Weekly English Words with Alisha - Words to make you sound smart

79,037 views ・ 2014-04-22

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Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

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Okay, welcome back to Weekly Words. Weekly Words. I’m Alisha, and today we're going
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to talk about words that make you sound smart. Oh, I'm all
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over this one.
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First word is “esoteric.” When something is “esoteric,” it’s... Alright, so the
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word “esoteric” refers to and “something that requires specialized knowledge.”
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So in a conversation, somebody might use this word to say, “Sorry to be esoteric,” and
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then they'll continue talking about some subject or some concept that requires a certain level
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of knowledge in a given field.
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Next word... “Superfluous.” Um, “superfluous” just means “extra,” really. Can a person
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be “superfluous”? So “superfluous,” yeah, just, just refers to stuff that's maybe
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not necessary or the... the extra just stuff or extra, extra things in a given context.
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So maybe, “Oh I have so much superfluous stuff in my kitchen.” Course using “superfluous”
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in such a casual way like that is very unnatural, but you could do if you really wanted to sound smart.
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“Acquiesce.” “Acquiesce,” um, means to, um, like you might have like… Oh, can
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I say a line from Pirates of the Caribbean? Something like, “He will not acquiesce to
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your request,” or “She will not acquiesce to your request.” Just means you won't”
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obey or listen or do as told.” Um, but that, it’s the same exact meaning to “acquiesce”
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to accept something, or, yeah, to go along with.
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“Angst.” “Angst” refers to just kind of this, errr, like that, that unhappy feeling,
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the sort of angry, maybe melancholy, or just feeling like, you know, you’re misunderstood.
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So a teenager, or I suppose a teenager themselves might not use this word, but the parents of
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a teenager might say, “Oh, my teenager is so filled with angst.”
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“Kitsch.” “Kitsch.” “Kitsch” refers to, in my mind anyway, just, um, junk, honestly.
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It's the little things that, you know, might crowd your house, like a snow
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globe or special little ornaments or just, you know, decorative knick-knacks. You might
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say, “Oh, my aunt’s apartment’s really “kitschy.” I mean she has maybe like a
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lot of knick-knacks, or the style is just kinda meh.
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Alright, that is the end, so those were a few words to make you sound smart. I hope
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that you learned something. I certainly did, and I'll see you again next time. Thank you.
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Bye!
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