Advanced English Vocabulary The Fearless Fluency Club
Vanessa: Hi, I’m Vanessa, from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com.
Welcome to the sample vocabulary video for
the course, the Fearless Fluency Club.
In this video, you’re going to learn vocabulary
words that were used in the sample conversation
lesson between my sister and I. In this video,
you’ll see me with my husband, Dan, giving
examples for each word.
And then you’re going to see a clip from that
conversation video.
So, you’re going to be able to hear our explanations
and see it in real life.
If you’d like to get lessons that’s like this
every month, you can join the Fearless Fluency
Club right up here, or in the description
below.
Let’s get started.
Welcome to the vocabulary video for the lesson
set about travel and reverse culture shock.
As you can tell, I’ve got my husband, Dan,
here with me.
Dan: Hi everyone.
Vanessa: Though he’s here to help give you
another perspective, and to also just give
some more experience to each word.
So, that way, you’re not just hearing my stories,
you’re also hearing his stories.
I think it’s good to hear a male and a female
voice.
Dan: Yes.
Vanessa: That way, there’s some balance and
just two different people, it’s going to be
better.
This is going to be a conversation vocabulary
explanation video, based on the vocabulary
from the conversation I had with my sister,
Sharice.
So, if you haven’t seen this conversation
with my sister, you can watch it first.
Or you can watch this video and get used to
the vocabulary, and then watch that video.
It’s your choice.
Are you ready to get started?
Dan: I’m ready.
Vanessa: All right.
The first word we’re going to talk about is
odd job.
An odd job’s like a part-time job, a small
job.
Do you have any examples of what might be
an odd job?
Dan: Yeah, when I think of odd job, I think
of something small that you would do maybe
in high school.
This is what I think about.
One of my odd jobs in the past would have
been mowing lawns.
So, doing yard work for neighbors, this kind
of thing.
But it could even be babysitting, or it could
even be working for a company part-time, and
then working at another company part-time
as well.
Vanessa: Sure.
It’s something not too serious, maybe you
do it for a couple days.
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: And, yeah, usually younger people
do those kind of jobs.
Dan: Yeah, I would say younger … It’s a
young thing.
Vanessa: It’s a young thing, great.
Well, let’s watch the clip in the conversation
to see what Sharice says about this word.
She’s going to use it in her sentence, so
watch carefully and listen to what she’s saying.
You can repeat the clip and listen for what
she says.
I’m going to be doing this for each vocabulary
word that we talk about.
So, you’re going to hear our explanation and
then you’re going to see a clip from the conversation
video.
Let’s watch the first one about odd jobs.
Sharice: In Argentina, I had multiple jobs,
actually.
Oh, first I worked at a volunteer organization,
then I taught English, and then I … Every
odd job.
Then I moved directly to South Korea-
Vanessa: The second word we’re going to talk
about is reverse culture shock.
Reverse culture shock is when you feel weird
going back to your home culture after having
lived abroad for, usually a couple months
or a year, kind of a long time, not really
for vacation.
Though, have you ever experienced reverse
culture shock?
Dan: Yes, for sure I have.
Because we lived in South Korea for three
years, every time we went home, it always
felt a little strange.
I think it’s because you have a new perspective
on life.
So, now you’re comparing everything from the
other culture to your home culture, and is
it even your home culture anymore?
Who knows?
Vanessa: We don’t even know.
Dan: Right.
It’s just a very weird feeling to come back.
Not for everybody, but I think if you live
in a place, it’s that strange and you get
reverse culture shock.
Vanessa: Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip to see how we used this
in the conversation.
But how would you describe reverse culture
shock?
Sharice: Reverse culture shock is when you
go from the country you’ve been living in,
a foreign country, let’s say South Korea,
you come back to your home country and then
all of a sudden everything feels foreign,
as if you are returning to a foreign country,
not your home country.
Vanessa: Yeah.
The third expression we’re going to talk about
is, to a certain extent, or to an extent.
To an extent.
And this means to a limit.
To a limit.
So, you might say, “I like fruit, but only
to a certain extent.
I couldn’t have it every day, all the time.”
What do you think?
Dan: I think this expression is like a little
bit, but more than a little bit.
Vanessa: Okay.
Dan: If you said, “Do you like apples?”
And I said, “To a certain extent.”
It would just be maybe a more formal way to
say, “A little bit.”
That’s how I think of it.
Vanessa: That’s a good way of explaining it.
You could substitute this, instead of saying,
“Do you like to do something?”
“A little bit.”
You could say, “Oh, to a certain extent.”
Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip, where we used that in
the conversation.
Maybe culture shock, and have you ever felt
culture shock, like regular culture shock
when you moved to Argentina, or France, or
Korea, did you feel like, “This is a new culture.”?
Sharice: I definitely did, to an extent.
Because you’re preparing for it, you know
you’re going to another country, you’re going
to feel discomfort of some sort.
I still feel that way to an extent, not as
strongly as when I first arrived, like-
Vanessa: Yeah.
And how long have you been back now?
Sorry to interrupt you.
The fourth expression we’re going to talk
about is, I would say, or I’d say.
This is a filler expression that Americans
love to use.
It just means, probably.
It’s showing that this is your opinion.
I’d say that it’s hot outside.
Maybe everyone thinks it’s hot outside, but
you’re just showing it’s your opinion.
Do you have anything to say about that?
Dan: I’d say I don’t use this expression very
much, except for right now.
Vanessa: Excellent.
Dan: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a filler,
it’s like saying, “I think …” You know,
“I think maybe this …” “I’d say I like chocolate
a lot,” that kind of stuff.
Vanessa: Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: My friends weren’t even American,
I would say.
So, I wasn’t even getting some culture from
my American friends.
Vanessa: Yeah, your-
The fifth expression we’re going to talk about
is, to acclimate.
Acclimate.
This simply means getting used to a new environment.
So, when we brought home our third kitten
… we have three cats, so our final kitten,
she had to acclimate and get used to living
in our house, but the other cats had to acclimate
to her.
Because they were used to living their own
lives, and they had to get used to something
new.
So, they had to acclimate to something new.
Do you have anything for that?
Dan: Yeah, I’d say maybe a synonym could be
adjust, you know?
Vanessa: Oh, to adjust.
Dan: To adjust.
But, yeah, to get used to.
We probably say get used to more often than
acclimate.
That’s not a super common word to use, but
it’s a nice complex word to use-
Vanessa: It’s excellent.
Dan: … if you want to sound interesting.
Vanessa: Yes, let’s watch the clip.
You wanted to make friends that are from the
country?
Sharice: I wanted to, yeah, acclimate to the
country, and to the culture, and-
Vanessa: The sixth expression that we’re going
to talk about is, it takes a lot of guts.
This simply means, it takes courage to do
something.
I want to give a little know about the pronunciation
for this.
Usually, we mix this all together, and we
would say, “It takes a lotta guts.”
A lotta guts.
So, a lot of guts becomes a lotta.
Dan: Yup.
Vanessa: “It takes a lotta guts.”
Dan: Or, “It took a lotta.”
Vanessa: “It took a lotta guts in the past.”
Yeah.
So, was there any time in your life when you
did something that took a lot of guts?
Dan: Oh, yeah, all the time.
Just to go back to travel, I’d say it took
a lot of guts to travel to South Korea, to
teach English.
We’d never went there, I never taught English,
I never was a teacher.
So, it took a lotta guts to become an English
teacher.
Vanessa: Yes.
And just used one of the other expressions
we talked about.
Dan: I did?
Vanessa: You said, “I’d say …”
Dan: “I’d say …” I said that.
Oh, no.
Vanessa: Wonderful.
But that’s great, we’re mixing everything
together.
Let’s watch the clip about, it takes a lot
of guts.
That’s really cool.
I think it takes a lot of guts though, because
when you are the only person who’s American,
or are from your country, in an area, maybe
you’ll be more likely to seclude yourself,
or be like, “Oh, I feel really uncomfortable
talking to them, do they want to talk to me?”
The seventh expression we’re going to talk
about is the word awkward.
Awkward.
It means weird, or strange.
Dan’s trying to show you, now, what it looks
like to be awkward, and maybe doing socially
unacceptable things, maybe just an uncomfortable
situation.
Dan: I’m very good at being awkward.
Vanessa: Well, you gave us a great example
now.
Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip about it.
Dan: Yeah, well, you could also … Yeah,
more-
Vanessa: Oh, yes, go ahead first.
Dan: Yeah, you can also say, “That person
is awkward.”
You can use that to describe somebody.
Vanessa: And what would that mean?
It’s-
Dan: If you said, “He’s awkward,” that would
mean a person you’re uncomfortable with.
Maybe he’s even … does weird things around
you, that you don’t, sometimes even in a bad
way.
So, if you said that about somebody it’s not
a compliment.
Vanessa: Right.
You don’t want to call your friend awkward,
“You’re awkward.”
That’s usually socially strange.
Dan: Yeah, unconfident, I’d say.
Vanessa: Unconfident, that’s another good
way to say it.
So, awkward.
Dan: You’re walking, you fall down, and stuff,
that would be awkward.
Vanessa: Yes.
Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: Yeah, but they were very nice, so
I never felt that awkward situation, where,
“Maybe they don’t want me here.”
I felt very welcomed, and this is in South
Korea.
Vanessa: The eighth expression we’re going
to talk about is, to play an important role.
That means that you just have an important
part in someone’s life.
So, maybe you could say, “My parents played
an important role in helping me to become
who I am today.”
They were really helpful in your life.
Do you have anything to say about that?
Dan: Yeah, I’d say it probably comes from
acting, playing a role in a play.
If you say you played an important role, that
would mean it’s significant in the … It
could even be for sports, right?
“He played an important role on his team,”
this kind of thing.
Vanessa: Right.
So, when the team won, he played an important
role.
He scored three goals, so he played an important
role.
Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: So-
Vanessa: Can you tell us a little bit about
[Tado 00:11:26]?
Because-
Sharice: Sure.
Vanessa: … Sharice’s husband also plays
an important role.
And I think this culture shock, or acclimate
into a new culture.
So, can you tell us about him?
His name-
The ninth expression we’re going to talk about
is, to hash out something.
Or you could put it in the middle and say,
to hash something out.
There’s going to be another expression, to
rehash something, that we’ll talk about in
just a moment.
But let’s talk about the main expression,
to hash something out.
That means to talk about something, maybe
to work something out.
Work through a problem.
If I said, “We need to hash something out.”
Maybe if I said that to Dan, he would think,
“Oh, is there some kind of problem?
What do we need to talk about?
So, should we talk now?
How serious is it?”
Dan: Yeah, we got to work it out.
Vanessa: Yeah, we need to work it out.
What do you think?
Dan: Yeah, I think it’s probably another way
to say, “Work it out.”
If you said, “Hash something out,” I think
you’re talking in the detail, or maybe in
a strong way about something, to really work
it out, to solve a problem.
It’s what I think of, when I hear hash it
out.
Vanessa: Excellent.
Excellent.
The other part of this expression is, to rehash
something.
It’s using the same base word, hash, but instead,
it’s rehash, and re just means again.
So, you’re doing something again.
Maybe you’re going through that problem again,
you’re working out the same problem again.
Maybe, for example, if Dan didn’t do the laundry.
Three months ago, he didn’t do the laundry
for a week, and I still remember that he didn’t
do the laundry, and now he didn’t do the laundry
either, I could say-
Dan: This never happens.
Vanessa: I could say, “I don’t want to rehash
any bad memories from the past, but can you
do the laundry?”
So, this is bringing up something from the
past and working out a problem in the present.
You’re rehashing something, bringing it up
again.
Excellent.
Let’s watch these two clips.
Sharice: And he’ll understand what I’ve been
through, because he’s been through it too,
and we can hash it out together.
So, that has helped a lot.
Yeah, it was-
Vanessa: I think that makes it … So, what
did you experience?
Tell us about that first month, if you don’t
mind rehashing those-
Sharice: Sure, I’m trying to think of-
Vanessa: … details.
Sharice: … some very good examples for … Well,
when I first arrived, I-
Vanessa: The 10th expression we’re going to
talk about is, as time grew on.
It means over time, or throughout time.
Maybe when you first started to speak English
you didn’t feel comfortable speaking, but
as time grew on, you felt more comfortable
because you started speaking more with your
teacher, or with your classmates.
Over time, you felt better at speaking English.
Dan: I’d say I don’t say this too often, I
usually say, “As time went on …” But it’s
just another way to say time passing by.
You’d say this in a conversation, you would
say, “A year ago, I felt really sad about
the situation, but as time grew on, I felt
better about my life.”
Just something like that.
Vanessa: Or, “As time went on, I felt better
about my life.”
Dan: Correct.
Vanessa: So, both as time grew on, and as
time went on are perfectly acceptable.
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: But then as time grew on, I was getting
more like, “I really want to learn Spanish.”
And like, “Let’s speak Spanish together.”
Which is actually really hard especially with
a couple.
With a pair to be like, “Okay, we’re going
to speak only-
Vanessa: And change languages in the middle
of your relationship.
Sharice: Exactly.
Vanessa: The 11th expression that we’re going
to talk about is, all around.
This means, in every way, all around.
You might say, “I had an all around good dinner
with my friend last night.”
In every way, it was nice.
This is a simple explanation for this
Dan: Right, yeah.
Obviously, this is a term you can use in different
ways.
You could say, “All around the room is very
clean.”
But in the way we mean here, it just means
in all ways, in every way.
So, “I had an all around good time last night
at the baseball game.”
Vanessa: Yeah, we often say good afterwards,
“He’s an all around good guy in every way.”
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: I agree, I think it has to do something
like that.
All around it’s been great, so-
Vanessa: Yeah.
Sharice: Yeah.
That’s-
Vanessa: And that’s really cool, that-
The 12th expression that we’re going to talk
about is, then again, or but then again.
This just means, on the other hand.
You can use it to mean something that’s the
opposite.
You could say, “Oh, I went on a good date
last night …” Not me, because I’m married,
but-
Dan: We can still go on a date.
Vanessa: We could go on a date together.
You might say, “I went on a good date last
night, but then again he said something that
was really strange and I felt a little uncomfortable.
But, in general, it was still okay.”
You could use that to mean the opposite, but
then again, actually …
Dan: You can also say, on second thought,
as well.
That you’re just thinking further, right?
So, “I went to the party last night, and it
was really great, but then again I did stub
my toe, hurt my foot.”
That kind of thing.
Vanessa: Excellent.
Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: And so, we would speak in Spanish-
Vanessa: That’s a really weird feeling.
Sharice: … everywhere.
But then again, also, there’s a lot of people
who speak Spanish.
So, it doesn’t work all the time, but-
Vanessa: Kind of an illusion.
Sharice: … you feel like you’re speaking
a secret language, yeah.
Vanessa: The 13th expression that we’re going
to talk about is, segue.
A segue.
This simply means a transition.
It’s kind of a more formal word, because usually,
when you have conversations with your friends,
you don’t know what you’re going to talk about
next.
You don’t really have a plan for the different
topics you’re going to talk about.
But if you go on a TV show, or if you are
on the radio-
Dan: Or in a class.
Vanessa: … or in a class, you probably have
a set amount of topics, or set things that
you’re going to talk about.
If there’s a transition between those two
things, that would be a segue.
In the video with Sharice, we were about to
talk about reverse culture shock, and she
mentioned it first before we started talking
about it.
So, I said, “Oh, that’s a great segue,” because
she jumped to the next topic first.
She made that transition.
Dan: Sometimes, we use this as a joke.
Like, let’s say somebody was saying, “I’m
really bored.”
And you said, “Well, good thing we’re about
to go to Disneyland.”
Vanessa: Sure.
Dan: That person can say, “Nice segue.”
Stuff like that can happen sometimes, but-
Vanessa: Sure.
You might hear that on-
Dan: … usually, it’s more formal.
Vanessa: You might hear that on TV shows.
You’ve got the joke version, or you’ve got
the more formal transition version.
Great.
Let’s watch that clip.
I think that’s a good segue to the next thing
of, when have you experienced reverse culture
shock?
So, coming back from the Argentina Korea experience
that you asked, did you experience any of
that?
The 14th expression we’re going to talk about
is 24/7.
We often pronounce this 24, the t gets dropped.
We say 24/7, and that just means all the time.
24 hours a day, seven days a week, all the
time.
Maybe you could say, “I love watermelon so
much, I could eat it 24/7.
I could eat it nonstop.”
That might be true for me, I love watermelon.
Dan: Right, yeah.
This expression, some people use it to exaggerate
things a lot.
If you asked your friend, “How often do you
play video games?”
If he wanted to exaggerate, he’d say, “I play
24/7, man.
All the time.”
Vanessa: Yes, all the time.
Great.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: When you’re-
Vanessa: Oh, Argentinian transportation went
longer?
Sharice: Just all night.
All day, 24/7.
Vanessa: Wow!
Sharice: So, you would have to think, “Okay,
I got to go home now.”
But-
Vanessa: The 15th expression we’re going to
talk about is, to open a lot of doors.
That means, to have more opportunities.
So, you can imagine that your life is going
through a new door, or you have a lot of options
in front of you.
For example, getting a college degree … In
the US, we say college, it’s just university.
Getting a college degree opens a lot of doors.
You have more options for the type of job
that you might want to get, ideally.
Dan: Right.
Or for us, because we went to South Korea,
we saved a lot of money.
So, we could say, “The money we saved opened
a lot of doors for us to do what we want with
our lives.”
Vanessa: Excellent, yeah.
Or you could say, “Learning English opens
a lot of doors, because you can communicate
with a lot of people around the world.”
Dan: That’s a good one.
Vanessa: You want to improve your English
because you want to open a lot of doors in
your life.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: Also, at least in Argentina, I understood
what people were saying, and I could communicate.
Even though it wasn’t my first language, at
least I could communicate with people.
Vanessa: That makes a huge difference though,
like connecting with the culture, if you can
understand the language.
Sharice: I know, it opened a lot of doors.
So, when I went to Korea, I felt very closed.
I couldn’t communicate with anyone, I didn’t
really know what was going on.
There’s a lot of cultural difference too.
Vanessa: The 16th word is, social interaction.
I want you to notice that I pronounce to this
interaction.
The t, again, gets dropped.
It’s not interaction, you say interaction.
That just means communicating with people.
When you go to the post office or the grocery
store, you have to have social interaction,
you have to talk with people.
And that’s part of life.
Dan: People would often use this if they want
to see people.
They’d say, “I need some social interaction.”
Another way I’ve heard this a lot is with
children.
So, they would say, “My child needs some social
interaction, because I want him to fit in
with society and go to school.
So, he needs to go to school to get some social
interaction.”
Used to be a pretty common way to use that.
Vanessa: Yeah, talking about kids and getting
along with other people.
Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: Just, I wasn’t prepared for so much
social interaction.
Vanessa: In English, or just …?
Sharice: In English.
I think that’s what it was.
Just, there’s so many people and I kept feeling
like people were listening to me, or watching
me strangely.
Because, in Korea, people would look at me
at least.
At least know that there’s a foreigner-
Vanessa: Because you’re not Korean.
Sharice: Right.
Vanessa: The 17th expression is the word assume.
It simply means to guess something.
If you don’t know something, you could assume
what’s actually happening.
For example, if your friend is late coming
to your house, you don’t really know why your
friend is late, but you could say, “Oh, I
assume it’s because of traffic.”
Or, “I assume it’s because her husband likes
to take his time and go slowly when he’s getting
ready to go somewhere.”
Dan: Who does that?
Vanessa: I don’t know.
Dan: Well, yeah, this word has some negative
connotations to it, I’d say.
A lot of times people use this in a negative
way, right?
So, my teacher, and don’t share this with
your kids, would say to me, “Don’t assume.
If you assume, you make an ass out of you
and me.”
If you look at that word you can read that
it’s A-S-S-U-M-E, you and me.
So, it’s a funny joke to remind you, don’t
assume.
Don’t guess what people are doing, right?
If you see somebody and they look really sad,
and you think, “Oh, they’re probably sad because
they broke up with their boyfriend,” something
like that.
That’s-
Vanessa: But you don’t know.
Dan: Yeah, you don’t know, so you’re assuming.
It usually is a negative thing, I’d say.
Vanessa: Right.
I think the connotations of that are also
that, in a relationship, you should talk about
it.
You should communicate when there’s problems,
you shouldn’t assume or guess what the problem
is.
If my dad seemed upset at me, I shouldn’t
ignore it, or assume that he’s upset at me
because of something else.
I should just talk to him, and say, “Hey,
why are you upset?
What’s happening?
What’s going on?”
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: I shouldn’t assume, I should talk
to him before I come to any conclusions.
You can assume, “Oh, I assume my friends are
going to be late because they’re in traffic.”
That’s okay, a very neutral way to use it.
But you could also have it in a negative way,
talking about relationships.
Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: I guess I assume that people are
still doing that, although now I’m not standing
out as a foreigner.
But I still felt like these eyes were watching
me, and I felt really … It just is a strange
moment of life.
Vanessa: Number 18 is, to nit pick.
To nit pick.
This means, to get upset or to annoy someone
about unimportant details.
Dan: Very annoying.
Vanessa: Yes, it’s quite annoying.
For example, going back to the example I gave
about Dan not doing the laundry, if Dan didn’t
do the laundry one day, and then the next
day he didn’t do it, it’s not a big deal,
I have other clothes I can wear.
But I might say, “You never do the laundry,
why aren’t you doing the laundry?
I can’t believe you’re not doing the laundry.”
Your face.
This is nit picking, it’s not an important
thing, but I feel annoyed about it.
And then he’s going to feel annoyed about
it too.
Dan: Yeah.
It often has to do with looks as well, I think,
right?
So, “Why are you wearing your hair like that?”
Or, “Do you have to wear blue today?”
This kind of stuff.
Vanessa: Blue.
Dan: Yeah, “Blue, ew!”
That’s nit picking.
Or if you clean the table and there’s a little
spot on the table, and you’re like, “You missed
a spot,” that would be nit picking.
Vanessa: That’s terrible.
When someone cleans the house and then another
person says, “Oh, why is it dirty here?”
Oh, that’s terrible.
Yes, well-
Dan: Nobody likes nit pickers.
Vanessa: Nobody likes nit pickers, don’t be
a nit picker.
Dan: Don’t do it.
Vanessa: And for the record, I was wearing
this blue shirt before Dan wore his blue shirt.
Dan: I’m just a copy cat.
Vanessa: A copy cat.
All right, let’s watch the clip.
For me, it’s nit picking small things about
American culture, because that’s our home
culture that I didn’t nit pick about before,
like-
Number 19 is, to be pissed off.
And just to let you know, this is American
slang that means to be angry.
It’s not a bad word, but I don’t recommend
using it at work.
It could be a little bit uncomfortable around
people who you don’t know very well too, so
I recommend just using this around friends.
Personally, I use this to talk about strong
emotions.
So, sometimes you don’t want to say a bad
word, but you want to say something else.
This is, I think, an in between word.
It’s-
Dan: Yeah, not quite a bad.
Vanessa: … not a bad word, but it’s not
a simple word.
An example might be, “When I was watching
the soccer game and the referee made a bad
call for my team, I was so pissed off.
I couldn’t believe that my team got a bad
call.”
I think that’s a pretty good example of using
that pissed off, “I was angry.”
Dan: Yeah.
But I would say you don’t always use it in
frivolous times either.
Like, if you’re really angry with somebody,
you would say, “I’m pissed at you.”
Right, pissed, with a t.
Vanessa: Pissed.
“I’m just-
Dan: So, “I was really pissed off at this
person.”
It can be really strong, but it can also be
… Just depends on how you say it, how serious
it is.
Vanessa: Right, right.
To explain a little bit about the word that
Dan used, frivolous.
Frivolous, because this is a vocabulary video,
frivolous means an important situation.
So, even though sports are fun, it’s not the
most important thing in the world, so this
would be a frivolous situation.
But maybe in your relationship, or with your
friends, you were pissed at him, or you were
pissed at someone.
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: That could be serious.
So, we could use it in both those situations.
Let’s watch the clip.
Comparing it to good things from the culture
that I came from, and being like, “Oh, why
is my culture like this?”
So pissed off about it.
Sharice: Right.
And you realized, “Well, they don’t know that
maybe it’s better to bring your own bag, bring
a little card, and just-
Vanessa: Number 20 is, to be neither here
nor there.
That just means, it doesn’t matter.
“Where do you want to eat tonight?
Do you want to go to the Italian place, or
Japanese place?”
“Well, neither here nor there.”
You can cut it and just say, “Neither here
nor there.”
Neither here nor there.
“It’s neither here nor there.
To me, it doesn’t matter.”
Dan: Yeah.
You could also say it if something is irrelevant,
or-
Vanessa: Unimportant.
Dan: Yeah, unimportant to the topic that you’re
talking about.
So, if you were saying, “I need to study really
hard for my test.”
And you’re like, “What do you want for dinner?”
Vanessa: “Oh, it’s neither here nor there-
Dan: That’s neither here nor there, no.
Vanessa: … I need to study.”
Dan: So, that’s one way to use it.
Vanessa: Excellent.
Let’s watch the clip.
I mean, this, in a way, is neither here nor
there, but it’s one of those things that when
you come back to your own culture and see
that, you can feel overwhelmed.
And I think that’s a night of reverse culture
shock, is being overwhelmed by something you
thought would be normal.
Number 21 is, to ease something.
Usually, we say to ease my mind, because it
makes you feel more comfortable.
And that just means, yeah, to make you feel
comfortable, to make something easier.
You might say, “When I was traveling to a
foreign country, I didn’t know how to communicate
with people, so I bought a guidebook that
had some translations.
And that eased my mind, because I wasn’t nervous
anymore to meet new people or to ask for directions,
because I had this guide book.
The guide book helped to ease my mind.”
Dan: Right.
Yeah, when I think of this word, I think of
slowing down a little bit to make something
easier.
You can also say, “I eased into it.”
So, slow down into this, don’t rush.
So, “I eased into my homework.”
You didn’t just rush and do it, you slowly
took your time and made it easier for yourself.
Vanessa: “Yeah, I eased into my homework.”
“My mom helped to ease my mind, because she
gave me some advice about my homework.”
Dan: Right.
Vanessa: Great ways.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: There are certain things you can
do to prepare for it, I don’t think you can
completely avoid it.
But I at least that these things are going
to be issues for me.
So, what can I do to ease the difficulty?
For example, public transportation-
Vanessa: Number 22 is, to face something.
This means you’re going to be challenged by
something, you’re going to encounter something
that’s difficult.
Maybe if you start a new job, you’re probably
going to face a lot of challenges because
you’re going to have new responsibilities.
You’re going to have to get along with new
coworkers or your boss, you’re going to be
faced with a lot of things.
You’re going to face difficult situations.
Dan: Yeah.
This is a good expression, it’s about being
brave or confident, I think.
Some people say, “Face your fears,” so, you’ve
got to challenge yourself, right?
You’ll look right at it and you’ll do it,
right?
Vanessa: Yeah.
Dan: So, face the situation.
Vanessa: Yes, conquer it.
Great.
Let’s watch the clip.
Dan: Face English.
Sharice: But I’m still going to have to drive,
I’m still going to have to face this difficulty,
you could say.
Vanessa: Yeah.
You’re still going to have to do something
you don’t want to do.
Sharice: Right, I’m not comfortable or used
to doing.
Vanessa: Number 23 is, roots.
Roots.
And if you can imagine a plant growing above
the ground, under the ground there are roots.
This is the base of the plant.
So, that’s a similar idea.
But when talking about people, so you could
say your origin, or your source is in a certain
place.
My family, originally, 80, 100 years ago,
was from Italy.
So, I could say, “My roots are in Italy.
I have Italian roots.
I’m not 100% Italian, but I have Italian roots.”
That’s a way you could use it.
Dan: Right.
I think, usually, when people talk about it,
they mean where were you born?
I think.
And so, you would ask, “Where are your roots?”
And so, “My roots are in California.”
That’s where I was born, but I didn’t really
grow up there, so I would also say, “I think
of my roots being in Colorado,” another place
I spent a lot of my childhood.
So, it’s a pretty flexible term.
Vanessa: And I think this is a good question
that someone might ask you, if you’ve been
living in the US, for example, for a long
time, and you met someone new for the first
time.
They might ask you, “Where are you from?”
But they might ask you, “Where are your roots.”
And this could mean, where did your parents
come from, if you were born in the US maybe?
Or, Where are you originally from?
This is a kind of alternative question to
this.
Let’s watch the clip.
Sharice: Right, it is.
Vanessa: Most people have in several places.
Even for us, we’ve lived in the North, and
then the South, and we have roots in both
places.
Sharice: So, I feel like it’s hard to come
back and feel super connected immediately.
Vanessa: Yeah.
Sharice: That’s not going to happen.
Vanessa: Number 24 is our final expression
for the conversation video with my sister,
Sharice.
This expression is, to be snippy.
Snippy.
This is also something that we’re used to
talk about with scissors.
Scissors cut something, but scissors also
snip, “Cut, cut, cut.”
Snip something.
If you can imagine a feeling, an emotion that’s
like this … It’s like you are angry.
Easily angry.
Your words are cutting the other person, you’re
snipping all the time.
Dan: Yeah.
And this is something you would probably say
to somebody, right?
Like, “Stop being snippy.”
Or, “Why are you so snippy?”
Vanessa: Yes.
Dan: Right?
If somebody is being angry and you don’t know
why they just seem randomly angry, you would
say, “Jeez, you’re really snippy.”
Right?
Vanessa: “Why are you so snippy today?”
In your relationships, be careful saying this.
The other person might not respond very well,
because-
Dan: Especially if they’re snippy.
Vanessa: If they’re being snippy, then they
might snip again and say, “I’m not snippy,
you’re snippy.”
Dan: “You’re the snippy one.”
Vanessa: Yes.
You can also say it about yourself and say,
“I’m sorry, I was really snippy today, I shouldn’t
have been so easily angered today.
I should have been more patient.
So, sorry I was snippy.”
Dan: Or you can say, “I can get snippy when
I’m hungry.”
Vanessa: Oh, yes.
I know someone who can-
Dan: My mother is like that.
Vanessa: I know someone who can get like that.
Yes, so maybe when you’re really hungry, you
can get easily angry.
You could say, “Yeah, I get snippy when I’m
hungry.”
Excellent example for that.
Let’s watch the clip.
Like if I was mad or upset at Dan about something,
I’d be like, “Wait, this is probably just
because I’m adjusting.
I shouldn’t get frustrated or snippy about
little things, because I’m adjusting.
So, sorry to put this on you.”
Sharice: At least he realize it.
Vanessa: Yeah.
And you’re not perfect, but I think there’s
something, that just being aware of it is-
Thanks so much for watching this vocabulary
video with my husband, Dan, and I explaining
some natural expressions that were used in
the conversation between my sister and I,
Sharice.
If you haven’t seen the conversation lesson,
I recommend doing it.
Watch the conversation lesson, the grammar
lesson.
This is the vocabulary lesson, and also the
pronunciation lesson, to get the full set.
If you’d like lessons that’s like this every
month that you can download, join our wonderful
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I’m looking forward to seeing you there.
Goodbye.