5 nouns to make you sound smart

274,647 views ・ 2014-05-14

English with Alex


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Hey, guys. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this advanced vocabulary lesson
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on five nouns to sound smart. In this lesson, we will look at five words that are a little
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bit more formal and you can use whether you're giving a lecture, if you're doing any type
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of formal writing, if you're writing an essay, if you're giving a speech in front of a crowd
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of people, and you can also use it in everyday dinner conversations if you want your friends
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to think that: "Hmm, this guy is using some really high-level vocabulary", or: "this girl".
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Let's start with the word: "bedlam". So the sentence here says:
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"The streets were in bedlam during the protests." "Protest" is a word some of you Spanish speakers,
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Portuguese speakers, you might use the word: "manifestations". In English, we say: "protests".
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All right? So: "The streets were in bedlam during the protests." So if you imagine a
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protest happening with a lot of people, you're probably imaging lots of chaos if it's not
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a peaceful protest. Okay? So, "bedlam" basically means chaos and disorder, something that is
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not organized. And we often use the preposition, "in" before "bedlam". So: "It was in bedlam.",
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or: "The streets were in bedlam." or: "It's bedlam in here." It's chaos, it's disorder.
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Okay?
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The next noun is: "gall". Okay? So if we look at the sentence:
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"She had the gall to call me lazy!" So if someone calls you lazy, you're probably
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very offended and you think: "I can't believe that person said that." I can't believe they
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had the nerve - okay? - to actually say that. So, "gall" basically refers to the bold courage
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or the nerve to say something. So it refers to your nerve or bold courage. Okay?
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Next up, we have: "juxtaposition". Very good word, especially in academics and especially
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if you're writing essays of comparison and contrast. So the sentence we have is:
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"A child next to an old man is a strong juxtaposition." So, the word "juxtaposition", the word "juxta"
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actually means near and "position" means position, so near in position. When two things are in
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juxtaposition, it just means they are near to each other, placed next to each other.
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And we often juxtapose which is the verb form, we juxtapose two things that are different
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from each other to compare them, to contrast things. Okay? So, basically, "juxtaposition"
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means near in position. And commonly, this word is used when you want to compare and
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contrast two things that are not the same, that are not alike. So you place things in
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juxtaposition with one another, near to each other, and then you can compare them, contrast
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them. Okay?
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Next up: "quagmire". If we have this sentence: "The war has created a quagmire."
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So when you think about a war happening anywhere in the world, it's probably a very difficult
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situation for citizens and that is precisely what a quagmire is, is that it's a difficult,
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hard situation that is difficult to escape, that is difficult to get out of. All right?
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So a quagmire, we're going to say a difficult situation. Okay? So think about being stuck
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in like mud and... And you can't really escape or it's difficult to escape the mud. And specifically,
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we more talk about the situation of, you know, wars or personal situations that are quagmires.
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And finally, we have: "rabble". And in this sentence, we have:
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"The police couldn't control the rabble." So, the rabble, going back to protests, refers
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to the common people. Now, the rabble specifically refers to a group of disorderly people or
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a mob you can say. So rabble is basically a mob of common people or citizens.
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And just to give you one bonus vocabulary, the word, "rabble", a person who excites the
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rabble, excites the common people and leads the protest is called: "a rabble rouser".
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And I'm going to write that here for you guys, "a rabble rouser". So this is the person,
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the person who excites the people, and says: "Come on, let's go! We're going to fight back
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against the government or fight back against the police." They are called "a rabble rouser"
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because they excite or rouse the rabble, the common people, the mob. Okay?
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All right, guys, so one more time. "Bedlam" refers to chaos and disorder. "Gall" refers
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to the nerve or the courage, the bold courage to do something. Juxt-... "A juxtaposition"
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is basically a comparison of two things that are next two each other. "A quagmire" is a
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situation that is difficult to escape from. And "rabble", a mob of common people.
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So, as always, if you'd like to check your understanding of this vocabulary, you can
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do the quiz on www.engvid.com. And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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I'll see you guys next time.
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