Slang in English - SUCK

I was dreaming.

What?

James Wingman.

If you heard my voice, that wasn't a dream.

Probably a nightmare.

So, I know I suck at singing.

Absolutely true.

But what I'm going to do is teach you a little something about sucking.

Now, this is an English slang lesson.

I kind of like these.

You do grammar, you do blah, blah, blah, all this special stuff.

But when it comes down to it, English is what we say on the street and what we say to each other when we meet and greet.

Ah, rhymed.

So, let's go there, alright?

So, today's lesson will be on...

I have a number, but I don't want the number.

I'm going to put you in this.

Suck.

Alright?

Suck.

Suck, by definition, is bringing something in with air into your body, while blow is out.

And there's a reason why I'm telling you this.

In the 1920s or '30s, I'm not sure when, in jazz, when people would go to jazz clubs,

if somebody really did a good job, for instance, when we look at, you know, horns...

[singing]

You have to blow air.

So, when somebody can hit a note like...

[singing]

They would say, "He can really blow, man. That guy blows."

Because he was good.

Now, the opposite would be like this.

[singing]

Oh, you suck.

Because they had to take air in.

So, suck became, "You are no good."

It comes from jazz.

There.

History in English.

You like that?

I like it, too.

I like it, too.

See, I don't suck.

Okay.

So, suck meant not good because you couldn't blow those notes.

Okay?

Now, blow has another meaning.

We'll do it another time for don't blow it.

Okay?

Now, so over here we found out, well, what we learned is that when something is not good or it's bad, something sucks.

Well, let's go over here.

Should we go here?

When something's not good, we find out that it sucks.

It's not good.

No good.

Now, because of that, a lot of other things come up because there's another thing.

Little children have suckers.

I know it's not a sucker, so I'm not going to suck on it.

Or you suck your thumb.

Kids do this.

So, kids are what we call gullible.

They believe anything because they're kids.

They don't know anything.

So, if you're a sucker, it means you believe anything you're told.

Right?

So, you go here.

Over here.

You believe anything.

So, they can trick you.

He's a sucker.

He believes everything.

All right?

Now, here's another one.

Remember we talked about this?

Well, babies suck their thumb.

So, when someone says, "You're a suck!"

It's because you're a child.

You're a baby.

All right?

Now, we're going to do another one here.

Now, some people are suck-ups.

You know when you kiss?

Well, you make a sucking motion with your mouth.

So, when we say you're a suck-up, it's usually because you agree or will do anything somebody says to make them happy.

I didn't have enough room, but you get the idea, because you want to make them happy.

Usually, that person has power.

It could be a love relationship or a boss.

So, you suck up to make the boss happy.

And then finally, if you...

Well, you know how some people have...

I can't do it here, but a big stomach, and then a pretty girl walks by.

They suck it in.

They suck it up to make themselves look good.

Well, sometimes we talk about suck it up.

And when we say suck it up, we mean stop complaining.

Stop crying about it.

You have to deal with this difficult situation anyway.

So, don't complain about it.

Just do it.

All right?

Suck it up.

So, if I say to you...

Oh, and I love saying it to my English students.

Love it.

Okay?

What I usually say is...

If they say, "Teacher, English is so difficult.

I find it so hard."

I go, "Suck it up.

Shut up and just do it.

That's the only way you're going to learn."

Don't be such a suck or a baby.

All right?

I know it sucks because it's hard, but that's just the way it is.

And don't be a sucker and believe all that stuff people tell you should be easy.

That's not the way life works.

And then they go, "Oh, teacher.

Thank you.

I was going to suck on this one."

Now, there's one more I'm going to tell you that's on the board and not on the board.

This is an insult.

It's got a star beside it.

So, if someone says it to you, they're not being nice.

If someone says, "Suck my..."

Which could be your...

Or your...

It's the male part of the male anatomy that women don't have.

And I'm not talking these.

You know.

It means to do oral sex on my...

Okay?

It's an insult.

Remember that.

It's a slang lesson, so I've got to throw it out there.

Pardon the pun.

Throw it out.

You got it.

You understand, though.

Okay?

So, that one I'm not going to go too much into, but I think you understand.

I only have the five.

So, let's go over and see which matches with which.

All right.

So, if you deal with a difficult situation without complaining, are you a...

Suck.

It sucks.

Or someone sucks.

Are you a suck?

Are you a sucker?

Is it suck it up?

Or it is?

Correct.

Suck it up.

Deal with a difficult situation.

Suck it up.

What's the next one?

To agree with somebody because they have power or power over you and you want to make them

happy.

What would that be?

Would that be suck my...

No, I don't think so.

Well, I guess you could, but no.

Are you a sucker?

No.

When we do this one, we say you're a suck up.

Remember?

The kiss?

You suck it up.

So, suck up is number five.

What about the insult?

Yeah, number six.

I won't go into details.

All right?

The next one we have is not good.

When you...

I forgot to say it.

I said sucks is bad, but usually we use as someone or something.

This job sucks.

He sucks.

Not only does it mean it's not bad, it also can mean not having skill.

So, when I was singing it's bad, James sucks at singing.

Right?

Okay?

So, you would say sucks.

So, not good, which is number one.

And it is usually number one.

This just sucks.

All right?

And it's used for situations as well as people.

And what do we have here?

Somebody who believes everything.

Remember?

Kid?

Sucker.

And which one is that one?

You're a sucker.

If you believe everything, I'm telling you today you're a sucker.

But that jazz story is true.

And finally, act like a baby.

Okay?

Somebody is a suck.

You're a big baby.

You're a suck, which is number two.

Hope you enjoyed the lesson.

It didn't suck, did it?

I hope not.

Okay.

As I said, don't be a sucker and believe all the hype from other people.

EngVid is a good station to go to.

Why?

Because you just learned about sucker and you're probably watching an EngVid video.

Right?

And it didn't suck.

Okay?

Now, you can go to www.engvid.com to learn not only slang, okay, but also proper grammar

lessons you can use for your TOEFL and IELTS.

It's all there for you.

All right?

So, I want to use number six on you, but I won't.

But I'm going to say don't be a suck up.

Come because it's good, not because we have any power over you.

We don't.

You make a choice here.

Right?

Don't complain about the English.

This will teach you to be a native speaker.

All right?

Have a good day.

Well, I hope it doesn't suck.

Bye.