Learn English Words Intermediate 125
first word is esoteric when something is
esoteric it’s alright so the word
esoteric refers to something that
requires specialized knowledge so in a
conversation somebody might use this
word to say sorry to be esoteric and
then they’ll continue talking about some
subject or some concept that requires a
certain level of knowledge in the given
field next word superfluous superfluous
just means extra really this what can a
person be superfluous so superfluous
yeah just just refers to stuff that’s
maybe not necessary or the X the extra
just stuff or extra extra things in a
given context so maybe you know oh I
have so much superfluous stuff in my
kitchen of course using superfluous in
such a casual way like that is very
unnatural but you could do it if you
really wanted to sound smart aqueous
aqueous means to like you might have
like kind of sailing Pirates of the
Caribbean something like he will not
acquiesce to your requests or she will
not acquiesce to your requests
it just means she won’t obey or listen
or do as told but that’s it’s the same
exact meaning to acquiesce to accept
something yet to go along with angst
angst refers to just kind of this like
that that unhappy feeling the sort of
angry or maybe melancholy or just
feeling like you know you’re
misunderstood so a teenager or I suppose
a teenager themselves might not use this
word but the parents of the teenager
might say oh my teenager is so filled
with angst hitch hitch hitch refers to
in my mind anyway just um junk honestly
it’s the little things that you know
might crowd your house like a snow globe
or special little ornaments or just you
know decorative knickknacks you might
say oh my aunts apartment is really
kitschy I mean she has maybe like a lot
of knickknacks or the style is just kind
of thinking outside the box this is a
phrase that means just thinking
differently or you know outside the
norms of regular thinking which would be
inside the box and then choosing to
think about something in a different way
might be considered outside the box so
it’s usually a compliment like great job
thinking outside the
Bock Stephens the next word is the
bottom line the bottom line just refers
to kind of the the end all of the
situation like in a sentence the bottom
line is we have to make more sales next
month meaning this is the one thing that
we really need to focus on the next word
is hit the ground running it just means
to start well if you think about a
runner of course a runner as soon as
maybe they touch the ground at a race
they are running and it’s sort of the
same thing here except in a business
sense so as soon as a project starts
they’re going they’re you know pushing
forward on the project you might say
next week we’re going to start the new
project let’s hit the ground running we
need to get a good start next word is
giving a hundred and ten percent
it just means giving your all or making
your best effort to do something so of
course 100 percent is the maximum in a
given situation but giving 110 percent
means that you know your boss presumably
wants you to give more than your best so
it just means work really hard as in hey
we have that meeting coming up next
month let’s give 110 percent to make
sure all of the materials are finished
by then it is what it is it is what it
is is just a phrase that often wraps up
a conversation sometimes it can be a
negative situation like you hear Oh
sales are down this month well it is
what it is meaning there’s nothing we
can do or that’s just the situation
right now it’s just uh yeah just a
feeler phrase really my stomach’s making
noise its curriculum vitae is that how
you say that curriculum vitae vut I fit
a curriculum vitae VI curriculum vitae
you might see this abbreviated as C V
when you’re looking for jobs most of the
people who are looking for applicants
will request your CV or your curriculum
vitae which is really just a record of
your life your history often your work
history you might see it written on a
job form something like all applicants
must submit their curriculum vitae to be
considered for the position but most of
the time I see it as CV in American
English though I should point out that
you might see resume
which is the same the same exact thing
that’s asking for your work history next
is ad hominem ad hominem means to attack
somebody like when you’re arguing or
having a discussion but you’re not
actually addressing what the other
person is saying you’re just attacking
that person so you might say he was
arguing ad hominem meaning in other
words he was not actually debating the
issue but he was just attacking the
other person in the argument they use ex
machina is the next word this is a fun
word especially if you like watching
movies deus ex machina literally means
god from the machinery so anytime you’re
watching a movie and suddenly out of
nowhere somebody comes in to save the
main character for for example that’s an
example of deus ex machina so if you’re
writing for example if you’re writing a
story it’s typically a good idea not to
use Dave’s ex machina your teacher might
say don’t use dayz ex machina in your
writing because it seems kind of cheap
right you know your main character gets
in a jam and then something amazing
happens and they’re saved what’s the fun
in that
the next word next phrase rather is
magnum opus magnum opus just refers to
usually a masterpiece or someone’s
life’s work a huge work so like maybe
Beethoven’s magnum opus would have been
his fifth Beethoven’s fifth what was
that a symphony yeah Beethoven’s fifth
symphony would sit in perhaps as magnum
opus hey there’s a sample sentence right
there so if you if you have a big
project that you’re working on maybe
maybe you’re an architect maybe you’re a
painter whatever it is whatever is the
biggest thing in your project portfolio
maybe you could refer to as your magnum
opus it’s your your great work whatever
is the biggest thing for you the next
word is alter ego alter ego is kind of a
fun word it means your other self so you
might have seen characters in movies
that have an alter ego in one situation
they behave like one character but in
another situation they behave like
someone else their alter ego maybe even
some of you have an alter ego and it
bothers your friends when you have you
know when you behave a certain way with
one group of people in a different way
with another group of people that’s your
your alter ego
it’s not always necessarily a negative
thing like superheroes have alter egos
so Clark Kent for example Clark Kent’s
alter ego is Superman
it’s his other self he is Clark Kent and
he’s Superman
but in different situations he’s one or
the other
zany zan why I don’t need to spell it
they’re gonna see it on the screen
zany just means something that’s amusing
or different or a little bit weird
perhaps so you might say my friend is so
zany she bought a New Kids on the Block
lunchbox last week thinking mind
the next word is zillion zillion is just
a word that we use in place of a very
large number so you probably know
million billion trillion for example but
when you just want to emphasize that
something is a huge number there’s a lot
of something you can say a zillion for
example there were a zillion ants in my
backyard last week the next word is zoom
the word zoom actually has two meanings
the first word is on a camera for
example you can zoom in to get closer to
the subject or you can zoom out to get
further away from the subject I think
are you going to zoom now zoom in zoom
out
mm okay zoom also is an onomatopoeia an
onomatopoeia means a word that sounds
something like what it’s supposed to be
representing this onomatopoeia means to
go very fast so you might say I’m
looking forward to getting in this new
car I hear it zooms the next word is
zest zest means to do something with
great enthusiasm like you might say I
have a zest for life meaning you’re
really interested in life and you have a
lot of energy for it zest also has a
second meaning which is used in cooking
a lot like you might take the zest from
a lemon meaning a little little tiny
particles of something and put it in
your food so those there those are some
things the next word is zoology zoology
refers to the study of animals you might
have it in your university if you’re a
university student there might be a
zoology department so you might run into
somebody one day who says oh yes my
majors in zoology what are you studying
lager lager is a word that I know very
well a lager refers to a kind of beer so
when you go to a beer festival like
Oktoberfest for example you might say
this year I’m planning to drink a lot of
lager are a lot of lager beer it’s type
of beer the next word is wanderlust this
is a nice word wanderlust just means
that you have a desire to travel
somewhere you want to go somewhere you
might say I’ve been seeing all the
photos that my friends have been posting
on the internet lately I’m it’s giving
me wanderlust meaning I really want to
go travel I really want to be out there
doing those things the next word is
Zeppelin Zeppelin this is a big airship
oh there’s isn’t there like an Indiana
jonesing pretest toss the guy out of a
Zeppelin it’s just it’s what do we call
it now a blimp
right a blimp we say blimp a lot now but
Zeppelin I think was the first word that
was used to describe these things
because I think they were made out of
metal so for example you might know the
band Led Zeppelin that could be related
to the first Zeppelin I don’t actually
know is it um so in a sentence you might
use this in to say something like Oh
someday
I’d really like to take a ride on a
Zeppelin that sounds like fun next word
is dachshund dachshund you probably know
what a dachshund is we commonly call
them wiener dogs in America because
they’re long sometimes they have long
hair too but they look like you know a
hot dog
so dachshunds I think are popular breeds
all around the world you might say my
friend got a new dachshund I can’t wait
to play with it
gesundheit is the next word gesundheit
is used often when people sneeze so
Americans like to say bless you after
somebody sneezes but you might also hear
gesundheit after someone sneezes it’s
usually just used as one word we don’t
really say it in a sentence very much
but when your friends sneezes or
somebody you know sneezes you can say
gesundheit
bass as in a type of fish or bass which
refers to someone’s voice it’s also a
type of instrument it kind of looks like
a guitar there’s also a string bass
that’s usually a really tall instrument
that you play standing up so in a
sentence when you’re fishing you might
say oh hey I hope I catch a bass today
if you’re a musical inclined person you
might say my favorite instrument is the
bass great those were pretty good next
is a wind as in the air blowing blowing
air and wind as in like to wrap
something around something else wind you
might say the wind is really strong
today I should have brought my kite to
the park okay
I don’t know everyone’s know why all
these oddly specific sentences uh wind
like maybe you have a ball of string at
your house and it’s gotten all tangled
up it’s really really messy and you find
it one day and you think to yourself oh
I really need to wind this ball of
string into a clean like tidy ball next
a tear a rip in something like you might
tear a piece of paper in half the same
spelling can also make a the word tear
which is a drop of water that comes out
of a person’s eye when they’re sad or
sometimes when they’re very happy use
them both and once
whenever I tear a piece of paper a tear
comes from my eye because I feel bad for
ruining trees or my my friend made me
tear up my favorite love letter and I
shed many tears as a result that one was
slightly better all right next is dove
dove can be a bird it’s a white bird it
often represents peace and it can also
be pronounced douve which is the past
tense of the verb to dive so you might
say the dove dove into
what is it Duff time into the dove dove
into oncoming traffic the dove dove into
the pond to take a bath next is close
meaning to be near and the other
pronunciation is close meaning to shut
or it can also mean to end so in a
sentence let’s see if we can use them
both in the same sentence please close
the door that is close to you because
the show is coming to a close
oh yeah hyperbole hyperbole it’s not
hyperbole though it does sound very
funny to say that hyperbole just means
to exaggerate something or to make to
blow something up make it a really
extreme my friend uses a lot of
hyperbole when she talks about her life
stories I really don’t think some of
those things happen to her hyperbole not
hyperbole next Antarctic not ah oh I see
Antarctic is the correct pronunciation
of this word
some people say and and tart Antarctic
really oh I guess when you’re saying
this word quickly you might leave out
that first sea in the Antarctic so don’t
say that don’t do that say Antarctic the
the very very cold region the Arctic is
the north cold region on the planet
Earth the south is the Antarctic they’re
sort of like almost a hiccup in the word
their Antarctic Oh
in a sentence I’m thinking about taking
a cruise to the Antarctic what do you
think I need a penguin suit etc not etc
oh yeah okay I’ve heerd I hear this ech
ech thing a lot etcetera has just used
at the end of a list to imply that you
mean other things so the list is not
exclusive to the things that you’ve
listed other things can also be included
in it so in a sample sentence types of
fruits are apples oranges peaches etc
there are others as well so don’t say
etc that’s not correct at
is good the next word is jewelry what
not money’s the next word is jewelry
jewelry I think I’m probably guilty of
this mispronunciation I can’t say that
word mispronunciation where the word
kind of gets a little bit smushed
together and we say jewelry instead
we’ve missed that that second e sound in
there it should be jewelry in a sample
sentence maybe you would say I’m
shopping for some jewelry for my mother
for her birthday jewelry we’re too lazy
prescription not prescription okay a
prescription is something that a doctor
gives you when you’re sick and you
require medicine the doctor will write
you a prescription some people might say
prescription Wow okay I didn’t even
notice and I was doing it while I was
telling you guys not to do it that’s
embarrassing prescription a doctor
writes you a prescription not a
prescription and when you go to the
doctor’s office the doctor might say
here is your prescription photosynthesis
photosynthesis is an eighth grade
American science school word is an
eighth grade science word this refers to
the process that plants use to convert
sunlight to oxygen the process of
photosynthesis is vitally important to
the survival of humans right the next
word is imperturbable imperturbable
means someone who can’t really get upset
or excited like it’s hard to change the
emotions of a person so you might say I
have a friend who is imperturbable no
matter what we do or what we say he
doesn’t get angry with us on where the
next is counterintuitive
counterintuitive is a good word which
means it’s the opposite of common sense
so we talked about the word intuitive in
a previous episode of weekly words
where intuitive means able to sense
something or able to do something
correctly without knowing having to know
much about it
counterintuitive however on the other
hand means not intuitive or it seems
like something that just doesn’t make
much sense it’s not a common sense thing
so maybe let’s see something that
doesn’t seem to make very much sense to
you maybe on your office building for
example you have to first push the door
and then pull it in order to open it you
might say uh the way the doors work in
this building is very counterintuitive
it doesn’t make much sense the next word
is presumptuously presumptuously means
failing to observe the limits of what is
permitted or appropriate oh this is a
tough one to use in a sentence so
anytime somebody does something that’s
just beyond the limits of what is
considered normal in your culture you
can say that they’re being presumptuous
or they’re acting presumptuously so if
for example a salesman comes to your
door for some reason but they enter the
house and sit down on your sofa you
might say the salesman presumptuously
entered my house and sat down on my sofa
I couldn’t believe it
what a sphygmomanometer sphygmomanometer
an instrument for measuring blood
pressure this is a new one for me - Spig
ma manometer is this word isn’t this
called really long words that are
actually used I have only been familiar
with this word in terms of the blood
pressure cuff when you go to the doctor
and they need to check your blood
pressure they’ll put this thing this
figma manometer on your arm usually and
then they’ll kind of pump it up and
check your blood pressure so it’s a very
technical word the doctor might say to a
nurse or to another doctor can you
please get me the sphygmomanometer we
need to check this patient’s blood
pressure philtrum is the first word
philtrum the groove located just below
the nose and above the middle of the
lips that has a word philtrum that’s
this I guess in a sentence maybe you
would say how can you use a sentence
let’s see I’m thinking of getting my
philtrum pierced what do you think about
that idea it’s gross I hurt my philtrum
in football practice yesterday is
philtrum next is larynx the larynx is
the the voice box where your voice comes
from there’s quite a definition here the
hollow muscular organ forming an air
passage to the lungs and holding the
vocal chords usually I think we just say
the voice box so
oh I think the larynx in particular is
really important for singers and people
who need to use their voice a lot and I
think that there even you know special
techniques that some people use to
protect their larynx as well in a
sentence maybe I have to be careful not
to damage my larynx because I need to be
performing regularly and my voice is
very important to my job for example all
right next is navel navel is commonly
referred to as your bellybutton it’s
that you know for some people it’s
indented for some people it kind of
protrudes a little bit but the navel is
just your bellybutton to use it in a
sentence let’s see oh I’m thinking
piercing my navel oh oh I have an
example now maybe if you’ve had to have
surgery on your on your stomach that’s
near your navel your navel the shape of
it might be impacted I’ve just happened
to my mom’s I thought of it when you
meet with your doctor the doctor might
say during the surgery some of the skin
near your navel might be affected by
what we’re going to do next is pinky
your pinky is the smallest finger on
either one of your hands you can use a
pinky finger alternatively your pinky
toe your small toe is also referred to
as your pinky in a sentence you might
say oh no I broke my pinky finger
I have a piano recital in three days
that actually happened to me when I was
little that’s not a lie that’s a real
story I broke my penis pinky finger that
was good day anyway next scapula scapula
is your shoulder blade on the back of
your body your scapula yeah what else
can I say about that your scapula your
shoulder blade you have to I think yes
maybe if you’re a physical therapist or
if you’re someone who needs to Train
athletes you might need to stretch their
scapula from time to time to make sure
that it’s healthy or in good shape make
sure to stretch your scapula before and
after every workout to make sure that
you don’t damage it anarchism and arc
ISM is a belief that there should be no
government the society should just rule
itself so some groups of people might
say
anarchism rain the next word is altruism
altruism is the idea that everyone
should just be selfless we should always
just act on behalf of other people right
altruism is the key to world peace
feminism feminism is just advocating for
women’s rights supporting women’s rights
equal rights for women and really just
equal rights for people in general I
support feminism something like that all
right next is pacifism pacifism is the
belief that violence is never justified
we should never use violence pacifism is
great pacifism leads to peaceful
cultures the next word is sensationalism
it’s all about making a story a new
story sensational so even if the facts
aren’t necessarily true facts we don’t
know all the information the news media
might kind of make things up
sensationalism only hurts the audience
because they don’t know what’s truly
going on paint the town red is kind of
an old-fashioned phrase which just means
to go out and have a really good time
you might have seen in an old movie that
says come on we’re gonna go out and
paint the town red tonight let’s go good
to be in the red you don’t want to be in
the red to be in the red means that you
owe someone money you have debt our
company is in the red for the last
quarter we really need to improve our
sales strategy yeah I don’t know what
this was we really need to improve our
sales strategy hmm
this will help Red idiom is a red flag
red flag is a great phrase to know I
think sign that something is wrong you
might say who that person was acting
really really weird that was kind of a
red flag to me me if I say these things
five red flags for me in people
I’ll talk no action always bumming money
off their friends no ambition no skills
or no no desire to develop skills
another one is I don’t know when it’s
their turn to talk
I don’t like that watch English in three
minutes to learn more about developing
these skills these very important skills
onward the next is to catch someone
red-handed this is used when you catch
someone doing something
bad the teacher caught the student
red-handed
he was trying to steal the hamster from
the school’s heading zoo I don’t know
teacher caught the student red-handed
trying to steal the class pet caught him
red-handed right in the middle in the
act of trying to do something bad that’s
the key there the next one is red carpet
treatment red carpet treatment maybe
you’ve seen this at awards shows there’s
always a red carpet in front of where
the famous actors and actresses and
producers and film people enter red
carpet treatment means to be treated
very well to be treated like royalty
really you might say oh we got the red
carpet treatment at the event last week
it was great to be head over heels for
someone to be head over heels for
somebody means that you’re really
interested in them maybe you’ve just met
them and you can’t stop thinking about
them first love butterflies in your
stomach sort of thing that’s kind of an
idiom too I suppose he was head over
heels for the girl that he met at the
party the week before we’re building a
story here we’re building a story here
oh no our story what’s gonna happen next
I start to be on the rocks this phrase
means to be having problems in your
relationship it means that you’re
struggling or having trouble in a
sentence my friend told me about that
girl that he met at the party last
weekend and he said they went out for a
few dates wow this is all happening so
fast they won’t know for a few dates and
now they’re on the rocks okay next is to
be an item to be an item just means to
be in a relationship with somebody
you’re officially in a relationship with
someone and your friends might say
you’re an item now to continue our
little story even though my friend said
he was on the rocks with that girl he
met at the party a few weeks ago it
seems that they are now an item this
isn’t weird really weird the next one is
to pop the question to pop the question
means to ask someone to marry you
yeah remember that girl that my friend
met at the party like a couple years ago
yeah he finally popped the question to
his girlfriend mm-hm
means he asked her to marry him
excellent is to tie the knot to tie the
knot means to get married the two people
come together and tie a knot they won’t
be separated in other words so maybe
maybe this
the end of our story I don’t know so my
friend ended up tying the knot with the
girl that he met at the party a few
years ago acrophobia a fear of heights
if you don’t like going up into tall
buildings for example you can say I have
acrophobia I don’t like going into
skyscrapers you don’t like to see things
far below you oh yeah
the next word is arachnophobia
arachnophobia means a fear of spiders
you might have seen a movie called
arachnophobia that had a lot of spiders
in it as you might be able to guess in a
sentence you could say Oh will you
please kill that spider for me I don’t
want to go near it I have arachnophobia
okay next word is claustrophobia
claustrophobia is a fear of small spaces
so if for whatever reason you find
yourself like on a crammed train for
example you feel really uncomfortable
and you want to get off the train
that’s called claustrophobia in a
sentence you might say oh I don’t want
to take the rush-hour subway I have
claustrophobia and the commute makes me
really really nervous
next is agoraphobia agoraphobia means a
fear of going outside so someone who
prefers to stay inside to stay at home
more often than not might be agoraphobic
my cousin has a agoraphobia and he
refuses to leave the house no matter
what we say or what we do keep in mind
that some of these words are not
commonly used in conversations but
rather what they represent is fairly
common like fear of heights and so on
the fears might be very common but the
words themselves are not oh my video
phobia okay a video phobia is a fear of
snakes
I have a video phobia to an extent now I
did go hiking once I was hiking and I
was actually near a Buddhist temple at
the time it was in the middle of the
forest they were doing a ritual of some
kind you could hear like like in the
forest and then I as well as I was
walking up the hill suddenly there’s the
snake like I saw it at the same time
that it saw me and the snake was like oh
my god a human and I I screamed an
expletive like oh a snake and like echo
to the forest as I called my god to the
Buddhist monks just hear me in a
sentence I was on a hike and I saw a
snake and I screamed because I have a
video phobia and they
terrify me pretentious pretentious is a
word that means you’re trying to impress
other people or someone who tries to
impress other people by making
themselves seem more exciting or more
important or cooler than they really are
in a sentence you might say my coworker
is so pretentious he’s always
exaggerating his stories to make himself
sound important
don’t be pretentious the next word is
ubiquitous ubiquitous just means
something that you see everywhere
smartphones smartphones smartphones
Tsarist 11 smartphones it’s a phone
that’s really smart
you can tell when you need extra oxygen
in a sentence you might say smartphones
are ubiquitous everybody has one now and
I have one too
I’ll be ’t i’ll be it just means
although in a sentence she was making
progress albeit rather slowly an expert
is ambiguous ambiguous just means
something that’s the meaning is not
really very clear to you maybe if you’re
reading the newspaper for example and a
sentence is written kind of strangely
you might say hmm the meaning of this is
rather ambiguous alright love really
baby don’t hurry love is just that
intense feeling where you really really
like somebody else could be your family
member it could be a partner a romantic
partner whatever it could be a food you
really like as well just anytime you
have that really deep strong emotion you
can use the word love for example I love
pizza
it’s my favorite food jump the gun jump
the gun means you do something too
quickly or you don’t think enough about
something before you do it in a business
sitting maybe a subordinate makes a
decision before the boss has had a
chance to decide on something you might
say Stevens you’ve jumped the gun again
we can’t forgive you for this one you’re
fired
okay the next one is drop the ball drop
the ball means you don’t do something
that you were supposed to do somebody
was supposed to do something and they
didn’t do it they dropped the ball like
in basketball right if you have a ball
you’re supposed to pass the ball to your
teammate if you drop the ball you let
everybody down my coworker really
dropped the ball when he forgot to send
that email we were all disappointed
Stevens
okay next slam dunk a slam dunk is
something that you are sure is going to
happen maybe you have a good
relationship with a client for example
you can say yeah the deal next week will
be a slam dunk you
know that something good is going to
happen next covering all bases this
phrase means that you plan for as many
things as you possibly can you have some
kind of plan in mind for any number of
things that could go wrong or any number
of things that could happen in a
sentence a boss might say to their
subordinate so what’s your plan for the
event next week make sure you have all
bases covered I don’t want anything to
go wrong next is playing hardball
playing hardball is used when you’re
just really really aggressively
competing with somebody so in a sentence
maybe after a business meeting you might
say oh wow our competitors we’re really
playing hardball in there it was really
tough live tweet live tweet is for those
of you who have a Twitter account when
you are watching something or listening
to something as it happens a popular TV
show or an awards show and you write
your comments on Twitter as it happens
that’s called live tweeting something in
an example sentence I live tweeted the
Grammy Awards this year it was a lot of
fun that’s a lie the next phrase is
binge watch binge means to do something
to excess or to do something too much so
now that services like Hulu or Netflix
or other TV or movie viewing services
there might be different ones in your
country are available people like to
binge watch their favorite TV shows
meaning they can sit and watch all of
their favorite TV show in maybe a
weekend or a week or something like that
if they just sit for hours and hours I
binge watched all of house of cards this
season I loved it that’s a true story
next next the next word is neckbeard oh
my god I can’t believe we’re teaching
them this it’s not a very nice word I’m
gonna get in trouble next year it is a
rude word that’s used to refer to people
typically men who do not have very good
hygiene do not have very good personal
care habits and as a result their beard
which typically on men’s faces is maybe
in the chin or the jaw line goes onto
their neck in a sentence there are a lot
of neck beards on the internet make sure
you don’t have a neck beard I know next
is fandom fandom refers to a
group of fans of a videogame it could be
an athlete it could be a singer or
whatever when you talk about any group
of fans you can refer to them as the
fandom for example videogame fandom on
the Internet is everywhere it’s so
popular video games are maybe your
favorite TV show change direction the
story has suddenly changed and everybody
is really upset about this change you
might say oh that recent change in the
story has the fandom upset the next word
is hyper connected hyper connected
refers to somebody who is just always
has an interconnection someone who
always has an internet connection
whether it’s their smartphone or their
tablet or their PC whatever it is they
might use to connect to the Internet
they are always connected they are hi
Piper means super you might say I like
to stay hyper connected so I always have
all the news doodle doodle is a funny
word because of the way it sounds it
just sounds funny when you say it
drawing something with no plan we call
that doodling so in a sentence when I
was a student I love doodling in my
notebook that is a funny word hodgepodge
mixture of a bunch of different stuff
you might say the dinner that I cooked
last week was a real hodgepodge of the
stuff that I had in my fridge
next is shenanigans shenanigans I like
this word I like heard a lot I really
like to do shenanigans kind of small
tricks that you might play on your
family or your friends that are just a
little bit mischievous not necessarily
evil but just kind of tricky or just to
be a little bit funny to play a joke on
someone maybe your parents will say and
that’s with your shenanigans go to your
room or something like that the next
word is skedaddle skedaddle is a good
word it means to to leave quickly to go
to go quickly you’ve been maybe at a
coffee shop for too long and you have to
do something else so you say to your
friend let’s skedaddle we need to go to
our next appointment okay the next word
is persnickety persnickety means that
you’re too focused on the details you
really like the the small the minutia of
whatever it is you’re doing in a
sentence you might say my aunt is a
persnickety person she always has to
have things a certain way the lights are
on but nobody’s home
this is phrase means that somebody seems
to look aware of whatever is going on
around them but in their head they don’t
really understand in a house where you
can see in the windows of the house that
the lights are on in the house but
there’s no one actually inside
it’s the same meaning inside someone’s
head it means that they’re not very
smart
in a sentence my coworker isn’t very
smart well he’s the kind of guy who
makes you think the lights are on but
nobody’s home next o space-cadet i love
this phrase i use this from time to time
again doesn’t seem to be very aware or
very smart or very conscious of what’s
going on around them their head has a
lot of space in it perhaps so maybe this
phrase comes from the expression to
space out I’m a bit of a space cadet
sometimes I just stop thinking about all
the things that are happening around me
and go somewhere else in my mind for a
while that’s true
onward even a stopped clock is Right
twice a day so this phrase is used to
explain maybe someone or something who
is not traditionally good at something
or someone who is broken or does not do
things well is capable of you know doing
something correctly
sometimes a clock that’s broken and
doesn’t move will at two points in the
day show the correct time on a
traditional clock so a person who for
example isn’t good at playing sports
maybe one day they have a really really
lucky day and they play it sports really
really well you might say even a stopped
clock is Right twice a day he did a
great job this afternoon this is a fun
one not the brightest bulb in the box
there are a lot of variations on this
phrase not the sharpest tool in the shed
we change this one up a little bit to
like not the longest Fry and the Happy
Meal basically it just means that the
person that you’re talking about is not
the smartest person that you know it’s
used to insult their intelligence
primarily if you think about this
expression quite literally to be the
brightest bulb in a box of light bulbs
would mean you know to shine brightly to
be very good at what you’re doing but to
not be the brightest bulb maybe means
you don’t do such a good job at what
you’re supposed to be doing in a
sentence let’s see one of my friends
she’s not the brightest bulb in the box
she makes some really strange decisions
sometimes next a very similar phrase a
few peas short of a casserole this is
very similar I’ve never heard this one
actually this phrase is again to insult
someone’s intelligence too if you were
making food if you’re making a casserole
you need to use peas maybe depending on
your recipe and if there aren’t enough
peas the casserole will not be very good
maybe
so this means maybe somebody is missing
the things that they need in their mind
in order to do something correctly my
friend my other friend Stevens that
guy’s a few piece short of a casserole
he should have done some things that he
didn’t do vinyl as in the material or
the record before CDs before tapes they
were vinyl vinyl records where they’re
about this big or there were smaller
sizes maybe about this big people would
use to play music and hipsters some
hipsters and prefer to use vinyl or to
listen to vinyl rather on a record
player in a sentence I prefer vinyl
because vinyl sounds more authentic
skinny jeans I feel like these are
really more mainstream at this point but
skinny jeans just referred to genes
which taper at the end so the top is
bigger and then the bottom kind of it
goes like this
in a sentence I shrunk my skinny jeans
in the wash the other day oops my
circulation I can’t feel my feet on word
Instagram Instagram maybe you use
Instagram this is a very popular
application where people can post photos
and they can filter the photos to make
them look interesting or different in a
sentence follow me on instagram and
check out my pics
oh my google pics next is thrift store a
thrift store is a secondhand shop a kind
of shop where you can go to find things
that other people have used or have worn
before and you can usually get them for
a cheap price in a sentence I like to go
to the thrift store every weekend
because they’re always interesting new
things to find them
alright the next word is Polaroid
Polaroid refers to an old style camera
box shaped I think you can still buy
updated versions of these now and you
take a picture in the picture would
immediately spit out the front of the
camera in a little square and you could
kind of shake it a little bit to make
the I guess but the picture would
gradually add a fade in you would see
the picture start to appear so Polaroids
I guess there are popular among hipsters
maybe I don’t know in a sentence
I like decorating my room with polaroid
pictures I couldn’t care less people
will often say I could care less but
that doesn’t really mean the same thing
as I couldn’t care less short for I
could not care less and it’s not
possible for me to care any less about
this situation so it’s just emphasizing
it whatever is going on
doesn’t bother you in a sentence my
co-workers project wasn’t successful and
I couldn’t care less
Oh jerk alright next is nip it in the
bud many people say nip it in the butt
it should be nip it in the bud bud in
this case might refer to a flower before
it blossoms that small shape before the
flower actually opens up we call that a
bud
so to nip something would mean to to
take something quickly like biting
taking motion to nip something in the
bud we mean to stop something before it
becomes something else stopping
something negative from happening
knitting a sweater
come on adding a sweater earlier there’s
a section of the sweater where the
thread that the yarn has started to
unravel and you think to yourself oh my
gosh I need to nip this in the bud nip
this in the bud so you decide to fix it
right away instead of letting the
sweater to slowly unravel as you work on
it next is one and the same not one in
the same I’m probably guilty of this one
actually one and the same just refers to
something that is maybe has two names
but both of those names refer to the
same thing or the same person my teacher
and my father are one in the same person
maybe you know if your dad is your
teacher in school you could use this
expression on tenterhooks on tenterhooks
is the next expression this isn’t a
phrase that I’m familiar with don’t use
this one but it seems that some people
use the phrase on tender hooks I’m not
really sure what tenterhooks are this
expression is used when people are
looking forward to learning the outcome
of something or kind of maybe there is
anticipation they’re anticipating
something maybe you would use this when
you’re watching a movie perhaps like I
was on tenterhooks to learn about the
end of the story
something like that maybe next moot
point not mute point but moot point
something that is irrelevant something
that there’s just no point in talking
about it it is moot there’s no meaning
a moot point yeah a moot point that’s
funny I ah ask the internets hey Siri Oh
No okay you’re looking for a guy to fill
a position and you find the guy and he’s
a great programmer and he’s fantastic
but it’s a moot point because he’s a
convict I’ll be back
a lot of people like to try and do an
Arnold Schwarzenegger impression this
comes from the movie Terminator where
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a robot from
the future and it’s really awesome you
can use this with your friends you can
use this in common everyday situations
where you have to leave some place but
you want to tell people in a kind of a
funny way that you plan on coming back
you can say I’ll be back inconceivable
say this with a lisp inconceivable if
you’ve seen the movie The Princess Bride
inconceivable so to conceive of
something something you can think about
putting that in at the beginning of the
word means can’t cancer not able to
conceive of something you can’t even
think about it you can’t believe it in
other words this is one word that means
I can’t believe it or this is just
ridiculous so you can use this anytime
you’re just shocked by something you
just can’t believe that something is
happening you can say inconceivable this
is a very good one a recent one from the
movie anchorman Will Ferrell says this
he says I immediately regret this
decision I immediately regret this
decision it’s a very long phrase but it
means you’ve just made a choice and you
very quickly immediately realize this
was a bad decision I should not have
done this you can say I immediately
regret this decision but what kind of
like a flat tone to it it’s a little bit
funny okay next is a very famous quote
from the movie Forrest Gump Tom Hanks
was in this movie his character famously
says mama always said life was like a
box of chocolates the next line is you
never know what you’re going to get so
this refers to picking a piece of
chocolate out of a box of chocolates
maybe you’ve seen kind of fancy ones
that have a number of different styles
of chocolate in them when you bite into
it oftentimes you don’t know what’s on
the inside so the character is saying
that life is like that too you might try
to do a few different things but you
never know what’s going to happen until
you actually try to do it so this is an
interesting phrase to use maybe if your
friend is having trouble in their life
in some way
you can maybe try to console them or
cheer them up by saying mama always said
life was like a box of chocolates the
next quote comes from the movie Apollo
13 a very famous space movie the quote
is houston we have a problem Houston
refers to the control center NASA’s
control center and the astronaut is
famously quoted as saying we have a
problem anytime you run across a problem
at work or with your friends with your
family whatever you can say houston we
have a problem meaning you’re just
trying to alert the other people around
you that something is wrong you need
help with something perhaps new
york-style pizza Wow in my image anyway
even after reading this is that New York
Pizza is just really really big they’re
huge slices and people like to fold them
in New York there’s lots of marinara
sauce they’re topped with a whole lot of
cheese and the crust is usually not
super thick so in a sentence you might
say to your friends let’s get some New
York style pizza for dinner tonight I’m
already hungry California style pizza I
wasn’t aware there’s a California style
pizza thai-inspired really California
style pizza this is new to me actually
apparently California style pizza is any
pizza that doesn’t use traditional Pizza
ingredients traditional pizza
ingredients would be mayor marinara
sauce pepperoni cheese maybe black
olives the stuff that you find in pizza
shops may be all over the world I
imagine but California Pizza maybe uses
are no chicken variety of different
vegetables maybe fruits different
cuisines like Thai inspired pizzas and
so on have you checked out that new
California style pizza restaurant sounds
good it does sound good
the next one I know chicago-style
deep-dish pizza deep-dish as the name
might suggest the Chicago style pizza is
much thicker than regular pizza it could
be a lot of sauce it could be a lot of
cheese a lot of whatever topping it is
that you choose but it’s just a really
thick thick pizza so in a sentence
chicago-style deep-dish pizza is
excellent with beer Hawaiian pizza
Hawaiian pizza is this just refers to
the type of toppings Hawaiian pizza is
Canadian bacon or just ham and pineapple
this was my brother’s favorite style
pizza growing up and I’ve always hated
it so in a sentence my brother’s
favorite pizza was Hawaiian pizza maybe
it still is Quad City style pizza what
is that a thin crust the dough to sue
that sounds good quad city-style pizza
has
thin crusty dough then in the sauce
there are red chili flakes and ground
cayenne so it’s probably a little
spicier than your average pizza and then
the pizza is cut into strips not squares
not triangles but long strips in a
sentence I really want to try Quad City
style pizza beat the pants off someone
to beat someone severely or to win
against someone easily in a race or a
game if you do much better than somebody
else in some form of competition you can
use the phrase beat the pants off in a
sentence let’s see my brother beat the
pants off the competition at these
swimming meet last weekend my brother
beat the pants off the competition at
the basketball game last week my brother
is really a skilled sportsman I seen
James what’s up next phrase is burst at
the seams to burst at the seams if you
imagine a shirt or just something when
there’s too much inside at the seams of
it kind of go there expanding too much
and when there’s just way too much of
something inside a piece of cloth maybe
the same rips so this phrase means
something that is too full or too
crowded in a sentence my subway car was
bursting at the seams I could barely
breathe the next one is by the seat of
one’s pants I don’t understand the
history of this phrase but it means
you’re able to do something because
because you’re just really lucky like
for example I passed the test by the
seat of my pants like just out of pure
luck I was able to do next is to have
something up one sleeve imagine a
magician or something when they do
tricks they pull flowers out of their
jacket pocket or something like that or
out of their sleeve it means you have
some kind of plan ready you’re prepared
with something that might be a little
bit mischievous so let’s see in a
sentence I knew my friend had something
up his sleeve for my birthday because he
was being really mysterious
okay next where more than one hatch this
is a good phrase this phrase means you
have more than one responsibility maybe
you have more than one job or you have a
few different roles in your life the
images that you change hats for each of
your roles I wear more than one hat in
my current position I’m in charge of a
few different departments at Michael
NASA NASA stands for the National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
they are the organization that’s in
charge of all space related research and
space related developments in the USA in
a sentence I wanted to work for NASA
when I was growing up that’s a lie
the next acronym is MSRP the
manufacturer’s suggested retail price
you might see this on products at the
store the MSRP is the important point is
what the maker of that product thinks
it’s worth so a store might have a sale
and they say come to our sale everything
is 20% off the MSRP
next is the ACLU the American Civil
Liberties Union you might be able to
guess what this is about civil liberties
civil rights they work to ensure that
you know people have civil rights within
America in a sentence the ACLU is doing
important work for people all around the
nation the next is the AARP the American
Association of Retired Persons there’s
sort of a joke I think that goes around
that once you reach a certain age in
America magically AARP mail will start
coming to your mailbox as you can
probably guess an association for people
who are of retirement age I myself am
NOT of retirement age so I don’t know
exactly what they do and I have never
looked into it but perhaps it’s relevant
for some people it seems that the AARP
is the most powerful group in terms of
its members in the United States I’m
guessing because they’re retired and
they have experience and money I got my
first piece of mail from the AARP last
week that’s a lie okay the next one is
NDA NDA is a nondisclosure agreement I
don’t have a nondisclosure agreement for
anything
probably anyway an NDA is a
non-disclosure agreement you might have
to sign a nondisclosure agreement if
you’re working on a project that
requires confidentiality
maybe it’s government related maybe it’s
a specific project a movie for example
that you can’t talk about the employer
might ask you to sign an NDA meaning
you’re not going to talk about anything
related to your project in a sentence I
was working on a project for a TV
station and I had to sign an NDA before
I began back to back is the first one
back to back means one right after
another back to back in a sentence I
have two meetings back-to-back today I’m
so
the next idiom is can’t stomach nice
nice job stomach and stomach means that
you don’t like something it used to
refer to food or just something that’s
gross something was really gross I can’t
stomach the thought of eating that old
pie I can’t stomach the thought of
working with that guy another day he’s
terrible
Stevens next phrase is eyes are bigger
than one stomach when you’re you know at
the supermarket or when you’re at a
restaurant and you see a picture of food
or you see you see a food item in front
of you and you think to yourself that
looks really good I’m going to get that
I’m going to buy that and then it comes
to you and you realize you can’t eat it
all this is the phrase that we use my
eyes were bigger than my stomach I saw
it and it looked delicious but I can’t
put all of that food in my stomach
I ordered a bloomin onion one time and I
couldn’t eat it all my eyes were bigger
than my stomach next is a pain in the
neck pain in the neck there are a few
other variations on other body parts
that you might be able to use with this
a pain in the something else pain in the
neck just is something that’s
troublesome or something that you don’t
want to have to worry about just
something that just bothers you it’s
just as trouble in a sentence let’s see
I have so many reports that I need to
catch up on this week it’s a real pain
in the neck
that’s a true story actually I have to
write a bunch of reports today to pull
one’s own weight is the next one to pull
your weight means to do the job that
you’re assigned to do you have something
that you’re you need to be responsible
for so you need to make sure you do it
in a sentence Stevens didn’t pull his
weight at the meeting last week I’m
afraid we’re gonna have to let him go
pull your weight Stevens you’re bringing
us down the next is the end and we’ll
see you again next time for more fun
stuff bye
Oh
you
you