2017 June Flashcards
Your friend is a single guy who’s not very good with women. He was able to get a girl’s phone number and wants to call her the next day. You say this because you don’t think he should call her that soon.
You don’t want to come across as too desperate.
You don’t want to (do something)
This phrase is used to give someone advice about what not to do. It’s used when you’re an expert, or have some experience in a topic. So in the example above, the speaker sounds like he or she is experienced with dating or dealing with women.
come across as (something)
The way that you “come across” to people is how they see you and think about you. This phrase is a way to explain what people think of you, which can be different from how you think of yourself. So although you may think of yourself as cool and sophisticated, you might come across as unfriendly instead.
You can follow “come across as” with a noun phrase that describes a person:
He came across as a really friendly and sweet guy at first.
Or you can follow it with an adjective phrase that describes someone’s personality, like in the example above. Here’s another example:
Do you think I come across to people as kind of boring?
But it sounds strange to just have a single-word adjective after “come across as”, like “come across as boring” or “come across as needy”.
(someone) is desperate
A person who is “desperate” needs something so badly that they will do anything to get it. You can be desperate for many things, including money, food, attention, drugs, or love.
This word sounds negative, so you use it when warning or critizing someone.
Your friend has been asked to give a speech at a conference that’s coming up in a few weeks. She’s really worried about it and is thinking of refusing the offer. You’re trying to encourage her to do it.
Let’s say you go up on stage and completely bomb. So what? What’s the worst that can happen?
let’s say that (clause)
When you’re discussing a topic, sometimes you have to imagine a situation and then describe what would happen in that situation. You can do this with the phrase “Let’s say that…” Here’s an example:
Let’s say that I hire you at my company and you do a bad job. Should I have to keep paying you, or should I be allowed to fire you and hire someone better?
In this example, the speaker isn’t really hiring the other person. In fact, the speaker might not even have a company! The speaker and listener are just imagining what would happen in that situation.
Here are some more examples:
Let’s say that someone breaks into your house and tries to attack you. What would you do?
Let’s say you ask her out and she says “no”. So what? It’s not the end of the world.
This expression is really useful for debating or explaining things.
go up on stage
When someone is going to give a speech, they “go up on stage”.
(someone) bombs
“Bombing” is a slang term that means doing very badly in a performance.
When someone like a speaker or a comedian “bombs”, it means that they’re not entertaining and the audience does not enjoy their speech or performance. You can either say that the person “bombed” or that part of their performance “bombed”.
I totally bombed.
I had a few jokes to start off the presentation with. They completely bombed.
It’s common to use words like “completely” and “totally” before “bombed”.
Things like movies and products can also “bomb”. In this case, “bombing” means not selling well.
So what?
“So what?” means “Who cares?” Use this phrase when you think that something isn’t important, like this:
A: We’re going to miss our train.
B: So what? We’ll just get the next one.
“So what?” is a casual expression, and very common.
What’s the worst that can happen?
People often use this phrase to convince someone to take a risk. For example:
Just send in your application. What’s the worst that can happen? Even if they don’t hire you, at least you’ll have tried.
“What’s the worst that can happen?” means that the negative risks of doing something are not very bad.
If someone is thinking about doing something dangerous or foolish, don’t ask “What’s the worst that can happen?” Instead, you might say something like “It’s worth a shot.”
You are a teacher at a middle school. Two students got in a fight, and you want to find out why they were fighting so you can decide how to punish them. Each student has a different point of view on the situation, so you are talking to each of them separately. You ask the first student what happened.
All right, tell me your version of what happened.
All right
This phrase is used when you’re starting a conversation. It’s usually used when everyone knows what the topic of the conversation is, and shows that you’re now going to start talking about it.
This phrase is usually used in business situations or when you have important topics to discuss. However, it’s not a very formal phrase. You wouldn’t use it in a written essay.
tell (someone) (something)
What’s the difference between “say” and “tell”? When you just want to describe a person’s words, you use “say”:
He said that the other boy hit him first.
But when you need to tell who something was said to, “tell” is better:
He told the principal that the other boy hit him first.
(someone’s) version of (a story)
When people have different ideas or experience events differently, you say that they have different “versions” of an idea or story. Each person who experiences something has their own “version” of the event.
what happened
“What happened” is a way of saying “the events that happened”. For example:
Do you remember what happened?
What happened the other night was totally unacceptable.
You’re riding an airplane alone. You get into a conversation with a woman sitting next to you. She asks what you do. You explain.
I work in the accounting department at a law firm.
the (something) department
Areas of a company are called “departments”. Each department usually has a name, like:
Sales Production Marketing Logistics Customer Service Human Resources You can either call the department by its name or say "the \_\_\_ department":
I think you’ll need to talk to the Finance department about that.
accounting
An “accountant” is someone who is responsible for tracking an organization’s money: how much is coming in, how much is being spent, how much money needs to be paid to the government as taxes, and so on.
The word “accounting” describes this kind of work. You can say that an accountant “does accounting” or “is in Accounting”.
(someone) works in (a department or section)
When you’re talking about someone’s job, here’s how to talk about the department or area that the person works in:
She works in sales.
I work in the facility maintenance department.
You can also use “in” when you talk about the industry that someone works in:
We work in food service.
a law firm
A “firm” is a business. People often use the word “firm” when talking about a business that provides professional services:
a law firm
an accounting firm
a design firm
The phrase “law firm” is especially common. People almost always call companies that provide legal services “law firms”, not “law companies” or “law businesses”.
You had a meeting with your department. You discussed ideas for solving a problem. Before you make a decision, you need to present your solutions to some senior people in the company.
OK, let me take these ideas to Management and see what they think.
see what (someone) thinks The word "see" can be used to mean "find out" or "learn" in situations like this.
This phrase can be used in casual or business settings:
Show this to the agency and see what they think.
I wrote a story, and I wanted to see what you thought of it.
Let me (do something) When you see or hear the words "Let me...", you may think that the speaker is asking for permission, but that's not true. This phrase is used in both casual and formal situations to announce what you're going to do:
Let me give you a few examples.
This is more confident-sounding than “I’d like to ___”. It’s more polite than “I’m going to ___.”
OK.
One of the ways that English speakers use “OK” is to signal a change in the flow of conversation.
For example, before you begin a meeting everyone might be making small talk and chatting about different topics. To start the serious business part of the meeting, you can start with “OK”.
You can also use “OK” when you want to:
start a new topic of conversation
announce a decision
OK, let’s shoot for next Wednesday.
ask other people to make a decision
OK, who wants pancakes?
end a conversation
OK. Well, it was a pleasure meeting you.
Management
“Management” means the people who have authority in a company or a department: managers, directors, vice presidents, etc.
People talk about “Management” when they want to make a distinction between normal employees in a company and the people who make important decisions. Even someone who is a boss or manager can use the word “Management” to talk about the people who rank higher in the company:
Sorry, I don’t like this policy either but it’s coming straight down from management. There’s nothing I can do about it.
You’re talking with an English-speaking colleague and she uses a phrase that you’ve never heard before. You ask her to explain what it means. After she explains it, you say this.
Interesting. I’ve never encountered that phrase before.
Interesting
Sometimes in spoken English you can just say an adjective by itself:
Hmm. Interesting.
You can’t do this with all adjectives. For example, it’s strange to just say “Hot.” But some more adjectives that you can say by themselves include:
Nice.
Fantastic.
Beautiful!
Exciting.
Notice that these words are all positive.
encounter (something)
The basic meaning of the word “encounter” is “meet”. But you usually don’t use “encounter ___” to talk about meeting people. Instead, you “encounter” things like problems, words, and situations:
The study indicates that foreign students encounter a variety of challenges in their new environment, including language difficulties, discrimination, and bullying.
If I ever encountered a situation where I had to choose between my marriage and my career, I’m not exactly sure what I would do.
In the situation above, the speaker could also say:
I’ve never come across that phrase before.
“Come across ___” is a more casual way to express the idea of “encountering” something like a word or phrase. To “come across” something means to encounter it or to find it by accident:
Sometimes you’ll be flipping through the channels and come across something really interesting.
You’re commenting on a news story about the President of your country. A lot of the other commenters are saying bad things about the President, but you still like him and think that he can accomplish good things. You write this.
Everybody seems to be critical of the President these days, but I still believe in him.
be critical of (someone)
To “be critical of” someone means to talk about their faults and the things that they do wrong.
When I spoke with the Director, she was mostly critical of the department and the job we were doing.
these days
“These days” means “recently”. But “recently” is used to talk about things that have happened over the last few weeks or months. “These days” is a longer time period, usually from the last 6 months to the last 20-30 years. You use “these days” to talk about major changes in your life or in society.
I don’t watch much TV these days.
Kids these days don’t even remember what life was like before mobile phones and the Internet.
It’s getting harder and harder to earn a living as a photographer these days.
believe in (someone) There are a few meanings of the phrase "believe in \_\_\_". One meaning of "believe in \_\_\_" is to believe that something exists, or to believe that something is true. For example:
Do you believe in ghosts?
Not all people who believe in the Bible think that the story of Eden is literally true.
But another type of “believe in” is to believe that someone will be able to succeed. For example, parents tell their kids this to encourage them:
I believe in you.
A reader has asked how “believe in (someone)” is different than “trust (someone)”. One difference is that when you “trust” someone, it means that you think that they’ll:
do the right thing
not mess up
not do something to hurt you (lying, stealing, cheating, etc.)
But when you “believe in” someone, you think that they’ll accomplish something great:
I grew up never taking risks because I never felt like my parents believed in me.
When you were younger, you were in good shape. Now you don’t exercise much, so you’re out of shape. You’re talking to a friend about how hard it is for you to exercise now.
I used to be able to run five miles without breaking a sweat. Now I get winded after the first five minutes.
(someone) used to be able to (do something)
To describe an ability that someone had in the past, use the phrase “___ used to be able to ___”.
Didn’t you use to be able to do a back handspring?
In native-sounding English, it’s much more common to use “used to be able to” than “could”. We use “could” mostly to talk about something that a person was able to do one time in the past, like this:
I could see them, but I couldn’t hear what they were saying.
miles
A mile is a measurement of distance that’s used in the United States. It’s equal to about 1.61 kilometers.
(do something) without breaking a sweat
Doing something “without breaking a sweat” means doing it easily.
You can use this phrase to talk about physical activities like running, moving heaving boxes, etc.
You can also say that someone cooked a meal, hosted a wedding party, etc. “without breaking a sweat”.
“Without breaking a sweat” is colloquial and casual-sounding.
(someone) gets winded
“Getting winded” means not having enough air because you’ve exercised too hard. You might get winded after running faster than usual.
People can also get winded when something big hits them in the chest or back.
You’re involved in an intellectual discussion about society. You think that having too many advertisements is harmful.
We’re constantly inundated with advertisements in our society.
(something) is constantly (happening)
“Constantly” means “all the time” or “again and again many times”. You use it like this:
She’s constantly criticizing me. It’s annoying.
The word “constantly” has a slightly negative sound. Even if you’re talking about something that is usually positive, if you use “constantly” it seems like you might be a little annoyed.
People are constantly coming up to me and telling me, “Oh, you’re so beautiful” but I’m like “Whatever.”
(something) is inundated with (something)
The word “inundate” means for a lot of something to come into a place or to a person.
For example:
Ever since I joined Facebook, I’ve been inundated with friend requests from all of my former students.
This means that the speaker has received a lot of Facebook friend requests.
Here are some collocations that are often used with “inundate”:
inundated with information inundated with requests inundated with questions inundated with complaints The word "inundate" is academic and intellectual-sounding.
advertisements
An “advertisement” is some way for a business to get customers, for a politician to get votes, for an organization to change people’s opinions, etc.
Forms of advertising include:
T.V. commercials internet advertisements billboards printed advertisements in a newspaper When people talk about advertisements, they usually use the casual word "ads":
I saw an ad for this cool gardening tool you might like.
You can use the full form “advertisement” in formal writing, formal speeches, or when you want to sound more intellectual.
in our society
The phrase “our society” can mean a few different things:
the country that you live in
your country and others that share similar values
all of the people in the world
You have a tattoo on your arm. You didn’t think very carefully about it when you got it. You’re on a date, and your date asks about your tattoo.
I got it on a whim one day a few years ago.
a few (of something) "A few" is a number that's not specific, but it usually means somewhere between 3-10. It's a little less formal than "several" and also sounds like a slightly lower number. Here are some examples:
You may want to consider hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions.
That’s a very generous offer. Um, let me think it over for a few days and get back to you.
get a tattoo
A “tattoo” is a drawing that’s permanently drawn on your skin with a needle.
Use the word “get” with “tattoo”. “Getting a tattoo” means that you pay someone (or ask a friend) to tattoo you.
(do something) on a whim
When you have a small, temporary feeling of wanting to do something, it’s called a “whim”.
Doing something “on a whim” means doing it wihout planning it carefully or thinking about it seriously. You do it just for fun.
“On a whim” is a neutral phrase: not positive or negative, and neither very formal nor very casual.
You just got a job at a bank. You’re being trained by your manager. She’s explaining how to deposit customers’ checks into their accounts. You have a question.
What if someone tries to deposit a check, but the date on the check is later than the current date?
deposit (something) into (an account)
The phrase that we use to describe putting money into a bank account is “deposit”. You can follow the word “deposit” with a few different things:
deposit (some cash / a check / a money order): “Can I deposit this check please?”
deposit (an amount): “I deposited two thousand dollars into your account last week.”
You deposit something into an account. In the example above, the speaker says “deposit this into checking”. It’s understood that this means “into my checking account”.
A checking account is a bank account that you can easily get money in and out of with checks (small pieces of paper that you fill out and sign to pay someone with) or a debit card (a card that you pay with which takes money directly out of your bank account). Checking accounts usually don’t earn interest. That means that you don’t earn extra money for the money that’s in a checking account. Other accounts, like a savings account, do earn interest.
try to (do something) You may have heard that there's a difference between "try to (do something)" and "try (doing something)". In general, you should talk about a goal after "try to \_\_\_":
Try to get there by 10:00.
I try to make everyone feel comfortable when I host a party.
And talk about a method to reach a goal with “try ___ing”:
I can never sleep on an airplane. I’ve tried listening to relaxing music, taking sleeping pills, staying up the night before. Nothing seems to work.
What if (something happens)? Ask "What if \_\_\_?" when you want to talk about what might happen in an imaginary situation. For example:
What if you win? Wouldn’t that be amazing?
What if someone asks me where you are? What should I tell them?
the current date
The “current date” means the date today or the date when something will happen. For example, this is a formal way to ask someone about today’s date:
What is the current date?
This means the date when you submit something like a form or application:
When you fill it out, you have to enter the current date.
You’re chatting with someone that you just met at a party. She knows that you’re from another country, so she asks about why and how you moved here. This was actually the first foreign country you went to, so you say this.
Believe it or not, I had never even traveled abroad when I moved here.
Believe it or not
The phrase “Believe it or not,…” introduces something that the listener might be surprised to hear. For example, an out-of-shape older man might tell his niece:
Believe it or not, I used to be a championship swimmer back in high school.
In the following example, a person who is living abroad in a foreign country tells her friend in the new country:
Believe it or not, I had never even travelled abroad when I moved here.
People mostly use “believe it or not” to talk about something that’s surprising to the listener. But sometimes people also use it sarcastically. For example, if your spouse tries to give you advice while you’re driving, you might say:
Believe it or not, I do know how to drive, you know.
Your spouse isn’t surprised to hear that you know how to drive, but since they’re giving you instructions, it’s almost like they think you can’t drive. So this sentence is a kind of joke.
I had (done something) When you're telling a story, you describe the setting at a certain time in the past. If you then want to describe something that happened before the setting of the story, you use "I had \_\_\_". Here's an example:
I was almost at the train station when I realized that I had left my wallet in my other purse.
You can also talk about things that didn’t happen before the setting of the story. In this sentence:
Believe it or not, I had never even traveled abroad when I moved here.
…the basic setting of the story is “when I moved here”. The speaker didn’t have any travel experience then, although she might have some now.
(someone) travels abroad
“Traveling abroad” means traveling to places outside of your home country.
“Abroad” is not a place. A common mistake that English learners make is saying “to abroad”. You don’t travel “to” abroad; you just “travel abroad”.
Aside from traveling, you can also:
study abroad
go abroad
live abroad
You work for a nonprofit company which offers help to children in violent countries. You’re explaining the company’s mission to a person who you’re trying to get a donation from.
Child soldiers in these countries have been forced to witness and carry out extreme acts of violence.
force (someone) to (do something)
To “force” someone to do something means to make them do it. You can use this word somewhat playfully:
They forced me to sit there and watch it.
Or you can use “force” to talk about something violent and frightening:
They forced everyone at gunpoint to hand over their money, phones, and other valuables.
You can also “force” yourself to do something.
I forced myself to sit there in front of the computer and keep working on it until it was done.
This means to use your willpower to make yourself do something that you don’t really want to do.
child soldiers
A child who becomes part of an army or terrorist group can be called a “child soldier”.
witness (something)
To “witness” something means to see something that’s rare or unusual. You can “witness” something negative like a crime or a disaster:
My cousin witnessed the explosion first-hand.
Or you can “witness” something that’s beautiful or exciting:
When I was staying at the farm I got to witness the birth of a baby horse.
carry out (an action) The phrase "carry out" means "do" or "complete". You often use "carry out" to talk about military actions or missions:
They gave us an order, and I intend to carry it out.
Police officials have not yet determined who carried out the attack.
extreme acts of violence
“Violence” means doing things that hurt people.
Violence is not the answer to our problems.
An “extreme act of violence” usually means killing people.
Human beings are capable of extreme acts of violence, but they’re also capable of deep compassion and forgiveness.
The phrase “acts of” describes doing a certain kind of action. Some common examples are:
acts of kindness
acts of courage
acts of revenge
You’re looking at your Facebook account. Some people who you don’t know have asked to add you as a friend. You ask your roommate if this happens to her.
I’ve been getting all these random friend requests lately. Do you get those?
(someone) has been (doing something)
Use “has been ___ing” to talk about something that started in the past, continued without stopping or happened again and again, and is still going on now:
You’ve been sitting there at your computer for over two hours.
I’ve been designing web pages for over ten years.
Or you can use it for a situation that you’re not sure whether it’s finished or it’s going to continue:
It’s been cloudy all morning, but it looks like the sun might come out soon.
(something) has been (doing something) lately
Use this phrase to talk about events that started a few weeks or months ago, and have continued or repeated until now. For example:
I’ve been eating a lot of junk food lately.
What have you been doing lately?
There’s a little confusion about the difference between “recently” and “lately”. “Lately” is more appropriate for continuing situations, while “recently” is better for events that happened just once, a couple of times, or that have continued but are finished now:
Have you been going to the gym a lot lately? You look great!
I ran into Stacy recently at the Food Emporium.
random (things)
“Random” things are things that:
you don’t expect
you can’t predict
you can’t explain
“Random” is used a lot in mathematics, science, computer programming, etc. to talk about events or numbers which can’t be predicted.
These days, young people use the word “random” quite a lot. For example:
A: Hey, guess who called me? Jake from high school.
B: Really? That’s so random!
friend requests
This is a new phrase that has recently become popular through social media websites. A “friend request” is a message which someone sends when they want to connect with you on a social media site.
If you “accept” a friend request, you and the person who sent the request will be marked as “friends” on that site.
The idea of “friend requests” became popular mostly through Facebook.
Some other social media sites connect people differently, through “following”. Twitter works this way. When someone “follows” you, you don’t have to accept the request or “follow” them back.
Your son is starting at a new school next week. He’s nervous because he doesn’t know anyone who goes to this school, and he’s not sure whether he’ll be able to make friends there. You’re concerned for him too. You say this to your husband.
I hope he’s able to fit in at his new school.
I hope (clause) English learners often confuse "I hope" and "I wish". Use "I hope" when there's a good chance that something might happen. One way it's used is to say what you want to happen in the future. For example:
I hope we win tomorrow night.
There’s a good possibility that your team will be able to win. So you use “I hope…”
“I wish” is used to talk about things you want that aren’t true or very unlikely. So after your team loses the game, you say:
I wish we’d won.
Or, if your team is really bad and you don’t think you’re likely to win, you can say something like:
I wish we’d win a few games.
Another point about using “I hope” is that you follow it with the present tense of a verb, even when you’re talking about the future. So you say:
I hope we win.
…not “I hope we’ll win.”
This article has more explanation of the differences between “hope” and “wish”: http://www.phrasemix.com/answers/how-should-i-use-i-hope-and-i-wish
fit in (somewhere) When you "fit in" somewhere, it means that you're accepted by people and able to make friends there. People are often concerned about "fitting in" at work, at school, at parties, and so on.
I hang out with her friends sometimes but I don’t feel like I really fit in.
