STOP SAYING “SAID”: 8 words you can use instead

In this lesson, I'm going to teach you how to use  eight wonderful words instead of the word "say".  

So, instead of just saying: "He said this" or "She  said this", you will have eight other verbs that  

you can use that basically communicate the same  idea as "say", but more specifically and more  

precisely. Okay? So, let's look at what they are.  The first word is "announce". When we "announce"  

something, we say it publicly. For example: "He  announced that he was running for president."  

Or we could announce... say something officially:  "He announced that she had won the contest."  

Or also, we announce something when we say it  loudly. For example: "They announced that the  

flight was ready for boarding." Right?  So, this means "announce" - something  

public; something official; something loud,  sometimes. Okay? The meaning varies a little bit,  

but I think from the examples, you get a good  idea of what it means "to announce" something.  

All right? Think of a president standing  like this, and he's making an announcement;  

he's saying something official - "to announce"  something. All right. Next: "mention".  

"Mention" is much quieter. "Mention" is when we  say something quickly, or we say something in  

passing. All right? So, the... an example could  be: "He mentioned that he was looking for a job."  

He mentioned it, okay? He didn't come out and  announce it; he just mentioned it in passing. Or  

our... our very famous Canadian singer, named  Gordon Lightfoot, had a beautiful song many  

years ago, called: "Did She Mention My Name?" So,  what it means "to mention"... "Did She Mention My  

Name"? This is a song about somebody who was  in love with someone, and he wanted to know:  

"Does she still remember me? So, when you met her,  did she mention along the way...? Did she mention  

my name? Did she say my name in passing?" Okay?  So, that's the word "mention". All right?  

Next: "insist". So, "to insist" is like this: He  insisted. So, for... or: She insisted. So, "to  

insist" means to say something firmly; to say it  forcefully. And usually, we do this in the context  

when somebody is saying one thing and you are  saying something else; or two people are saying  

different things, and one person is insisting:  "No. It's like this." Perhaps the other person  

is insisting: "No. It's like that." So, what  does that sound like? Well, very often in court,  

we see this kind of drama going on. Right? One  person is saying: "No. I'm innocent." The other  

side is saying: "No. You're guilty." So, this  person is insisting he's innocent, and the other  

side is insisting he's guilty. Okay? You see the  idea of "insist"? You can look at it like this,  

if you want to think about it physically. Right?  Or, for example... it doesn't have to be that  

dramatic; sometimes even in regular life. For  example, you go to dinner with some friends,  

and you insist on paying, but they say: "No.  We're going to pay. You can't pay; we want to pay"  

and they insist on it. So, they insisted on paying  for dinner. Okay? It can also be in regular social  

situations - okay? - that we use this word. Okay.  The fourth one: "to deny". Here's the physical  

representation of "deny" - it's like: "No". So,  "to deny" means to say: "No" or to say: "No. It's  

not true". For example, a famous president some  years ago denied that he was having an affair.  

Or "to deny", as I said, can mean: It's not true.  So, let's say: "She denied being present at the  

scene of the crime." That meant... that means  she said: "No. I wasn't there." Okay? She denied.  

See my body language? "To deny". This was "to  insist", this was "mention", and this was "to  

announce". Okay? Like you're standing behind  a podium and you're announcing something. All  

right? So, if you do these actions, they'll also  help you to link this vocabulary in your mind.  

Okay? So, these are the first four; I'm going  to give you four more in just a second.  

So, number five: "estimate". Okay? "To estimate"  means to say approximately. Okay? Roughly; not  

exactly. All right? For example: "They estimated  it would take three months to finish the building"  

or "They estimated the project would take...  would cost five million dollars". Okay? So, "to  

estimate" - your visual could be: They estimated.  Okay? You're not exactly sure; it's not a precise  

statement. It's a guess, sort of; an  "estimate". Okay? "They estimated". Number six:  

"complain". Okay? We have all complained. So,  when we complain, what do we do? We show that  

we are unhappy with something; we're dissatisfied  with something. For example, you could complain  

about the poor service that you experienced in  a restaurant. You could complain about a dirty  

hotel room. You can complain about lots of things.  Okay? Usually when we're complaining, or if we see  

people complaining, we can tell because they're  not happy. Let's say they're complaining. They're  

looking like this; sometimes they're disappointed,  like this; sometimes they're a little bit more  

forceful. But when we're complaining - some people  are very angry; some people are a little bit  

quieter, but - there is no happiness on the face,  usually. Okay? So, your visual could be like this  

or something else that you create to fix in your  mind the image of complaining. All right? Next,  

number seven: "to report". Okay? If you  watch the news, you know that "to report"...  

okay. Let's pretend this is my  microphone. A reporter will stand  

there and give information; give the news. So, "to  report" means to give information about something.  

For example, you could say: "They reported  that the hurricane was approaching." So,  

it could be that you report something that  happened or something that is going to happen,  

or that something is happening. Okay? So, it  could be past, present, future - doesn't matter.  

Or they reported that... in a business context:  "They reported that sales had increased in the  

last quarter." Okay? So it's not always with  a microphone, but that's a good image for you  

to keep in mind if you want to remember this  word: "report". All right? Next: "claim".  

Okay? Now, "claim" is to say something strongly  without proof. Okay? The proof isn't there yet.  

So when somebody claims something, we say...  the police might say: "I don't... we don't  

know. He claims that he was at home during the  robbery. During the time of the robbery". Okay?  

"He claimed that; we don't know that, because  there's no proof". Okay? Or you could say:  

"They claimed that they had mailed the cheque,  but we didn't get anything. We didn't receive  

anything." So, your visual for "claim" could  be something like this: "I don't know."  

Now, that doesn't mean that the person who is  claiming something or the other side that's  

claiming something is telling a lie; it could  very well be true. All this word means is that  

somebody is saying something, but there is no  proof or there's no proof yet. All right?  

So, to review: "to estimate" - like this.  "He estimated it would take that long".  

"To complain" - "No. Terrible service". "To  report" or "to claim" - "I don't know. That's what  

he claimed; I'm not sure." Okay? So, if you really  want to master these words now - these eight good  

words that you can use instead of the word "say"  - then please go to our website at www.engvid.com,  

and there you can do a quiz on this of these  words -right? - so you can really be sure  

exactly how they're used. And also, don't  forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel,  

so you can continue to get lots of  lessons about how to improve your English  

very quickly. All right? Thanks very much  for watching. Bye for now.