It's Hot! Idioms and Expressions -- American English Pronunciation

101,446 views ・ 2012-07-18

Rachel's English


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

00:00
In this American English pronunciation video, I'm going to complain about how hot it is
0
710
5640
00:06
in New York.
1
6350
1100
00:14
Summer in New York is great for things like grilling. But it's also known for being hot,
2
14960
5489
00:20
hot, hot. Sometimes entirely too hot. We've had lots of days this month, July, that were
3
20449
6880
00:27
very hot. Over ninety. Not surprising. So, I'm going to teach you some idioms and some
4
27329
5270
00:32
creative ways to say "it's really hot!!"
5
32599
5001
00:37
Hot as Hades, or hot as hell. Now, be careful when using hell, it is a mild cuss word, but
6
37600
7079
00:44
it is considered a cuss word. So you don't want to say it in front of people that might
7
44679
5371
00:50
be offended. The T in 'hot' comes between two vowels here when we connect it to the
8
50050
5949
00:55
next word. So, that's going to be a flap T. Hot as, hot as. You'll notice I'm not saying
9
55999
7340
01:03
'as'. I'm reducing the AA vowel to the schwa. -duz, -duz, -duz, hot as, hot as. Hades begins
10
63339
12441
01:15
with the H consonant, has the 'ay' as in 'say' diphthong, Ha-, Ha-, then the D consonant,
11
75780
9409
01:25
ee vowel, Z sound. Hades, Hades. Stress on the first syllable, so that should have more
12
85189
8051
01:33
shape, whereas -des, -des, -des should be flatter and lower in pitch. Hot as Hades.
13
93240
7570
01:40
Or, hot as hell. Hell with the H consonant, the EH vowel, and the dark L. Hell, hell.
14
100810
8339
01:49
Now, being a stressed word, this syllable, this word should have some shape.
15
109149
4661
01:53
Hell, hell, hell. Hot as hell.
16
113810
5379
01:59
One phrase my Mom likes to use is 'hotter than blazes'. Hotter than blazes. So, the
17
119189
7680
02:06
word 'than' here is being reduced just to the N consonant sound: hottern, hottern, hottern.
18
126869
8541
02:15
Now the T in 'hot', turned into a flap T, or a D sound, because it's coming between
19
135410
7700
02:23
two vowels: hotter, hottern, hottern, hotter than blazes. Blazes with the BL consonant
20
143110
6360
02:29
cluster, the 'ay' as in 'say' diphthong, and the Z, I, Z: -zes, -zes, -zes. Hotter than blazes.
21
149470
12710
02:42
You can also say "it's a scorcher." Scorcher: with the SK consonant cluster, sk, sk. The
22
162180
8090
02:50
'aw' as in 'law' vowel followed by the R consonant, scor-, scor-, and the second, unstressed syllable,
23
170270
10150
03:00
the ch CH sound, schwa, R sound: -cher, -cher, -cher. Scorcher.
24
180420
8750
03:09
You can also say "it's so hot, you could fry an egg on the sidewalk." Should I try it?
25
189170
6110
03:15
I don't think I will. Just seems like it might be kind of messy.
26
195280
5250
03:20
There are also words you can use to show quantity. It's not just hot, it's really hot. Or you
27
200530
7500
03:28
can, it's ridiculously hot. Or, it's super hot. Or, in Boston / New England, you might
28
208030
8400
03:36
hear: it's wicked hot.
29
216430
2670
03:39
So, when it's the middle of July, and the end of summer seems very far away, and you're
30
219100
5380
03:44
already tired of the heat, you're lucky that you have these phrases that you can use that
31
224480
6170
03:50
are much more colorful than simply "it's hot" to express your frustration. It's hot as hell.
32
230650
7230
03:57
It's hotter than blazes. That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.
33
237880
7220
04:05
It's hot as hell. It's hotter than blazes. Sirens are always ruining my take.
34
245100
7600
04:14
Don't stop there. Have fun with my real-life English videos. Or get more comfortable with
35
254120
5280
04:19
the IPA in this play list. Learn about the online courses I offer, or check out my latest
36
259400
6470
04:25
video.
37
265870
250
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7