English Vocabulary You Should Use (but probably don't)

Vanessa: I went to the bakery and a  

double dark chocolate chip cookie was calling  my name. I couldn't help myself. Talk about  

delicious. Can you use these expressions: calling  my name? I couldn't help myself? Talk about? Well  

never fear. Today I'd like to introduce you to 10  important daily life expressions that I use often,  

but I don't hear my English students use  often. So this is a great way to level up your  

vocabulary and express yourself more completely. Hi, I'm Vanessa from SpeakEnglishWithVanessa.com,  

and like usual, I have created a free PDF  worksheet for you. It includes all 10 of  

these important daily life expressions, plus one  bonus expression that we'll talk about at the end  

of this lesson. You can download this free PDF  worksheet with the link in the description. It  

includes all of today's expressions, definitions,  multiple sample sentences, and at the bottom  

of the worksheet, you can answer Vanessa's  challenge question, so that you never forget  

what you've learned. Just click on the link in the  description to download that free worksheet today. 

The first expression that I use often, but my  English students don't really know how to use,  

is to see someone off. We're not talking  about seeing them walk off a cliff. Instead,  

take a look at the sample sentence. When my sister  was visiting me from California, I took her to the  

airport and saw her off. Ooh, saw her off. This  is just another way to say that I saw her leave. I  

saw her go through security, and then she probably  got on her flight and went home. I saw her off. 

The second expression that I use often, but  my English students don't use, and you should,  

is to be floored. Does this mean that you are  stuck to the floor? Not at all. You might say;  

when I found out that I won a  free trip to Japan, I was floored.  

This is talking about being ultimately surprised.  I couldn't believe my luck. I was floored. 

Expression number three that you should use is;  I found myself... Doing something. You could say;  

I went to a great concert and I found myself  tapping my foot and bobbing my head and moving  

my body. Do you get the sense here that I'm not  really choosing to do those things, it's just  

coming over me. It's happening unintentionally. I  found myself tapping my foot. You might even say  

this about my English lessons. You might say; I  decided to watch one of Vanessa's English lessons  

and I found myself smiling the whole time.  It was wonderful. I hope that that's true. 

The next expression that I use often, and you  should too, is to pull it off. Are we talking  

about pulling something off physically? No.  Instead, we're talking about this in a more  

figurative way. So you might say; Ugh, I studied  day and night for my difficult geometry exam,  

and you know what? I pulled it off. I got an A. So  you were not expecting to get an A. So you studied  

really hard. This was a difficult test, there was  a difficult task and you succeeded, and that is  

pulling something off. You know what? I pulled  it off. So if you see someone walking in your  

city who looks a little bit lost and you think;  oh no, this is my chance. I should speak to them  

in English. I should help them, but oh, I'm so  worried about it. Can I pull it off? And then you  

walk up to them and you say; excuse me, can I help  you? And they say; oh, yes. Can you help point  

me in the direction of the train station? And you  help them. After that, you might say; I pulled it  

off. You succeeded in a difficult task. Success. The next expression that I use often, and you  

should too, is; I'm drawing a blank. Okay, well,  when you draw something, you're not drawing a  

blank piece of paper. That's impossible. But here  we're using this in a figurative way to talk about  

our minds. So if someone asks you; oh, do you  remember the name of your kindergarten teacher?  

You might say; oh, I'm drawing a blank. That means  that your mind is completely wiped fresh. It is  

wiped clean of any memory of your kindergarten  teacher's name. Maybe it's there somewhere,  

but you can use this great expression and  say; sorry, I'm drawing a blank. Do you know? 

The next expression that I use often, and you  should too, is to take a stab at something.  

Seems kind of violent, doesn't it? But this is not  a violent expression. Instead, it's talking about  

trying something that might seem a little bit  difficult. So when I was growing up, my dad helped  

me with my math homework. And guess who helped  my little sister with her math homework? Well,  

for a couple years it was me, and then after it  got too difficult, it was my dad. But we could  

say; I took a stab at helping my little sister  with her math homework. Sometimes it worked,  

sometimes it didn't. So here I'm trying something  that is a little bit difficult. I took a stab  

at trying to help her and I hope it was okay. The next expression that I use often, and you  

should too, is a fun one. Something is calling my  name; Vanessa. Vanessa. What's calling my name?  

Oh, that seven layer chocolate cake is calling my  name, "Vanessa, eat me. Vanessa.". So of course  

the chocolate cake is not actually calling my  name, but it's the idea here that it's something  

you cannot resist. That cake is calling my name.  I have to try a bite. We often use this expression  

when it's something that you're tempted by. It's  usually not something that's perfectly good,  

eating an entire chocolate cake is certainly not  a good idea. Maybe you're at a store and there's a  

really expensive, exciting shirt that you really  want to buy. You might say; oh, it's calling  

my name. It's tempting me. I have to get it. So  here it is something that's not necessarily good,  

but not necessarily bad. It's just tempting  you. It's calling your name. "Buy me, buy me.". 

The next expression that I use all the time,  and you should too, is; it has your name  

written all over it. Does this mean that I took a  marker and I wrote your name all over that thing?  

Well, not exactly, but it feels like that. You  might say; I bought you this sweater, because it's  

your favorite color, and I just thought it would  look perfect on you. It had your name written all  

over it. Well, it would be pretty strange if a  sweater actually had your name written all over  

it, kind of unusual. So here we're talking  about something that's the perfect fit. 

Talking about something that's the perfect fit  is our next expression that I use all the time,  

and you should too, and that is; I couldn't help  myself. That doesn't mean that I'm asking you for  

help, because I can't help myself. No, instead,  this is something you cannot resist. That seven  

layer chocolate cake, I just took a bite and then  another bite, and then another one, because I  

couldn't help myself. Here, we can substitute the  word help for stop. I couldn't stop myself. I just  

kept eating it. But really in daily conversation,  we use this expression, I couldn't help myself,  

more often than I couldn't stop myself. So if  you're taking a walk in your neighborhood and you  

see a cute little puppy, you might ask the owner,  "Can I pet it?". And if the owner says, yes, you  

reached down and you pick it up and you snuggle it  all over and you're so excited, and then you say,  

"Oh, sorry, I couldn't help myself.". You  couldn't resist how cute that little puppy was. 

Our final expression, before our bonus expression,  that I use all the time, and you should too,  

is kind of an introductory expression. It is;  talk about... Oh, we're going to be using this  

for emphasis. Take a look at this sentence.  I watched a documentary the other day about  

the world's richest people, and they often  own multiple mansions in multiple countries.  

Sometimes they own their own private islands.  Talk about wealthy. So here I am emphasizing,  

yes, all of those things I listed show that they  have a lot of money, but at the end, boom, I'm  

adding this expression; talk about wealthy. I'm  really emphasizing the fact that they're wealthy,  

they have a lot of money. You might even use this  to talk about English lessons. You could say;  

I can't believe that Vanessa gives us  a free English lesson here on YouTube,  

every Friday. Talk about generous. Okay,  I'm tooting my own horn a little bit here,  

but if you're really grateful to have free  English lessons every Friday, you could use  

this to emphasize the point; I feel so grateful.  Talk about generous. What a wonderful thing. 

All right. I want to give you one bonus  expression, and it is to wing it. What  

in the world? Well, unfortunately, I use this a  lot in my life. Can you imagine what to wing it  

means? Well take a look at this. I didn't  prepare a speech for my friend's wedding,  

so I think I'm just going to wing it. Ugh. This  means it is not planned. I'm just going to make it  

up as I go. I think I'm just going to wing it. Or  we can use this in the negative and say; I never  

just wing these YouTube videos. I always try to  plan out a good topic, some good expressions and  

some great sample sentences for you, so that you  can learn as much as possible. I don't wing it,  

because I want to be a better teacher for you. Well, congratulations on leveling up your  

English vocabulary skills. I hope that you  can use these expressions in your daily life,  

just as much as I do. And now I have a question  for you. Let me know in the comments what is  

something that was calling your name and you just  had to have it? Maybe it was some exciting food,  

maybe something you bought at the store. Maybe it  was something else. Let me know what was calling  

your name and use this great expression. Well,  thank you so much for learning English with me,  

and I'll see you again next Friday for a  new lesson here on my YouTube channel. Bye. 

But wait, do you want more? I recommend watching  this video next; vocabulary in one hour,  

where you'll learn how to describe the people in  your life, those nice people, and those not so  

nice people. Find the right words to describe  them in this video, and I'll see you there.