Meet these informal, colloquial expressions used in social medias or chats and learn how to use them.
For each phrase, guess if the word means something positive or negative:
When someone is watching a TV show and suddenly says about an image that he or she sees “It’s so gross“, is it positive or negative?
Negative: “gross” means extremely unpleasant or even disgusting.
Example : Sam, an activist, says “It’s so gross when people leave unfished food on park benches.”
You now the word “crush” when you talk about someone’s love story, right? What about this expression:
Someone took part in a dance performance on stage, and when it’s over, he or she says : “I crushed it!”
Does it mean that the performance was a success or a failure?
Well, normally the verb “crush” is not positive because it actually means “to push down very hard on something, and even to destroy it completely”.
However, in spoken English, “I crushed it” means “I did something so well that it was amazing!”
Another way of saying the same thing is “I nailed it!” like when you attach a picture to a wall using a nail (you can see what this word means here:
https://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/house/do-it-yourself/carpentry-nailing-tools/examples-nails.php
Another way to say the same thing is very simple : “I killed it!“
When someone says “This new song just came out, and I’m digging it”, does it mean they hate it or love it”?
“to dig” means to love something, so it’s very positive! It’s a little strange, because the first meaning of “dig” is to make a hole in the ground using a shovel. If you don’t know the word, look what it means here :
PLANTS & GARDENING :: GARDENING :: TOOLS FOR LOOSENING THE EARTH [1] image – Visual Dictionary Online
If you say about someone: “His behavior really bugs me”, does it mean that you like or dislike the way that this person acts?”
“to bug” means to irritate someone and to make them angry, so it’s negative!
If you want to use this word correctly in a phrase, make sure to start this phrase with the person or thing that creates the negative feeling.
For example, don’t say “I bug his attitude“, say “His attitude bugs me”.
Do you know what “a bug” originally is? Check it here :
https://www.visualdictionaryonline.com/animal-kingdom/insects-arachnids/examples-insects_3.php
People say that when the word “bug” is used to speak about a problem with a computer, the original meaning comes from a real bug (a little insect) that got inside someone’s computer and broke it down!
When Liz, a blogger, says to one of her friends that everyone loves her blog, this friend thinks to herself : “That is so lame!” Does this friend approve or disapprove of the way Liz speaks about her blog?
“lame” originally means “weak”. So, in spoken language, when you think that someone is lame, or that what they do is lame, you don’t like it! You consider that this person is just trying to attract attention, and that in fact they are kind of a loser.
When someone invites you to a party, and you are psyched [say “saikt” ] to go there, does it mean that you are excited or upset about the idea of going?
“psyched” may sound and look the same as “psycho” [say “saikow” ]. When you say that someone is a psycho, you think that it’s a crazy person.
However, “psyched” is very different because it means “happy and excited”, so it’s positive!
You can say, for example, that Tom, a geek, is psyched when he thinks about the next 36-hour video game marathon that he has planned with his friends.
Want more practice? Go to another activity on spoken English here :
Did you like this section? You can go to the next activity here or make suggestions below. Don’t hesitate to mention some other words that you woud like to practice with or have explained.
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