Vague Language Flashcards
Rounding up numbers when telling the time. Twenty-six minutes past two (14:26) becomes …media hora…(4):
◆ It’s about half past two.
◆ It’s almost half past two.
◆ It’s half two-ish.
◆ It’s nearly half past two.
When we don’t know the name of something: She’s got a small dog, … of poodle, or something.
a kind
Making things sound less factual: I can’t meet up later. I have too much … to do.
stuff
Talking about groups and categories: He never eats chocolate, sweets and…
that type of thing
List completers are ideal:
○ “I typed some letters, reports and…”
○ “You have to ask a doctor or a lawyer or…”
so on
someone like that, you know
List completers are very common and use words such as things and stuff. Here are
some more list completers (2): “algo como eso”
○ a stuff like that
○ or something like that
Placeholders are for when a speaker does not know or cannot remember the name of something or someone.
● We use general words like
○ “I need a… for the slide projector.”
○ “I gave it to that …in the accounts department.”
thing, thingy, whatsit, thingummy
guy, whatsername, person, woman, bloke
Low numbers are often substituted by phrases such as…
whereas larger numbers are rounded up with …
a couple of / a few
about / around or replaced with lots of / loads of.
○ “There were about 30… people at the meeting.”
odd / or so
○ “He’s not that old. I’d say he’s about 30-…”
ish
○ “There were…muchos(3) of problems.”
a lot of / lots of / loads
○ “I’ve been to Prague a…(2) times.” (does not necessarily mean
two. It could mean up to three or even four.)
couple of / a few
○ “I think we need about / around 30 (…).”
or so
GENERALIZERS
● Also very common are items like (3)
- una especie de (2)
- sabes (1)
○ sort of
○ kind of
○ you know
This is very common with colour adjectives:
○ “It’s a sort of green… blue.”
○ “I’ll try and come around two….
ish
ish
