This means we decided to choose the city tour
instead of the museum tour.
It’s just another way to say to choose something.
All right, let’s watch the original clip.
Dan: She didn’t get the last one.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I’m going to go with … there’s both rice
and kitchen on the table, but I feel like
rice is a lot more specific.
Dan: She didn’t get the last one.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I’m going to go with … there’s both rice
and kitchen on the table, but I feel like
rice is a lot more specific.
Vanessa: The next expression and, you guessed
it, phrasal verb, is to use up.
This means to use something completely.
There’s nothing left.
In the original conversation I said, “We only
used up two guesses.”
That means that we have a limited amount of
guesses and two of those are completely used
or are completely used up.
Let’s take a look at another example.
If you use up the milk, please throw away
the container.
Don’t put it back in the fridge.
If you use it up, throw it away or recycle
it, but don’t put it back in the fridge.
If this is a common issue in your house, then
you’ll probably think about this phrasal verb
a lot.
If you use up the toilet paper, please take
the roll out of the stand and put in a new
one.
If you use something up, it’s polite to replace
it.
All right, let’s look at the original clips
so you can see how this was used.
Vanessa: Okay, so we only used two wrong guesses.
So we have five more.
Vanessa: Okay, so we only used up two wrong
guesses.
So we have five more.
Vanessa: The next expression and phrasal verb
is, to jump out at.
This means it’s just easy to see something.
So in the conversation we said, “Nothing is
jumping out at me.”
We were looking at the different words and
no specific word was easily visible.
Maybe you are trying to connect different
things and there wasn’t one that was an obvious
answer.
Well, nothing’s jumping out at me.
If your teacher asks you, well, look at the
page and try to find the answer to this question.
After 10 minutes, maybe you don’t have the
answer.
You could say, “Nothing jumped out at me.
I have no idea what the answer is.”
And then she might say, “Oh, you’re looking
at the wrong chapter.
Look at this chapter.”
So it means something on the page is almost
jumping out at you, so it’s easily visible.
Vanessa: Or you could say Dan’s red hair jumps
out at you.
So he’s easy to find.
Whenever I go to a place where there’s a lot
of people and I’m looking for Dan, I always
look for his hair because it jumps out at
me.
It’s unusual.
It’s usually big and curly and red, so it’s
easy for me to see.
It jumps out at me.
All right.
Let’s take a look at the original clip from
the conversation.
Vanessa: Nature’s such a broad word, but I
chose it.
Dan: Oh, all right.
Well, nothing’s seriously jumping out at me
except for butterfly.
Vanessa: Nature is such a broad word, but
I chose it.
Dan: Oh, all right.
Well, nothing’s seriously jumping out at me
except for butterfly.
Vanessa: The next expression is not a phrasal
verb.
It is, Hail Mary.
This means a final desperate attempt to do
something.
It might seem like this has some Catholic
origins because we’re talking about Mary,
the mother of Jesus, and there are some Catholic
beginnings to this expression.
But the main reason that we use this expression
is because of American football, where we
throw the ball.
We don’t kick the ball, you throw the ball.
In this situation it’s when you’re about to
lose the game, you have no other options.
So one of the players throws the ball almost
blindly at the other end of the field hoping
someone please catch it because we only have
10 seconds left in the game, we’re going to
lose.
That’s called a Hail Mary pass.
I never thought that I’d be explaining sports
or American football on this channel, but
it’s really related to this expression.
Vanessa: So we often integrate this into just
other situations in life.
Dan said, “You get a Hail Mary guess.”
That means at the end of the game, you’re
about to lose, you don’t know what you’re
going to do.
Well in the rules of the game, you get one
final desperate attempt.
This is one final guess and if you get it,
you could win.
If you don’t, you’re definitely going to lose.
So it’s kind of a desperate attempt, a Hail
Mary guess.
Vanessa: Let’s take a look at another example.
After she broke up with him, he sent her flowers
and chocolate and a love note as a Hail Mary
attempt to win her back.
So in this situation, she has already broken
up with him.
Their relationship is finished, but he wants
one final desperate attempt.
Please don’t break up with me.
So he sends her all these nice things as a
Hail Mary attempt.
We use this as an adjective to describe something,
a Hail Mary guess or a Hail Mary attempt to
win her back.
All right, let’s take a look at the original
clip so that you can see how this was used.
Dan: I think in the rules you get a Hail Mary
guess at the end.
Vanessa: Oh yeah?
Dan: Yeah.
There’s one Hail Mary guess at the end.
Dan: I think in the rules you get a Hail Mary
guess at the end.
Vanessa: Oh yeah?
Dan: Yeah.
There’s one Hail Mary guess at the end.
Vanessa: The next expression is, a toss up.
Note that this is a noun we need, a, in front
of this expression.
It kind of looks like a phrasal verb, right?
Toss can be a verb.
Up can be a preposition.
But in this situation it’s a noun, a toss
up.
It means an outcome can’t be predicted between
two options.
You have no idea if this one’s going to win
or if this one’s going to win or which one’s
going to be better.
It is unpredictable which one is going to
be chosen.
All right, let’s look at some examples.
Vanessa: In the original conversation we said,
“It’s a toss up between earth and fog.”
I think my original clue was nature and Dan
was trying to guess which word is related
to nature, earth or fog.
And he said, “It’s a toss up.”
Both words are equally related to nature,
earth and fog.
I don’t know.
It’s a toss up.
Let’s look at another example.
Both teams are playing so well.
It’s a toss up who will win.
We don’t know who will win, because both teams
are playing so well.
So make sure you use this as a noun.
It’s a toss up.
When you hear this as a verb, it’s generally
a physical action.
He tossed up the ball into the air.
Okay.
But this is as a noun.
It’s a toss up who will win.
I don’t know.
All right.
Let’s look at the original conversation clip.
Dan: Earth.
Earth is a little more nature.
Vanessa: Yeah, that’s a little hard.
Dan: I mean, it was a toss up.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I feel like if it were butterfly and earth,
I probably would have said a different word.
Dan: Because We say mother earth.
Dan: Earth.
Earth is a little more nature.
Vanessa: Yeah, that’s a little hard.
Dan: I mean, it was a toss up.
Vanessa: Yeah.
I feel like if the word butterfly and earth,
I probably would have said a different word.
Dan: Because we say mother earth.
Vanessa: The next expression is, early on.
This expression is almost exactly the same
thing as just the word early.
In the conversation we said, “It’s early on
in the game.”
This means it’s almost the beginning of the
game.
It’s early on in the game.
In this sentence, you can also say, “It’s
early in the game.”
Using on is not a requirement in this sentence.
It’s just another way to say this expression.
It’s early in the game or it’s early on in
the game, but let’s look at another sentence
where you need to say early on and you can’t
say early.
Vanessa: I knew early on that this lesson
would help my vocabulary grow.
In the situation we’re talking about, at the
beginning when you first clicked on this video,
you realized quickly, you realized early on
this video is going to help my vocabulary
grow.
I’m going to watch it.
Even though it’s a little bit long, I’m going
to watch it.
So you realized or you knew early on in the
video, or we don’t have to say that, just
I realized early on that this vocabulary video
would help me improve.
We can’t say in this situation, “I realized
early that this video would help me.”
I realized early, it feels a little bit strange.
So this expression is important to listen
for when you’re watching movies, TV shows,
listening to podcasts, listening to music.
When you hear people use early on, just make
a little note of that situation, because you
can use it in that situation as well.
All right, let’s watch the original clip.
Dan: There’s too many … I’m going to pass.
Vanessa: Oh, okay.
All right.
Dan: I’m scared.
Last time made me nervous.
Vanessa: All right, so you’re going to have
one …
Dan: It’s early on.
Yeah, I don’t know.
To me …
Vanessa: One waiting?
Dan: There’s too many … I’m going to pass.
Vanessa: Oh, okay.
All right.
Dan: I’m scared.
Last time made me nervous.
Vanessa: All right, so you’re going to have
one …
Dan: It’s early on.
Yeah, I don’t know.
To me …
Vanessa: One waiting?
Vanessa: The next expression is, to go on.
This is another phrasal verb and it simply
means to happen, but there is another layer
to this phrasal verb.
It’s usually when something dramatic is happening
or you kind of expect that maybe something
dramatic is happening.
So let’s take a look at some examples.
I said, “They have fist fights going on.”
Fist fights means you are punching someone.
This is pretty dramatic, right?
It’s not just a conversation, it’s something
dramatic.
So I was talking about gangsters or the mafia
or these different violent groups have fist
fights going on.
Vanessa: Or we could say, “Go outside and
find out what’s going on.”
In this situation, you don’t know anything
about this context except because I chose
to use the phrasal verb, to go on, you can
assume that maybe there’s a lot of loud noise.
Maybe there was a big crash.
Maybe there’s a lot of people outside and
that’s unusual.
Something that you suspect to be dramatic
is happening.
Go outside and find out what’s going on.
Hopefully it’s going to be a safe situation,
but you never know.
Just find out what is this unusual dramatic
thing that’s happening.
All right, let’s take a look at the original
clips that you can see how it was used.
Vanessa: What else punches?
Gangsters may be punched.
They got some fist fights going on.
Vanessa: What else punches?
Gangsters may be punched.
They got some fist fights going on.
Vanessa: The next expression is a fun idiom
and it’s, by the seat of your pants.
Let me tell you a little bit about the origins
of this expression.
So it means that you’re doing something without
a plan.
But why in the world is it by the seat of
your pants?
So generally this expression is used in its
full form, to fly by the seat of your pants.
This refers back to a time at the beginning
of aviation when pilots didn’t really have
a lot of technology to help them fly correctly.
They often had to just use their own intuition.
Maybe they had to look out the window, maybe
they had to just kind of follow their heart.
So they were doing something without a plan.
They didn’t have maybe a control tower, telling
them where to go.
This is the early stages of aviation.
So they said that pilots had to fly by the
seat of their pants.
They didn’t have a plan, they just had to
go for it and hope that it was okay.
Vanessa: So we’ve kind of brought this expression
into modern times to simply mean that I don’t
have a plan.
I’m doing it by the seat of my pants.
So let’s look at some examples.
Dan said, “Frogs live by the seat of their
pants.”
So it was kind of a weird way to use this,
but it’s kind of true, right?
Frogs don’t have a plan.
They just live however they want to live.
They just go on each day, each moment without
a plan.
So they live by the seat of their pants.
He could’ve also said, “Frogs just kind of
fly by the seat of their pants.”
That would mean the same thing.
It doesn’t mean they’re flying in the sky.
It just means that they go through life without
a plan.
Vanessa: Let’s look at another example.
“I totally forgot about my presentation, so
I just flew …”, which is the past tense,
“I just flew by the seat of my pants.”
When you got in front of the class, you realized,
I have nothing prepared.
I totally forgot about this.
Well, you know what you have to do?
You have to fly by the seat of your pants.
You just have to go for it and hope that it
turns out well.
So you could say, “I flew by the seat of my
pants.”
Kind of funny expression, right?
But when you hear it now you’ll know, it means
this person was not prepared, didn’t have
a plan.
It’s a lovely one to integrate into your own
conversations.
All right, let’s watch the original clip.
Dan: Frogs.
I’d say they kind of just live by the seat
of their pants.
They’re not really making routines.
Dan: Frogs.
I’d say they kind of just live by the seat
of their pants.
They’re not really making routines.
Vanessa: The next expression is, to be hit
or miss.
You can imagine a target.
If you hit the target, great, you have succeeded.
But if you miss the target, you failed.
So here we’re talking about just unpredictable
results, to be hit or miss.
You don’t know if you’re going to hit it.
You don’t know if you’re going to miss it.
But we don’t really use this with a target
per se.
We use it in other situations.
So let’s look at some examples.
Dan said, “Our knowledge is very hit or miss.”
In the game that we were playing, we really
needed to know each other and to guess each
other’s minds.
Sometimes we knew immediately.
Great, that was hit.
But sometimes, as you’ll see if you haven’t
watched that video, it was completely miss.
So we were not on the same page.
We just didn’t understand what each other
were thinking.
So we could say our knowledge was hit or miss.
Vanessa: Let’s look at another example.
The singer’s new songs are really hit or miss.
Some are amazing and some are just okay.
So if you get a new album from someone who
you enjoy, a musician who you enjoy and you
listen to one song, “Oh this is so great,
I love this!”
And then the next song … not so great.
And they listen to another one, “Oh this is
great!”
And another one, not so great.
Well, this could be a great time to use this
expression.
The new songs are hit or miss.
Some of them are great, some of them are not.
All right, let’s watch the original clip so
that you can see how to use this.
Dan: How well do we know each other’s brain?
It’s very hit or miss.
Dan: How well do we know each other’s brain?
It’s very hit or miss.
Vanessa: The next expression is another wonderful
idiom and it’s, on the back burner.
On your oven, on the stove top, at least in
the US, there’s generally four burners.
Two are in the front and two are in the back.
The ones in the front you probably use more
often and the ones in the back you don’t use
as often.
They’re a little further away, so this expression
uses that idea.
It means that something is postponed or it’s
just a low priority.
It’s on the back burner.
In the conversation with Dan, I said, “I’ll
keep it on the back burner.”
That means that I’ll kind of postpone this.
It’s not my top priority right now, but I’ll
still remember it.
I’m not going to completely forget that I
have it on this figurative stove top, but
it’s just not my top priority right now.
Vanessa: We can often use this in negative
situations, especially related to people.
So you might say, “He always chooses to watch
soccer, so his girlfriend feels like she is
on the back burner.”
This means soccer is his priority, and spending
time with her is not a priority.
It’s a low priority.
This might not be true in his mind, but she
feels like she is on the back burner.
So if you personally feel like you have been
pushed to the back burner, this means that
you are not someone’s priority.
It’s a negative feeling, right?
You want to be a priority, especially to the
people you care about.
So you might use this in a conversation with
someone to say, I feel like I’ve been on the
back burner recently.
We really need to spend more quality time
together.
Vanessa: Or you could just use this for an
idea.
Let’s put that idea on the back burner and
let’s focus on this other project first.
In that situation, it’s not negative.
It just means it’s not our top priority.
Let’s postpone it and then we’ll get to it
later.
All right, let’s see how this was used in
the original conversation clip
Dan: And I think we’re doing fine.
I’m still going to pass for now.
Vanessa: You’re going to pass.
Okay, so you still got that sitting on the
back burner?
Dan: Yeah, it’s on the back burner.
Vanessa: All right, I’ll …
Dan: If I can remember.
Dan: And I think we’re doing fine.
I’m still going to pass for now.
Vanessa: You’re going to pass.
Okay, so you still got that sitting on the
back burner?
Dan: Yeah, it’s on the back burner.
Vanessa: All right, I’ll …
Dan: If I can remember.
Vanessa: The next expression is, to be clear
cut.
This means it is completely free from doubt.
If you cut something with scissors, well it’s
not very easy to put that back together.
There is an obvious line on one side of something,
on the other is another.
It is free from doubt which side is on which
side.
So let’s take a look at some examples.
In the conversation, I said, “That’s a pretty
clear cut no.”
That means that there’s no doubt the answer
is no.
It’s a clear cut no.
There’s not any hesitation.
I’m not thinking maybe it’s true, maybe it’s
not.
Nope, it is a clear cut no.
Vanessa: Let’s look at another example.
This is true for my life.
From an early age, it was clear cut that I
wouldn’t become an engineer.
My dad’s an engineer, but from an early age
I wasn’t showing signs that I was really gifted
or interested in math and science, the things
that you really need to know a lot about if
you’re going to be an engineer.
So from an early age, or we could say early
on, it was obvious that I wasn’t going to
be an engineer or it was clear cut that I
wouldn’t be an engineer.
All right, let’s take a look at the original
conversation.
Dan: Probably didn’t wear a bikini, just saying.
I don’t think so.
Vanessa: I think you know enough about him
to say that’s a pretty clear cut no.
Dan: Probably didn’t wear a bikini, just saying.
I don’t think so.
Vanessa: I think you know enough about him
to say that’s a pretty clear cut no.
Vanessa: The next expression and phrasal verb
is, to throw off.
This means to confuse someone or something.
We could say, “That word is throwing me off.”
In the conversation in the board game, we
used this to talk about this word specifically
is confusing me.
It threw me off or it is throwing me off.
We can imagine here that you are, let’s say
walking or trying to balance on a railroad
track.
Well you’re going in one direction, but if
you get thrown off then you’re not on the
same path and it’s kind of the same idea as
being figuratively lost or confused.
That word is throwing me off.
I was on a path and then I saw that word and
now I’m not so certain.
The answer is not clear cut anymore.
I felt thrown off.
It’s a little bit difficult to explain how
this was used in the conversation if you haven’t
seen the conversation yet.
So let’s look at another example.
Vanessa: The robber threw off the police by
putting on a disguise.
Maybe he put on some long hair and some different
clothes.
Well in this situation he’s confusing the
police by putting on a disguise.
He is throwing off the police.
So the police are on a path.
They are going to find the robber, they’re
going to find the criminal and then all of
a sudden they look around and there’s no more
clues.
Where did he go?
He just vanished.
Well, we can say the robber threw off the
police.
That means because of his actions, because
he put on a disguise, they’re not on the right
path anymore.
They don’t know where they’re going.
They’re confused.
He threw them off.
This is a wonderful phrasal verb that you
can use in a lot of situations.
All right, let’s take a look at the original
clip.
Dan: Yeah.
Bases.
Bases.
Something about that word is just throwing
me off.
Dan: Yeah.
Bases.
Bases.
Something about that word is just throwing
me off.
Vanessa: The next and final expression is
a wonderful idiom, to go over your head.
This doesn’t mean that an airplane is flying
over your head.
This just means that you don’t understand
some kind of complex idea.
It just went over your head.
Let’s take a look at some examples.
All the hints are going over my head.
That means that in the board game, Dan was
trying to give me hints.
I was trying to give him hints and we just
weren’t understanding them.
They were going over our head.
We often use this gesture that you see me
making with a hand, that went over my head.
You’re kind of showing visually what this
expression actually is.
Something is going over your head.
It just means that you don’t understand it.
Vanessa: Let’s take a look at another example.
Because I studied this lesson, these 20 expressions
won’t go over my head anymore.
That means if you hear these expressions in
a podcast, in a song, in a movie, you’re going
to understand them.
They’re not going to go over your head.
Maybe before this lesson, if you heard one
of these expressions, if you heard clear cut
or to be on the back burner, you would have
just kind of mentally skipped it and tried
to understand the general context.
But now these expressions won’t go over your
head because you’re going to understand them.
Wonderful.
Great work.
All right, let’s watch the original clips
so you can see how this was used.
Dan: All the hints are going right over my
head.
Lancelot.
Whose that?
Legs.
Where?
What was the other one?
Vanessa: Faces.
Dan: Faces!
Vanessa: That did not go over your head.
Dan: All the hints are going right over my
head.
Lancelot.
Who’s that?
Legs.
Where?
What was the other one?
Vanessa: Faces.
Dan: Faces!
Vanessa: That did not go over your head.
Vanessa: Great work using all of these expressions.
I hope that they won’t go over your head.
I hope that you’ll be able to add them into
your vocabulary.
Congratulations for your hard work.
Now I have a question for you.
I want to know when something is used up in
your house, do you get rid of it or do you
just leave it there?
Do you know anyone who just leaves it there?
Like the toilet paper roll or the milk jug?
What do you do when you use up something in
your house?
Thank you so much for learning English with
me and I’ll see you again next Friday for
a new lesson here on my YouTube channel.
Bye.
Vanessa: The next step is to download my free
ebook, Five Steps to Becoming a Confident
English Speaker.
You’ll learn what you need to do to speak
confidently and fluently.
Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel
for more free lessons.
Thanks so much.
Bye.