How To Use English Expressions And Slang From A To Z

You are an English Learner, which means you must learn English expressions and

slang. You see these help you to sound more

natural when speaking in English and they also increase your confidence in

your English speaking ability. So today I'm gonna teach you how to use English

expressions and slang from A to Z. This video is being brought to you by

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English with Tiffani and you guys can click the link below in the description

to get your coupon. Let's jump right in. Alright A to F expressions and slang. Our

first expression is afro. Again "a" for afro. An afro is a hairdo sometimes worn

by African Americans. And as you all know, I am an African American and I actually

wore this hairdo very often when I lived in South Korea. So again, afro. Okay letter

"b". Backseat driver. Once again back seat driver. Now this refers to a

passenger in a car who tells the driver how to drive.

Usually a backseat driver is a little bit annoying because while you're

driving you want to focus. But there's someone behind you in your ear telling

you what to do, where to go, and that can be annoying. So we call that person a

backseat driver. Alright, letter C. "Call the shots"

Once again, "call the shots". Now this just means to be

in charge or make the decisions. So you could think about the Mafia or a boss or

even the father in a household; anyone who makes decisions okay. And even a mom

or even in a friendship relationship. Whoever is in charge of making the

decisions, you can say they are calling the shots okay. Alright letter D, "dead

broke". This is a very useful expression. One more time, "dead broke".

It literally means completely broke or having no money. So let's say for example

you get paid from your job, but now it's the end of the month and you don't have

any money in your account. So, if someone says, "Do you have any money?" You can say,

"Nope I'm dead broke." Okay alright letter e, "ear hustle".

Once again, "ear hustle". Okay, "ear hustle" this means to eavesdrop. Okay, which just

means you're listening to someone else's conversation without them knowing. Okay

so again we say "ear hustle". Okay, very good. Alright letter F, "fall off the

wagon". Once again, "fall off the wagon". Okay, this means to start drinking again after

having stopped. So maybe this is a person who used to drink every single day two

years ago, but then they stopped for a period of time and then suddenly started

again. So they started drinking again which means, "Ah he fell off the wagon or

she fell off the wagon". Okay alright let's move on to the next group. G to K

expressions and slang. Here we go, letter G "gab". One more time,

"gab" this is just a slang word for chattering or gossiping. Okay, so

sometimes when females get together we like to

talk about what's going on in the world or what's going on with our friends and

we like to chatter or gab. Now guys can do this too, but women are usually known

to be more of the talkers in any relationship. So we say gab. Okay alright

letter H, "hard to swallow". Again a very good expression for you all to know,

"hard to swallow". Now hard to swallow just means difficult to accept. So for example,

let's say you are working at a company and you've been there for 10 years and

then suddenly one day your boss walks in and tells you that you are fired. That is

not something easy to accept, so you can say my boss's news was hard to swallow

or difficult to accept. Alright, letter I, "in the buff". One more time,

"in the buff". This just means totally naked. That's right.

Totally naked. So you could think about little children, usually infants or

toddlers like around two or three years old. They walk around the house naked a

lot or in the buff. Or maybe in a relationship, a husband and wife. Well

maybe the husband likes to walk around naked. You can say he likes walking in

the buff or he likes walking around in the buff. Okay. Alright letter J, "jock".

Again another useful slang. "Jock". This is just a word we use to refer to an

athlete. Someone who is really really into sports. Usually a high school jock or a

college jock, basketball, football, or soccer, baseball player. You can call them

a jock. Okay, and letter K, "kick back". Once again "kick back". Now you're not hurting

anyone. This actually just means to relax and I use this very often. So when I come

home in the evening, I like to kick back and relax. So I can say I like to kick

back or I can say I like to kick back and

relax. Okay, so again kick back. Alright next L to P expressions and slang. Letter L

we have "lead foot" one more time, "lead foot". Now this refers to speeding when

driving and you can say she has a lead foot. Or he has a lead foot. It just means

that he or she likes to speed when they are driving. Okay alright

letter M, "meanie". Now I put two different spellings for this word again because

it's just slang. Some people spell it with the Y and some people spell it with

an IE. So again "meanie". Okay, it's just a mean or grouchy person. Someone who is

not kind or nice. And actually children use this word more often than adults. So

for example in an elementary or middle school situation sometimes children will

call someone else a meanie if they're mean or grouchy. Okay alright letter n,

"nosedive". One more time nosedive. Okay this is a great drop or decline.

Okay, so you see the graph it's going down very quickly. So think about the

economy okay when there's a big crash in the economy then the value of money goes

down very quickly. So you can say the economy took a nosedive two years ago.

Okay, so again nosedive. Alright letter O, "on the double". One more time on the

double. Now this just means very fast or twice

as fast. And as a teacher, I've used this when speaking to my younger students. For

example the little boys in my class. If I wanted them to move faster I could say,

"Hey, move on the double" or "Come here on the double". Okay so again on the double.

And letter P "party animal". One more time, party

animal. Alright someone who likes to party.

That's right, someone who enjoys hanging out and partying with other people. In

English we call them a party animal. Okay alright next letter Q to letter U

expressions and slang. For letter Q we have "quick fix".

Once again, quick fix. This is a quick and temporary solution to a problem. Okay so

for example, in the sketch you will see there's a car there and you'll see the

rear wheel or the back wheel is highlighted because it's a doughnut or a

spare tire. There's another word for you. In English we say, "spare tire" or

"doughnut" which is a smaller tire. And we put on just until we can get a new tire.

Okay, so that's a quick fix or a temporary solution. Okay

next, "R" rat race. Okay this is dull repetitive and unrewarding job. Okay

so think about this maybe you work at a factory or maybe you even have an office

job but you don't like your job. However you're doing the job because you need to

earn money it's unrewarding it's repetitive you can

say I am a part of the rat race. Or I'm in the rat race just kind of going in

circles. Okay alright let's sail through or sail right through. This just

means to do something easily. Ok similar to piece of cake. Alright

for example two plus three. We all know that that equals five. It's very easy. So

if someone had a test that had questions that were that easy to them they can say

I sailed through the test. Alright okay letter T, "take a dump".

Again, "take a dump". Now that just means to go number two in the bathroom. This is a

very useful expression because we use it a lot in English. So if you hear it I

don't want you to be confused. It just means

that someone is going to go number two in the bathroom.

Alright and letter U, "under the gun". Again another super useful expression.

Again under the gun. This just means under pressure. So think again, if you're

at school or at work and you have a deadline of 3:00 p.m. but you look at

the clock and right now it's 2:50 that means you have 10 minutes left. You

immediately feel pressure and someone can say to you, "Hey what's wrong?" You can

say, "Ah, I'm under the gun. I have to work harder." Okay, alright finally V to Z

expressions and slang. Letter V. For letter V we have "veg out". Listen closely

to the pronunciation "veg out". Okay this means to stop working and take it easy.

It's another way of saying relax. Okay I want to relax at home, I want to veg out.

Okay. Like in the sketch the man is laying on his bed and just watching a TV.

Okay alright. Letter W, "wasted". Again wasted. Alright

looking at the sketch you guys can tell immediately what this means. It means to

be drunk and in the sketch the monkey is very drunk. He's holding a cup or a mug

of beer. Okay this means drunk like, "Ah, man he is wasted" or "Wow she is wasted".

Okay alright letter X, "x marks the spot".

"X marks the spot". This expression just means the exact place. X shows us exactly

where we need to go. Okay alright. Y, "yummy". Again yummy. Alright it just

means delicious. So, "Wow the ice cream was very yummy" or "Wow the food was very

yummy". The same meaning as delicious. And finally Z for "zonked". again super useful

I use this word and people in my family also use this. Okay so Americans do use

this word. Again "zonked"

means extremely exhausted. Alright so like the lady in the sketch she looks

tired so think about again when you've come

home from work you can say, "I am zonked. I just want to veg out." Aha you see what

I did? I used two of the expressions and two of the slang on this page. Okay so

again Zonked. Once again I want to thank iTalki for sponsoring this video.

Remember you guys can click the link in the description and you can get a coupon

towards your first lesson. Your first tutoring lesson. Keep studying English

and remember to watch the next video. Have an amazing day