20 Advanced Expressions to Build Your Vocabulary

Hi there. This is Harry. And welcome back  to Advanced English Lessons with Harry,  

where I try to help you get a better  understanding of the English language.  

Whether you're preparing for that all-important  job interview or proficiency exam, or indeed,  

if you're just wishing or hoping  to improve your business English  

or your conversational English,  you've come to the right place.

We're here, ready and able to help you.  So what have we got for you today in this  

particular lesson, this advanced  English lesson, we're looking at  

words and expressions relating to anger.  Some of the words and expressions you're  

probably not familiar with, but I'll explain  them as best I can. If you have any queries,  

then of course you can come back to me at the  end of the lesson, and I'll give you my address.  

Overall, they're all expressing anger. So when  you are feeling angry because you dropped your  

favourite mug and it broke on the floor,  or you've lost your car keys or somebody  

backed into your car and caused damage. So if  you're feeling angry for any of those particular  

reasons, then one of these expressions will  help you to express your anger in a better way.

Okay, now let's go to become irate.  Now, when somebody becomes irate,  

it's usually because somebody won't listen  to them, or they've tried explaining their  

problem to somebody and they don't understand  it. So the longer the conversation goes on, the  

more angry they become. And we can refer to that  as being irate. Often we have irate customers.

So, for example, if you're checking  into a hotel and they don't have your  

reservation because they've lost it, but you  remember distinctly that you booked. In fact,  

you got an email and you can show them  a copy of the email, but they don't have  

you on the system. And because the hotel  is fully booked, there's no room for you.

He tried to explain the situation to them, try  to tell them that you're travelling the next  

morning and have to go to the airport. Blah  blah blah. But nobody is willing to listen.  

So you get a little bit annoyed and then as  the conversation goes on, you become a little  

more annoyed. Your anger starts to build up  and you become very irate, and you have to  

really stop yourself from shouting, saying,  is there anybody here going to listen to me?

I have a record of the email. I can tell you  exactly when I phoned, and I can tell you that  

I booked a room, so it must be there somewhere.  Okay, so we become irate or annoyed or angry.

Now the next number two to be cross or to  be furious with somebody. Now to be cross  

and furious is slightly different, because to  be furious is a little bit more angry than to  

be cross. Often parents are cross with  their children. They're annoyed because  

something happened or they didn't listen  or they broke something. So they get cross.  

Mummy or daddy are very cross with you. Very  annoyed with you. But when we are furious,  

there's a level up from that. We could  be furious because, you know, we didn't  

get invited for the interview. And you wonder why  when you've got all the qualifications necessary.

You heard that a friend of yours  got an offer for an interview,  

and he or she is not as well qualified as  you are in your opinion. And you didn't get  

that invitation, so you are furious with  the people who sent out the letter. Okay,  

so you can be cross, but then furious  as a step or a level up from that.

To be seething with anger. Well,  when somebody is seething with anger,  

normally they don't say anything  but the look on their face.

You can tell that there are  fires burning and their eyes are,  

their cheeks and their face is a  little red and they are seething  

with anger boiling over, almost  like a volcano ready to erupt.

Yeah. So he was seething with anger when  he got the letter of rejection. He thought  

that he really had a chance this time. But once  again, his book that he had written and rewritten  

has been turned down and nobody wants to  publish it. So he's seething with anger,

indignation and rage. Well, indignation is the  noun so that we can be indignant. Yeah, so we can  

be full of rage or full of indignation, so we can  be full of indignation when we feel that somebody  

has insulted us. And so perhaps they have treated  us a little bit foolishly because of our age.

They have treated us a little bit differently,  

because perhaps we are a woman and we  feel that being a little bit sexist.

So we could be full of indignation,  been really annoyed at their attitude.

Old people are old. Just because of age is  only a number. But sometimes people talk a  

little bit down to them and treat them in such  a way as they feel that they're not quite on

top of the game. Okay, so that can  make you feel a little bit indignant  

or feeling, I have a feeling of  indignation or feeling of rage.

Okay, so you can be full of rage when you  see young people spraying graffiti on a  

wall. You know, we never did that  when we were their age, blah blah,  

blah. So we can be full of rage  that they don't respect property

To blow a fuse. Well, you know what happens when  you overload a light switch or a socket. You blow  

the fuse, which is just as well, because  if you didn't, the house would probably go  

on fire. So you hear a little pop and  the fuse blows and you have to go and

Switch off at the mains and then switch back  on again. So to blow a fuse. So it's exactly  

the same in relation to anger. We can blow  a fuse when we get to the point where we we  

call it the point of no return. We've just  had enough. We just can't take any more. And  

we blow a fuse and we start shouting and  screaming so we could have the situation.

When you come home to find that the  builders who you had trusted to do the work,  

have left the place in a complete  mess, you know, you've been on the  

phone to him several times. They promised  that they would get back today and they  

would finish the work. And low and behold,  when you come home, nothing has changed.

Nothing has been done, nothing has been tidied.  So you finally blow a fuse. You pick up the phone,

Luckily, there's nobody in their office  and you leave a very, very short sharp.

message, you know, as to why you  are very angry. So you blow a fuse.

In the same way, using blow, we can say  to blow one's top very British. So to blow  

one's top is mean. Literally, like your head  explodes like that volcano, so you can blow  

your top when things don't work the way you  want them to work. Perhaps you're trying to,

work out your tax return. And every time  you tried to enter the numbers online,  

there's something wrong with the  program, and it just won't accept it.

And then you press send, and nothing happens,  

and you're looking to see why it won't  work. But perhaps the system is overloaded,  

or there's some error in the program and  you're going to have to try again. And then  

all the numbers and all the information you've  entered has been lost because you forgot to hit  

the save button. So you just crash the lid  of the computer down, close it and see it.

I'll leave it till another day. So you blow your  top. I mean, you get very angry very quickly.

The opposite of blowing a top is to come down.  Perhaps things are not all so bad. Perhaps you can  

do it tomorrow. Perhaps you can do that tax return  another day. So you take a big, long, deep breath,  

And you try to calm down. Oh, go. And for a  long walk or cycle or even a workout in the gym.

Then find another way to focus your energy.  Something positive. And then after it all,  

you realize things are not quite  so bad. There's always another day.

Yeah. We live to fight  another day, so we calm down.

When people have arguments or debates or  discussions, they can become a little heated.  

And so that's when people begin to not shout and  scream, but they start talking in loud voices.  

When one party won't listen to the other party, or  one person tries to shout down the other person.  

So this could be described as a heated debate  or a heated argument, often between politicians,  

often between two males, where one is trying to  sound a little bit more superior than the other.

And so when they don't listen to each other, they  get more and more annoyed. And the debate or the  

argument becomes more and more heated. Now it  could be over ending up over a football and.

If your team or you think your team is better  than the other team, somebody or your friend  

just won't listen, well then yes, that  debate can become a little bit heated.

certainly when you're on topics  like politics and religion,  

they can become heated very, very  quickly. So often best to be avoided.

Fly into a rage. Well, you don't literally fly  into a rage, but you change very quickly. So,  

you know, one moment you're calm and  collected, and then the next minute  

you're shouting and screaming and the steam  coming out your ears. You fly into a rage and  

you could fly into a rage when you you press  the button to open your emails and you see,

a note from somebody telling you that the bill you  

thought was incorrect and that you  didn't know is actually correct.

And you look at it and see what happened,  

where did I how how did I get  to that level? How come I owe

so much money? I paid the bill last month and  a month before, but something has gone wrong  

somewhere with some of these records, either  yours or the companies. But they've sent you  

a bill online, and when you open it, you see that  it's really, really huge and you fly into a rage.

Now, the rage might be because you've made  a mistake and you've forgotten that you had  

the heating on next to it. Little few hours  every day and with the cost of gas or fuel,  

you know, you realise that the price has  gone up and up and up. So you really have  

to pay it. Or it could be a mistake by  the company they've sent you the wrong  

details or the wrong reading, or it's an  estimated bill or whatever it might be.

You fly into a rage because you don't  understand how you got to that situation.

Number ten is to get worked up about something.  So this is an expression that's very well used in  

British English to get worked up about something.  It doesn't mean you're shouting and screaming,  

but it does mean step by step, bit  by bit. Your anger gets a little,

Higher, your level of annoyance increases.  So to the point where you do get quite angry,  

so it's time to get worked up about it.

Now we can often use it in the  negative and somebody say, well,  

there's no point getting worked up about it. It  happens. Things happen or shit happens. We have  

lots of expressions to describe it, so there's  no point getting worked up about it. Yeah,  

okay. But you do get worked up about it because  it's something that really gets under your skin.

So somebody might say, oh Harry, he really gets  worked up quite easily about these things. If the  

local government don't do what they promised,  if they don't collect the rubbish in time,  

or they send you a bill saying the cost for  collecting the rubbish has doubled and you  

want him to know, well, how has it doubled?  I mean, are we getting a better service?

So these sort of things can annoy him or her and  

it can get worked up quite quickly.  So getting annoyed quite quickly.

When you go really that mad, you  can go berserk. So somebody could go  

berserk running around a shopping  centre. So let's say this. I am

Terrorist attack on a shopping centre.  The headlines might read something like  

gunman goes berserk in shopping  centre. So this indicates that  

somebody ran around shooting people  randomly. And so to go berserk or the.

people broke into the shopping centre  late at night and they they went berserk.

They smashed windows, they broke into shops,  they stole articles of clothing and food and  

left a trail of disaster all over the shopping  centre. So they went mad or they went slightly  

berserk. So to go berserk is effectively out of  control. And you, with no plan to go berserk.

When we are annoyed and we are  frustrated with people, we sometimes  

like to let off steam. So that's our next  expression to let off steam. You know,  

when you put the kettle on the electric  kettle, or you put it, fill the kettle  

and put it on the gas when it boils,  you open the top and it lets off steam.

It releases the steam. So that's exactly what we  do when we get inside. If we don't let off steam,  

that annoyance, that rage, that anger  builds and builds and as I said before,  

will probably probably explode, just like  the volcano. So to let off steam means to  

let out your anger. It might be a scream.  It might be to bang your fist on the table.

Some people might throw something, kick  something. There are various ways in which  

people will let off steam, and it's not such  a bad thing, because keeping those emotions  

inside only make you feel worse. Okay, so to  let off steam means to let out your anger.

So if you go into a room and you start shouting  

and screaming and somebody  says, well, what's happening?

What's happening in there? Oh, don't worry,  he's just letting off steam. He'll be fine in  

a few minutes. He always does it when he's  angry. He always does it when he's annoyed  

to let off steam. Or you might suggest to  the kids, go off to the football field,  

run around, kick a ball to let off steam, to  get rid of that built up frustration or anger.

You've been indoors now for three  days because of the weather,  

but it's sunny now, so off  you go. Now to let off steam.

Very simply, we can refer to an expression  to lose one's temper, to lose your temper or  

lose my temper, or he lost his temper. And  when somebody changes from a very steady.

Middle of the road type of approach. They're  talking normally and naturally, and then they  

suddenly shout or scream. Then they lose their  temper. Wow. He really lost his temper with

his assistant.

I've never heard him so angry.  

I guess you must have done something really  bad. But he's usually quite quiet and mellow.  

But this time something happened because you  could hear him shouting at two floors down.

Okay, so to lose your temper means  to change from being your middle  

of the road mellow to suddenly being  extremely angry and probably very vocal.

When we are annoyed or we are frustrated,  particularly if it's with somebody else not  

connected to the people we're talking to. We try  to control things. So to maintain your composure,  

that's the next expression to maintain your  composure. So if you're really annoyed, if you're  

angry, if you're really seething, sometimes it's  a good idea not to let the other person see it.

Because if they do see that you're angry, or they  might think that they've won, that they've got  

the upper hand. So you try a lot, whether at  all possible, to maintain your composure. So  

even though you're annoyed, you breathe  deeply. When somebody says something else  

that annoys you further, you take another  deep breath. So when you're in control,  

you're able to explain exactly what you want.

So if you're standing in front of  that reception desk in the hotel,  

or if you're at the check in desk in the airport  when something has gone badly wrong and they don't  

have your you're booking or your flight is being  canceled. It's best to maintain your composure.  

And that way you'll be able to get  your message across very clearly.

How annoyed or angry or upset you are. Tell  them how important it is that you get onto  

the next flight, or you get a ticket, or you  get a room for the night and you'll be able to  

deal with whatever arguments they put forward.  But if you're shouting and screaming and you  

lose your temper and lose control, then you  might miss out on some important information.

So it's always best to maintain your  composure, keep control, keep your temper.

under control.

Next to have a sudden outburst of temper. Well,  

again, this can happen from time to  time. You're annoyed, you're frustrated,  

and then you shout. So that's an outburst.  An outburst is a loud shout or a scream.

That was done on the spur of the moment, or  certainly unexpectedly. So people are a little  

bit surprised that to this sudden outburst. So  a sudden outburst of anger. If you're in a room,  

people are discussing things and you  suddenly shout out, what's all this  

is absolute rubbish. A sudden outburst like  that will certainly get people's attention,  

but it might not be the best way to behave  or to approach the particular problem.

Make one's blood boil. That's number 16 on  our list. And before we go on to explain that,  

I just like to ask you, if you  do like this particular lesson,  

then please like the video. And if you can  subscribe to the channel because it really,  

really helps. Okay. Back. Well number  16 back to that and back to the lesson.

So number 16 to make one's blood boil or to make  your blood boil. Well lots of things annoy lots  

of different people. So what annoys me might not  annoy you. Standing in a queue always annoys me,  

frustrates me. People not answering me when  I ask them a question annoys me. Getting an  

answering machine instead of a human being on  the end of the telephone can be very annoying.

So different things annoy different people  and different things make your blood boil. It  

doesn't literally boil like the kettle for the  tea, but to make your blood boil means slowly  

but surely. You get more and more annoyed,  more and more angry. So you can list many,  

many different things that would make  your blood boil, make you feel like I or.

And so to make your blood boil

I often say to people, there's no point getting  annoyed with things you can't change yet,  

but you can certainly get annoyed with things  that are very frustrating, and particularly where  

people don't listen or they don't give you the  service that you've paid for or you expect to get.

Next, number 17 to scream  blue murder. Yeah, well, you

to scream blue murder, if you saw somebody being  attacked or you walked into a room and there was  

a dead body on the floor with a knife in the  back and lots of blood, you'd probably scream.  

So when we scream blue murder, it's an expression  we use to describe somebody really, really angry.

Really, really annoyed with something. Yeah.

So the kids were fighting. They were  really getting under your skin. They  

were running up and down the stairs.  We were making a lot of noise and,

they weren't doing what you're told. So you  just suddenly let out this almighty scream,  

and they stopped dead and looked at you with  fear in their eyes. Yeah, Mummy or Dad screamed

blue murder

yesterday. She was really, really annoyed. I've  never seen her so annoyed. So when you scream  

blue murder, you certainly get the reaction that  you want. Everybody stops and they look at you.

You don't always have to use words to express  your annoyance or your anger. Sometimes it can  

be visual. Okay, so the next expression to  shake your fist so you make a fist. Oh, and  

you shake it at somebody as if you're going to  hit them? Hopefully not. But they can see from  

your body language that you are annoyed  about something, so you shake your fist.

you shake your fist at the telephone  when somebody's on the other end,  

the phone isn't really listening to  you. You can shake your fist at the  

TV when your favourite team are getting  beaten, and they they don't seem to be  

listening to you or the manager or anybody  in there. They're going from bad to worse.

So we can shake your fist. So shaking your  fists clenched fist is a real sign of anger,  

you know? But often it's with a  muttered sound under your breath,  

like, oh, it's not screaming and shouting as  a clenched fist and you really, really want to  

scream out, but perhaps you're in a place which  wouldn't go down well if you were to scream.

So you hold in your anger and you scream

to yourself and you clench your fists.

Another form of body language in which to  express anger is to stamp your feet. And  

this is often something that children do.  You know, they they get frustrated very  

easily because they don't have the words  to describe their emotions. So what they  

tend to do is stamp their feet. Yeah. And  they do it quite loudly. And they do it.

consistently and continuously until you pay  attention or somebody just tells them to stop.

And this can be joined with number 20 on  our list, which is to throw a tantrum. So  

stamping the feet is part of the expression  of throwing a tantrum. And that's exactly  

what my son did at that particular time.  He threw a tantrum. He stamped his feet,  

he cried and he moaned and we  just walked out of the shop.

Okay, so to throw a tantrum now  lots of people can throw a tantrum,  

but it's usually a sign of  immaturity. And it's usually,

something that kids do. But, you know, I've  seen adults throw a tantrum. If you watch  

football players and some of the even the best  play football is the best paid footballers in  

the world often throw tantrums if they don't get  things their own way, or as they say in a report.

He threw the toys out of the pram. So  that's another indication that they've  

lost the temper. Or they are very annoyed.  So to stamp your feet and to throw a tantrum,  

typically linked to the activity of  kids typically linked to kids losing  

their tempers and not knowing how to express  themselves in words. So they do it visually.

Okay, so there you've got the  full, long, lengthy list of 20

advanced words and expressions to

explain or that are related to anger.

And as I said, anger is something that we  all have, feel or have or express from time  

to time. And many of these situations are very,  very similar. What I've tried to give you is an  

indication as to when you might use one specific  phrase instead of another, and situations when,

blowing your top or flying into a rage would  be more appropriate than another expression.

Okay, so the best thing to do, as always, is  to practice. Understand them. If you don't  

understand them, check them out in a dictionary.  If you don't understand them. Write out sentences  

to see what they sound like, what they  look like, and if you need any more help,  

well, then you just come back to me  and I'll be happy to help you, okay?

As always, thanks for listening.  Thanks for watching. This is Harry  

saying goodbye and join me for the next lesson.