Learn English Vocabulary Daily #15.4 — British English Podcast

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

My name is Anna and you're listening to Week 15, Day 4 of Your English

Five a Day, a series that is dedicated to expanding your active

vocabulary by five pieces every day of the week from Monday to Friday.

To start today's list, we have an idiom and it is to tighten your belt.

"Hoh!"

Now, to tighten your belt, we're spelling this T I G H T E N, tighten.

Your, Y O U R.

Belt, B E L T.

To tighten your belt means to spend less money than you did before,

because you have less money perhaps.

So, to tighten your belt,

"Oh dear, during these uncertain financial times we have to all tighten

our belts a little bit, don't we?"

The cost of living is rising.

Everything is changing.

So, we must all tighten our belts — spend a little less money than we did before.

Here's an example sentence,

"Since I stopped working full-time, I've really had to tighten my belt."

Next on our list is a noun and it is widow, widow.

We spell this W I D O W, widow.

A widow is a woman whose husband or wife has died and has not married again.

So, if I were married and my partner died, then I would be a widow until I remarried

and then I would not be a widow anymore.

Here's an example sentence,

"My grandmother is a widow of 55 years, she never wanted to marry again

after my grandfather passed away."

Moving on to something a little less morbid, we have the

adjective underlying, underlying.

We spell this U N D E R L Y I N G, underlying.

If something is described as underlying, then it's real, but

it's not immediately obvious.

So, I might seem perfectly healthy to you, but I might have

an underlying health condition.

Perhaps I have epilepsy, or diabetes, or a degenerative neurological issue,

something that you can't necessarily see.

It's not obvious to you.

Here's an example sentence,

"He had underlying health issues that were only discovered after he was

admitted to hospital with a broken wrist."

Next on the list is a verb and it is exude, exude.

We spell this E X U D E, exude.

To exude.

This is normally used with love or confidence.

If you exude confidence, it means that you show that you have a lot of that feeling.

So, it's like to show and share with the world the feeling that

you have to exude confidence.

Here's an example sentence,

"I've never known anyone exude so much confidence as Joanna.

She's a natural on the stage."

What do you exude?

What quality or feeling do you show in abundance?

Here's the final word on the list.

This is an adverb and it is frequently, frequently.

We spell this F R E Q U E N T L Y, frequently.

Frequently just means often.

So, if something is done frequently, it's done often.

What do you do frequently?

I am frequently washing up, frequently doing the laundry, frequently

picking up toys and items from off the floor that should not ever be on

the floor and it's very frustrating.

I do it all far too frequently.

Here's an example sentence,

"We frequently go to the skate park on Saturdays, it's great to see the

kids showing off their talents."

Okay, so that's our five for today.

Let's recap.

We started with the idiom, tighten your belt, which is to spend

less money than you did before.

Then we have the noun widow, referring to a man or woman whose wife or husband

has died and they've not remarried.

Then we had the adjective underlying, where something is real, but

it's not immediately obvious.

Then we had the verb exude, which is to show that you have a lot

of that thing, that feeling.

And then we had the adverb frequently, something that's done often.

Let's now do this for pronunciation.

Please repeat after me.

Tighten your belt.

Tighten your belt.

Widow.

Widow.

Underlying.

Underlying.

Exude.

Exude.

Frequently.

Frequently.

Fantastic.

What do I call someone who's lost their husband?

Their husband died and they haven't remarried.

That person is a...

widow.

That's right.

And despite their grief, if they go on to show everyone that they are happy and

content with their new life of solitude, you could say that they are what?

That feeling; they're showing that feeling a lot.

What are they doing?

Exuding feelings of happiness.

They're exuding happiness.

To exude.

Although, probably in that case, you'd say they are denying

their grief, in all honesty.

If someone seems to be well and healthy, but they have a health

condition that's not obvious, how could I describe that health condition?

What adjective could I use?

Underlying, underlying.

I'm conscious that I've used health condition to describe

underlying every time.

Underlying can be used with anything really that's real, but not obvious.

So, for example a couple may seem like a very happy couple, but have

some underlying marital issues.

So, there might be some issues that aren't obvious.

They're very real issues, but not obvious.

Maybe they have trust issues or they have intimacy issues.

So, it can be used in other contexts as well, not just health.

And if I'm doing something often.

What other adverb could I use?

Frequently.

Frequently.

And, oh dear, I don't have a job anymore.

I really need to spend less money than I did before.

What idiom could I use here?

Tighten my belt.

Yes, I need to tighten my belt.

Fantastic.

Okay, you know what's coming next.

It's time for a little story.

It's never easy losing a loved one, especially when it's a

husband, wife, or partner.

Sadly, when Helen became a widow, her life changed forever.

Her husband, Arthur, had had underlying health issues for about three years,

but despite being medically unwell, he exuded confidence and happiness,

especially when it came to his wife, Helen, and their passionate marriage.

In all honesty, if you didn't know he was ill, you would never have guessed!

The pair frequently went out for dinner, took weekends away, and were

members of the local dancing group.

They loved doing the salsa and the Argentine tango.

They weren't bad at it either.

It was only three weeks ago that Arthur and Helen competed in a local competition

and tangoed their way to first place.

An ex-army man, Arthur had worked his way up the ranks from soldier to

colonel, leaving the army at the age of 55 due to his declining health.

During his time in the forces, he had also trained as an architect and

until his untimely passing, had been working in a local interior design

firm, putting together a proposal for a new function centre, dance

school and entertainment venue.

The money was good but the company did not offer a pension scheme and he was

too young to receive his army pension.

This meant that Helen would now have to tighten her belt.

She wouldn't be able to go on those weekends to the Cotswolds or meet

friends at the weekly curry club in town, there would be no more dancing

and swaying to their favourite tunes.

Things just weren't the same anymore, life wasn't the same.

And on that slightly depressing note, I am going to love you and leave you.

Thank you so much for listening.

Until next time, take very good care and goodbye.