Learn English Vocabulary Daily #19.4 — British English Podcast

Hello, and welcome to The English Like a Native Podcast.

My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 19, Day 4 of Your English Five a

Day, the series that aims to deep dive into five pieces of vocabulary every

day of the week from Monday to Friday.

So, let's start today's list.

We begin with the adjective gridlocked.

Gridlocked.

We spell this G R I D L O C K E D.

Gridlocked.

Gridlocked.

To be gridlocked is, particularly the roads, is where the roads are blocked

with a large amount of traffic, where the vehicles are unable to move.

So, if you talk about an area being gridlocked, then you're suggesting

that the roads are just a nightmare.

You are unable to drive freely around this area because there is

just standstill traffic everywhere.

It's gridlocked.

There's nothing worse than being in a hurry, perhaps you're late for

work and you hit gridlocked traffic.

Oh, what a nightmare.

So, here's an example sentence,

" I hate driving through London during rush hour, it's always gridlocked

and I never get to work on time!"

Okay, so next on the list is the phrase in a huff.

So, you are in a huff, to be in a huff.

So, we spell this in, I N.

A.

Huff, H U F F.

In a huff.

I love this phrase.

To be in a huff is to be upset or angry about something.

Usually, you've been offended by something someone said or done.

So, if I am making everyone a cup of tea, but I don't ask you if you

want a cup of tea, I just go and make everyone else a cup of tea.

Then you're going to probably be a little bit upset with me, a little bit annoyed.

You'll be offended,

"Why did Anna not ask me if I wanted tea?

I did want a cup of tea.

Why didn't she ask me?"

So, rather than coming and talking to me about it or saying something, you

might just quietly feel angry and behave in a slightly passive-aggressive way.

So, therefore you are in a huff.

And I'd say,

"Oh, what's wrong with that person?

Are they in a huff?

Have I done something wrong?

What's going on?"

Here's an example sentence,

"Pam walked out of the restaurant in a right huff earlier.

And all because they didn't have knickerbocker glory on the menu!"

Knickerbocker glory.

Oh gosh, that's a little bit of a mouthful.

I did actually have to record that three times because my mouth isn't

working properly this morning.

Knickerbocker glory.

It's a specific type of ice cream dessert that you would get in a

very tall glass in a restaurant.

Knickerbocker glory.

Knickerbocker glory.

It's a good tongue twister first thing in the morning.

Knickerbocker glory.

There we go.

So, I would be in a huff if I really wanted knickerbocker

glory and they'd run out.

And I'd say,

"But I came to this restaurant because you do the best knickerbocker glory in town.

How dare you not have enough knickerbocker glories to go around!?"

Alright, moving on from knickerbocker glories and being in

a huff, we have the noun torrent.

Torrent.

We spell this T O R R E N T, torrent.

A torrent is a large amount of something.

Often it's a large amount of something that's sudden and uncontrollable.

I always think of rain or water when I think of the word torrent.

Here's an example sentence,

"Tony let out a torrent of abuse at the team coach this evening, just because his

son wasn't picked for the regional finals.

He'll be lucky to keep his place on the team next season at this rate."

So, there we had a torrent of abuse.

So, lots of sudden and uncontrollable bad words coming out of someone's mouth.

A torrent of abuse.

Next on the list is the adjective mild-mannered, mild-mannered.

We spell this M I L D.

Mild.

And then a hyphen, mannered, M A N N E R E D, mild-mannered.

If you are described as being mild-mannered, then you are quite

gentle and you don't show any extreme emotions, so, you are not someone who

shows your anger or disgust or jealousy.

You're just gentle and kind and polite.

Very mild-mannered.

Here's an example sentence,

"You have to be a very mild-mannered person to work in a children's

nursery, you need to put up with a lot of disobedient toddlers!"

Next on the list, or rather last on the list, we have an

idiom and it is the last straw.

The last straw.

We spell this the, T H E.

Last, L A S T.

Straw, S T R A W.

The last straw.

Now if you say something is the last straw, then it's the final thing

that happens that breaks a person.

So, imagine that you are already under a lot of pressure at work.

You have a lot to do.

And then someone comes in and says,

"There's an emergency.

We have another case.

You need to take this extra burden.

You need to take this extra load."

Even though you've already got enough to do.

You need to take this extra case.

And I say,

"I can't do it.

I can't."

And I have a mental breakdown and emotional breakdown, and

I'm just unable to function.

And I signed off work sick for the next three months because

it was just too much pressure.

I often feel like I get to the last straw in my household with my two young boys

who sometimes can be a real handful.

They are not mild-mannered as most children aren't.

They are loud and they really you know, have tantrums, they

can really show their emotions.

And so, sometimes if I've got a lot going on, I'm stressed with work, I'm tired, I'm

trying to cook, and the pans are bubbling, and whatever's in the oven is burning,

and the cat is trying to get my attention.

So, the cat is clawing and using me as a tree and climbing up my

back and I'm screaming and then the kids come running into the kitchen.

And one kid is in a huff because I didn't let him have chocolate before

dinner and the other kid is having a meltdown, is having a tantrum for

some silly reason like they can't get the sellotape to stick two pieces of

metal together or something ridiculous.

And then one of the children knocks over a vase and the

vase just smashes on the floor.

Then I would go,

"That's it!

That's the last straw."

That last thing that just happened has broken my resolve.

I cannot cope anymore.

This is too much.

I'm out of here.

And then, of course, I don't leave the children because that

would be terrible parenting.

But I might just turn off the pans, turn off the oven, lock the children into the

front room where they're safe, with the cat, away from the glass, and I might

just lie down on the floor and cry.

Because that last thing that happened was the last straw.

I could no longer cope, and I'd phone someone and say,

"I need help.

Please come round here and save me."

I mean, it's never really gotten to that point.

It's never been that bad in the past, but I can certainly relate to that scenario.

Here's another example sentence,

"I've always given you the benefit of the doubt, Danny, but this last act

of violence really is the last straw.

I want you to leave now, it's over between us."

Dun, dun, dun.

Bit of drama there.

Okay, so, those were our five for today.

Let's do a quick recap.

We started with the adjective gridlocked, which is describing an

area where the roads are blocked because of traffic, unable to move.

Then we had the phrase in a huff, in a huff, where someone is upset,

angry, or offended for some reason.

Then we had the noun torrent, torrent, which is a large amount of something

often sudden and uncontrollable.

Then we had the adjective mild-mannered, mild-mannered, which

is someone who is very gentle and kind and shows no extreme emotions.

And then we had the idiom the last straw.

Which is the last thing that is added to the weight that breaks their resolve.

It's to a point where they can no longer cope.

Okay, so let's now do this for pronunciation.

Please repeat after me.

Gridlocked.

Gridlocked.

In a huff.

In a huff.

Torrent.

Torrent.

Mild-mannered.

Mild-mannered.

The last straw.

The last straw.

Fantastic.

Now, imagine that someone suddenly out of nowhere just starts

shouting a lot of abuse at you.

And it's a real surprise.

You don't understand why this person is shouting so much abuse at you.

What noun could we use instead of saying a lot of abuse?

We could say...

a torrent of abuse.

A torrent of abuse.

And this is very surprising because the person who abuses

you is normally very gentle and doesn't show any strong emotions.

They're not extreme in the way that you've just experienced.

What adjective could you use to describe this normally gentle person?

Mild-mannered.

They are ordinarily mild-mannered.

Now, if somebody shouts at you like that, you are probably going

to be very upset, very angry.

You'll walk away and feel annoyed for the rest of the day.

What phrase could I use to describe your mood?

In a huff.

Absolutely, you are in a huff because of the torrent of abuse that you received

from the ordinarily mild-mannered man.

And actually, you decide that you are going to go home because you've just,

it's just an awful start to the day.

So, you're not going to stay at work, you're going to go home.

So, you jump in your car and then you experience complete

stillness on the roads.

No one is going anywhere, there is traffic blocking every road.

What adjective would you use to describe this area where the

roads are completely blocked?

Gridlocked.

It is gridlocked.

And this gridlock, on top of the abuse that you received this morning,

it's the last thing, it's the final thing that's just going to break you.

You are now just gonna have a complete fit of anger.

You're going to start screaming and honking your horn because this

is the last thing to add on top of everything else that's going on.

What idiom could I use here when you break because of an extra little piece

on top of your already heavy load?

It's the last straw.

Yeah.

That torrent of abuse that you received this morning from that ordinarily mild-

mannered man sent you off in a huff.

You jumped in your car and then you hit a gridlocked road, a gridlocked road system.

There was no way out.

You were stuck for hours.

You ran out of petrol.

Your car broke down.

That was the last straw.

You had a complete hissy fit.

There's another phrase I'm throwing at you.

A hissy fit.

You started screaming and shouting and kicking your car and beeping

your horn, oh, what a morning!

Anyway, hopefully, your day hasn't been like that.

And we can bring this all together now in a little story.

It's Friday afternoon and you're ready to leave your mild-mannered

personality in the office and bring out the party animal in you.

You say goodbye to your colleagues, you'll see them later tonight anyway.

You thank your boss for the birthday bonus cheque, and head to your

car for the 25-minute drive home.

The restaurant is booked for 7.30, so that gives you 2 hours to do your

15-minute yoga session, shower, glam up, feed the kids, get them to the

babysitter, and be ready for the taxi to chauffeur you on your big night out.

That is, until you reach the main road home.

It's in gridlock and looks to go on for miles.

Surely there's a shortcut?

You've only been in the job for a few weeks and haven't quite got

used to the roads to the office yet.

You sit in the car, crank up the radio and try to stay calm, there's no

point in getting in a huff about it, after all, there's not a lot else you

can do but just sit there and wait.

Then, just as you think the line of cars is starting to move,

there's a loud crash-bang behind you, and you're shunted forward.

"Arrgghh!

What on Earth?"

The driver of a Skoda clearly wasn't looking at where she was going and

has gone straight into the back of you, pushing your car into the

one in front: a brand new BMW.

Okay, no more Mrs Nice Guy.

You get out of your car, hurl a torrent of abuse at the driver of the

Skoda, who is clearly upset and in shock, you tell her to call the police

and that you need to swap insurance details, as it's clearly her fault.

Then a thought crosses your mind: it's her fault she went into you, but

it's your fault you went into the BMW, the car behind is always to blame.

The driver of the BMW comes up to you calmly and also asks

to swap insurance details.

This is not good, not only is it now 6.45pm and you really need

to get home, but you'll have to claim on insurance, which will

whack your premium up next year.

You go to get the papers out of the dashboard — where are the papers?

Another thought crosses your mind, you forgot to respond to the renewal

email from your insurance company.

Oh, this really is the last straw — you now have to pay out not only for your

car repairs but for the swanky BMW's too.

And you're going to miss your night out.

Ugh, this is the worst birthday ever!

Okay.

And on that note, I do hope you enjoyed today's episode.

Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.