Improve Your Vocabulary: Stop Saying BAD!

Well, well, well, don't we look snazzy?

Hi.

James from engVid.

Mr. E is wearing a top hat, has a cane, and a bow tie.

He looks very snazzy.

You're probably going, "What is snazzy?

Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Because he kind of looks a little funny for a dressed-up worm.

Well, what I want to introduce you to are some words that...

Some words that are going to mean bad, because this lesson is actually on stop saying bad,

but not for what you think or the reason why you think.

I'm going to introduce some words that actually describe things in a bad way, but then I'm

going to throw on the other side some opposite words that you can use.

Snazzy is one of them.

The reason why I'm doing this particular lesson is, do you need other words that don't mean

bad?

Because bad is a great word.

Bad means it doesn't work, not a good quality, it's a great, great word.

But when we talk about people and things, sometimes we want to dress up the words, and

it will take us from an intermediate stage.

I've got a student named Liliana, and she found that when she learned words like this,

she went from intermediate to an advanced stage.

And that's what you want to do.

Are you going to use these words all the time?

No.

Will you encounter these words?

Sure.

So, once you go from basics, you're going to read books, talk to different people, and

then these words are going to come up, like snappy, snazzy, dusty.

And you're going to want to know what they mean, not just an idea of them, right?

So, today I'm going to give you, I think it's about six words, we're going to go to the

board, and I'm going to give you their opposites.

So, stop saying bad.

Something is always bad.

Let's use some different words, some better words.

You ready?

Let's go to the board.

All right, E, you do look snazzy.

I don't care what the people say.

Now if you look at it, the bad words are going to be in red.

I love seeing this on YouTube.

Don't say these words.

The good words are going to be in black, okay?

So, first one I'm going to talk about is dowdy.

Dowdy is like old-fashioned or not very stylish.

Now it's usually used for women.

I'm not saying it can't be used for men, but if it's a young woman and she's wearing like

a dress that doesn't fit her and it's baggy and it's old-fashioned, let's say she looks

rather dowdy.

Like, you can say it for men, but it's usually used for women, so just understand that.

The opposite of that is actually snazzy, stylish, looking good, right?

When you're being stylish or snazzy, right?

That's what my man looks like.

How about this one?

Cheesy.

Okay.

I don't care where you're from.

I'm sure you've seen a movie where it's about teenagers and they're going through so much,

so many problems and having so much angst or stress, and they're being played by 35-year-old

adults.

You know, they've got the beard and they're like, "Sally's really sad!"

It's like, you're old, why are you playing a teenager?

And then they're like, "Ah, high school, it's just so horrible!"

That's cheesy.

We say it's inauthentic, insincere.

Also, sometimes something is cheesy, like you go to a restaurant and they've got the

plastic on the tables and, like, those brown bottles with candles inside of them, and you're

like, "Oh god, this place is so cheesy", right?

And we're saying it's cheap, and then because of that, it could be considered unpleasant,

right?

When something's cheesy, it makes you, ugh, alright?

The opposite of being cheesy is elegant, stylish, and manner.

I wish I had a better - yeah, I do.

Elegant.

Elegant.

Elegant.

Elegant.

Elegant.

Stylish.

Alright?

Think James Bond.

Now, let's go over here.

Dusty.

I didn't want to leave the women out, because some of you women are like, "James is so sexist.

He talks about women being dowdy.

What about the men?"

Well, I have one for the men, ladies.

So when you're out, and you're at the club, and you see some guy who hasn't showered in

a week standing there, can't afford a drink, he's broke, has no money, maybe he looks very

disgusting, you go, "He's dusty."

It means - imagine dust, and you know what dust is when you go in your furniture?

It's like he's so old and dirty, he's got dust on him.

So if a guy looks dusty, he's going to look bad, he probably has no money, he might be

ugly, right?

Disgusting.

You go, "He's dusty looking."

Usually used for men, not women, so there.

That's from me to you, gift, okay?

Next time you tell your girlfriend, "Your boyfriend looks dusty", she goes, "I need

a new man."

All right, so the opposite of "dusty" is "successful" and "affluent".

I want to use my glasses again and show you, it's like that man who's got the big watch,

the nice suit, looking good, they're successful and affluent, and that's the opposite of being

dusty.

How about this one, "nasty"?

Well, nasty means disgusting, awful, or rude.

If someone's being nasty to you, they could be rude.

You know, you go into a store, and they're like, "What do you want?"

And you go, "You don't have to be nasty", right?

Or it could be disgusting, like, "Ew, what's on the floor?

That's nasty!"

You don't want to step in it.

The opposite of that is "pleasant", right?

Nice, charming, and likable.

If someone is a nasty person, they're not very nice, but if they're pleasant, they're

charming, right?

Like me.

No, not like me, like the word.

"Gross".

Ew, gross, that's gross, yes, that is gross.

Something disgusting.

It could also be ugly, right?

Some people think insects are gross, or weeds are gross, which I find funny.

Weeds are just flowers we don't like, just saying.

Anyway, the opposite of being gross is being nice or beautiful.

If you say to somebody, "You look lovely", right?

It's another way of saying "beautiful", which is a nice word, right?

I actually have a video on stop saying "nice" and "beautiful", check it out.

That's the opposite of "lovely" is "gross".

Now, how about this one, "corny"?

"Corny" is something that is obvious and unsophisticated.

It means it's very simple, very easy, low, like for children.

So if someone tells you a corny joke - now, let me think of a corny joke.

See, I can't - I don't go that way, because I am sophisticated, I am not.

But a corny joke might be like, "Why did the chicken cross the road?"

To get to KFC, but don't - that's so corny.

To become chicken?

For food?

It's a corny, unsophisticated, obvious joke.

Or when they say to get to the other side, whatever.

Sophisticated means worldly.

Worldly means they have knowledge because they've traveled the world, they've read,

they've met interesting people, been to interesting places.

That's worldly.

"Complex" means many details.

The "complex" and "detailed" is opposite of the "corny", which is obvious and easy, right?

And not sophisticated.

I guess that's what that is.

Now, "tacky".

"Tacky" is interesting, because tacky - if something's tacky, it means it kind of - it

sticks, too.

But in this case, when we talk about someone being tacky, they have bad taste, right?

They're ugly, they're loud.

A lot of times, people show Americans as being tacky.

They'll have, like, red and white and blue, and they'll have, like, a red-white hat on,

and they're like, "America's number one!"

We consider that tacky.

Now, am I saying Americans are tacky?

No.

I've seen a few trolls or haters, the people who will go underneath going, "How dare you

talk about America and saying it's bad?"

I said, "Other people say", and they put pictures showing that.

I'm not saying Americans are tacky.

But that's an example that people will go, "Yeah, I've seen that."

Many people do that.

"Tacky" is being loud.

That person in the restaurant who's speaking loudly and being - I don't want to say "boisterous",

because it's just another word for you.

So, they're loud, they're - see, I'm thinking of all these other words I don't want to introduce

right now, but they're loud, and they're noisy, and they're just - ugh.

It's tacky.

They're bringing unwanted attention because they're very, very - well, it's kind of gross,

nasty, corny.

Not nice.

It's unpleasant.

Okay?

So, when you see something that is ugly, loud, or unpleasant and in bad taste, that's tacky.

Cool?

The opposite of being tacky is being tasteful.

That is being modest, not showing too much, not making too many - too much noise.

Being good taste, right?

Wearing the appropriate clothing in the appropriate place, right?

Or speaking in such a way that is acceptable and pleasant to people.

Tasteful.

So, now that I've said - stopped saying "bad" and shown you the other things you can say

instead of "bad" in given situations, and then I went a little further and said, "Hey",

and you don't have to say that.

Sometimes you want to say the opposite, and I've given you words that are the exact opposite

so you can use those.

You've doubled your vocabulary.

Why don't we do a little bit of a test and see how well you've learned, and then I want

to show you some words they use on the other side of the pond.

If you haven't heard that phrase, it means when you're in Canada or the United States,

it means England, and when you're in England, it means Canada or the United States.

So, I'll give you a couple from the other side of the pond that are pretty cool that

you can slip into your vocabulary and start using right away.

All right?

Let's go.

So, it's time to do the quiz.

We did it.

I gave you definitions.

Now, let's see how well you learned them.

First question.

"She took him to a something hotel that had rats and cockroaches everywhere."

Well, if you're like Indiana Jones, you may not like rats or snakes or what have you.

And what kind of hotel would that be?

Yeah, that'd be nasty, right?

The opposite of pleasant.

Not a nice place to be.

What about number two?

"When Mr. E gets drunk, he tells a lot of something jokes about farts."

Okay, some of you are going to go, "What's a fart?"

Gas that comes out the bottom.

This is a burp.

I can't even burp.

I don't know how to burp.

That's a burp.

And if it comes out the other way, that's a fart.

It's a colloquial term or a low or slang term for gas, passing wind.

Okay?

So, if someone's telling jokes and they're drunk, and they're about farts, yeah.

One second.

I've got leaves.

What the heck is leaves?

What the heck is leaves?

Gross.

If you got this wrong, this is on you.

Jeez, come on.

Leaves is clearly wrong.

Lovely.

So, which one is it?

Gross.

And I made a gross mistake, a very bad mistake, at putting leaves on the board.

Ah, okay.

Next.

"Her something green dress was very stylish and looks great on her."

What would that be, if it's stylish and looked great?

Would it be dowdy or snazzy?

Yeah.

If you remember Mr. E, I said he looked snazzy, right?

Because that would be in style, stylish, versus dowdy, which means not, old-fashioned.

Number four.

"John liked something - restaurants - where you could get excellent meals and a great

atmosphere."

And atmosphere means, you know, like if there's music and good lighting, okay, so what's the

atmosphere like?

It's nice, it's bright, it's new, what have you.

Describes the setting.

Well, elegant, because we know what cheesy is, right, it's inauthentic, not sincere,

it's cheap.

Well, we're going to go elegant.

An elegant restaurant, opposite of a cheesy restaurant.

And finally, "Jodie's new man looked something.

He hadn't showered in days."

Yeah, last time I saw Elon Musk, Warren Buffet, I'm trying to think of anyone else, Jeff Bezos.

Yeah, they weren't looking - no, they weren't looking dusty.

If you guys were going, "Yes, very successful without the shower look!"

No, he was looking dusty.

I mentioned a whole bunch of guys who have lots of money who would not look dusty.

Remember we said dusty, unattractive, dirty in this place?

Smelly, too.

Whoosh.

Alright.

I'm going to put five out of five on the quiz.

Even if I made a mistake, you should get five out of five, because I gave you one.

That's what we call a gimme.

Now I'm going to give you some from across the pond that they might use in England.

Sketchy.

Well, that looks rather sketchy now, doesn't it?

It means not safe or dishonest, or if he's a sketchy character - I don't trust him, he's

a bit dishonest.

If you're walking across a bridge and he goes, "Well, that looks rather sketchy," it means

maybe it's going to break on you.

How about dodgy?

A bit dodgy.

Now, you've got to watch one of my favourite movies, the Christmas movie, and they talk

about this.

It's Love Actually, and they talk about Wadsworth, the dodgy end, yeah, the dodgy end, and if

you don't know what it means, potentially dangerous.

It's a bad area.

So, if someone's dodgy, they look dishonest, they're unreliable, or potentially dangerous.

Right?

So, that's dodgy.

Now, what about grotty?

Grotty comes from the word "grotesque", which means ugly.

In this case, when we shorten it, and English people say it's grotty, they mean it's unpleasant

or of poor quality, right?

That's a rather grotty shirt you're wearing.

Poor quality, unpleasant, disgusting, no good.

These are basically British, but hey, if you're in North America, spice up your vocabulary

and use them.

People will ask you, "What does that mean?" and you'll get to have a conversation by saying,

"Well, it's a British word that means this", right?

And if you're in England and you're learning language, here's some of the things when they're

talking about you.

Look, look at that grotty man over there, and you're like, "Yes, I'm grotty.

I just got off the boat from another country.

I'm grotty."

No, it's insulting, so you should know this, all right?

So, here's my question for you, because as always, we have to have our homework as well

as the extra information.

Which one of these is your favourite?

Like when you were sitting there, what were you going, "I love that one.

I love it."

If you love it so much, please, even if it's two or three, make a sentence using this vocabulary.

Put it in there.

"The grotty man went to an elegant restaurant and was quickly escorted out."

Okay?

And now that you've written a sentence about it, think about where you're going to use

it.

Because the truth of the matter is, it's nice to think about it, watch this video and learn

it, and maybe smile a bit, maybe hopefully I've not just entertained, but educated you.

But if you're not going to use it, you're taking time out of your life for no reason,

and I don't want that.

So, plan ahead, think of where you can use it, because these words aren't just - as I

said, it's about not saying the word "bad", but these aren't bad words.

They're words to help you be more sophisticated in your way of explaining how you see things,

and gives you more sincerity, so you're not inauthentic, because you've got words that

show, "This is how I actually feel about it."

Cool?

Now, before I go, you know I got a quote, and this quote is pretty good.

Remember I said from across the pond?

This guy is from across the pond, from way, way back.

His name is William Shakespeare, okay?

Here's his quote.

"There is nothing either good or bad but thinking that makes it so."

That thinking that makes it so.

And as I said to you, these words aren't good or bad, they're just adding to your arsenal,

your ability to communicate with others, alright?

So, this video is about stop saying "bad".

You can now.

You've got, like, 13 ways to do it.

Have a good one, but before I go, I need you to go to YouTube, hit underneath the subscribe

button, ring the bell on the notifications, and while you're there, press like, because

if you're talking - if you're still here, you clearly liked the video.

Anyway, thank you again, and we'll see you soon.

Ciao.