Category: English Vocabulary

Yummy!

Food is always a fun topic for practicing your English. Here are some vocabulary words that you can use.

delicious – This means something tastes good.
Wow, that bread you made is so delicious.

yummy – This means the same as delicious, but slang.
The pudding I cooked last nice was so yummy.

tasty – This also means that something tastes good.
My mom’s apple pie is incredibly tasty!

to die for – This means you really love something.
These chocolate chip cookies are to die for!

snack – It’s something you eat between meals.
Everyday at 3pm, my daughter eats a snack.

bedtime snack – A snack you eat right before bed.
I ate too many nachos before bed. I really should cut out my bedtime snack!

brunch– This is eaten around 10am. It’s a bit late for breakfast, but a little early for lunch. The word is combined “br” (from breakfast) + “unch” (from lunch) = brunch.
Do you want to meet for brunch on Sunday?

Emergency words in English

In case you come to visit the US, you might want to learn these emergency words.

911 – This is the number you dial when you have an emergency. You call it for a medical, police or fire emergency. 1 number connects you to all 3 organizations.

EMS – Emergency Medical Services – This is who comes to your house if you have a medical emergency.

EMT – Emergency Medical Technician – A member of the EMS team.

Trauma – A serious injury or shock to the body.

Doc in the Box – (after-hours doctor) – This is where you go in the evening or on the weekend when your regular doctor’s office is closed, yet you are not sick enough to go to the ER

ER – Emergency Room – This is where you go if you have any kind of medical emergency. For example: if you break a leg, get a cut that needs stitches or any other thing you could imagine.

Ambulance – This is a vehicle that takes you to the ER if no one is able to take you or if your condition requires it.

Treatment – The management of a patient. This is what the doctor decides to do for you to help your condition.

Prognosis – This is a predication the doctor gives you about what he thinks the outcome will be for your disease or illness.

Triage – This is where you go to first at the ER. They take your vitals. Vitals includes, blood pressure, temperature and then they ask you questions about your problem. Triage is run by nurses. After Triage, you will be put in a room and then a doctor sees you.

Business English

One of my specialities in teaching English is teaching Business English. I’ve worked in the business sector for many years, so I have experienced it. Here are a few phrases that you can learn that might help you in a business meeting.

Ambitious – eager and showing effort
Ralph was an ambitious worker. I think he is trying to get promoted to director within the year.

Groundwork – foundation or basis
We need to lay the groundwork for this project today, if we are going to start it next week.

To scrap – to discard
I think we may have to scrap this project. The projections are not looking promising.

The extras – things that are not necessary and are in excess
One thing we can do in order to stay within our budget is to cut out the extras, like giving the employees free cokes.

Go back to the drawing board – Return to the beginning and start again because the idea was not successful before
Bob made us go back to the drawing board and start over because he did not like our new marketing idea at all.

Don’t see eye to eye – when two people do not have the same opinion about something
Peter and his boss don’t see eye to eye about his role in this company.

Call a meeting – to bring people together to talk about a particular piece of business
I think we need to call a meeting in order to discuss the future of our team.

Cost projections – estimate of future financial performance
The CEO discussed cost projections and ensured us that our company was growing.

I don’t agree – to have a different opinion
“I don’t agree with Sally!” Ted said as he stood up in the meeting, “I think we should continue with the project and not start over.’

At the Optometrist (eye doctor)

I wear contact lens and I’m sure a lot of you wear them or glasses, so I thought it might be nice to learn a few words and phrases you could use if you need to go to the optometrist.

contact lens (contacts) and glasses – used to correct vision

far-sighted – You are unable to see things close up, but you can see things far away.

near-sighted – You are unable to see things far away, but you can see things close up.

bifocals – glasses with 2 distinct optical powers

prescription – This is what the doctor writes so you can get either contact lens or glasses. It is for a specific power of lenses. Contact lens prescriptions are only valid for 1 year.

reading glasses – Glasses that are used for reading. You do not need a prescription for these glasses.

20/20 vision – This is the same as 6/6 vision for my metric readers. 20/20 is in feet.

Here’s a dialog you can practice which is a typical conversation one would have with an eye doctor.

Dr. – Hi, how can I help you today?
You – I’m having difficulty seeing lately.
Dr. – Do you wear glasses or contacts?
You – Yes, I do. I have contacts on right now.
Dr. – Oh, perfect. Let’s do your eye test with your lens on and see how you do. Can you read the last line?
You – No.
Dr. – Which line is the lowest you can read?
You – The 3rd line is E, A, O, M, P
Dr. – Good. However, I think your vision has gotten worse, so you’ll need to get a new prescription. Can you take your lens off and we’ll start again and see what your new prescription is?
You – Sounds great.

Bottoms up!

Bottoms up!

This is a toast people say when drinking together. Now that you know one toast to say in English, you can learn about the various drinks we drink.

Good ol’ cow’s milk. This is the staple for many people, especially kids. In the United States we buy it in plastic jugs. 1 big jug is 1 gallon.

In Canada, they tend to drink milk from plastic bags. They put the plastic bags in a little pitcher. This was very foreign to me when I first saw their plastic bags; however it makes a lot less trash and it is much better for the environment. My only complaint is that you have to switch bags often as there is not that much milk in each bag.

Florida orange juice! Mmmmm….many Americans wake up to a big glass of OJ (orange juice). You buy it in cartons and they are found in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. You can buy lots of flavors like Orange-Strawberry-Banana or Orange-Cranberry. Also, there are 2 types of OJ. There is the type that is made from concentrate and there is the kind that is not. The kind that is not made from concentrate is better because it is fresh orange juice.

Another drink people like to drink in the morning is a cup of Joe, or coffee. These days with Starbucks, there are so many different types of coffee and so many different flavors. Some people drink it with cream, milk and/or sugar.

Are you low on energy? You could try one of these energy drinks. There used to be only Red Bull, but now there are so many different brands and flavors. Believe it or not, I have never had one of them, but that’s okay because my husband has ‘downed’ enough for the both of us.

The next drink we have is carbonated beverages or soft drinks. There are so many names for them depending on where you live in the USA. I grew up calling them ‘soda water’. But, here most of my friends call them soda or pop. Lots of people also call all sodas simply coke. Here is an interesting site that shows the statistics of where people call soft drinks soda, pop or coke. http://www.popvssoda.com/countystats/total-county.html

Need a pick me up after or during your exercise? These are the perfect drink for you – Sports drinks. They come in all flavors and they are really good for supplying your body with things that it needs during exercise. They have extra sodium and potassium added.

There are obviously many other drinks in the USA, but I just wanted to touch on a few. Before I end I wanted to talk about one other favorite – iced tea. In the South, where I live, people drink it by the gallon. When you ask for Iced tea in the South, it comes sweetened, unless you ask for it to be unsweetened.

At the Doctor’s Office


If you visit or move to the US, you may need to go to the doctor’s office at some point. Here are some common symptoms that might make you go to the doctors:

headache
stomach ache/belly ache/tummy ache
dizzy/vertigo – This is when you feel like the room is spinning
nauseated – This is when you feel like you might throw up.
fever
sore throat
pain in a part of your body

Here’s a dialog of a person visiting a doctor. Try to say it out loud and practice your pronunciation.

Dr. Spicey: Hi, My name is Dr. Spicey. Could you tell me what’s going on with you?
You: Yeah, I have reoccurring headaches.
Dr. Spicey: Which part of your head? Are they on your forehead?
You: No, they are right above my nose, by my eyes.
Dr. Spicey: How often do you get them?
You: Almost every day.
Dr. Spicey: What time of day?
You: In the afternoon usually.
Dr. Spicey: I see…
You: Will I be okay?
Dr. Spicey: Of course. Just take this medicine and you’ll feel a lot better. You are having tension headaches.
You: Okay, thank you so much. I will start taking the medicine. How often do I take the pills?
Dr. Spicey: Just 1 pill once a day.

How did you do? Try it again, but this time try a different symptom instead of a headache and see if you can walk through the whole conversation.

Weather or Whether??

This is one mistake that I sometimes see on twitter and I thought it would point it out.

Weather – This refers to how it is outside. Is it raining, snowing, sleeting?

The weather is beautiful outside. The sun is shining and it’s not too hot.

Whether – This word is used to introduce an alternative possibility.

Whether you like it or not, I’m going to buy you a birthday present.

Complement and Compliment

Here are 2 words that people tend to confuse in English.

COMPLEMENT-something that completes and makes it whole
A smooth red wine complements a steak. (verb)
This red wine is the the perfect complement to this meal. (noun)

COMPLIMENT– praise
My husband complimented me on my gourmet cooking skills. (verb)
He gave me the best compliment after he ate his dinner! (noun)

cite, site or sight???

These 3 little words all sound the same, but they have different meanings.

cite – This is used when you quote an author in a book or paper. You ‘cite’ their work, giving them credit.

site – This is a place of something like job site or historic site. Also, it is used in Web Site.

sight – This is the ability to see, the area that you can see, or something worth seeing.

At the Airport

After I taught English in Hungary, I flew back to the United States through Germany. In Germany, the security guards asked us many questions before we boarded. The person who worked there spoke only German and English. I went through without any problems. The guy behind me only spoke Hungarian. The security person said to me, “You lived in Hungary, you translate.”

Eeek, I thought. I didn’t say anything, then the security person said, “If you can’t, then the plane isn’t leaving and we have to take all of the luggage off to make sure it’s safe.” Okay, I thought, I better try my hardest. Luckily it was fine, I translated and I flew home safely.

The moral of the story – If you fly somewhere in Europe or the US (or lots of other places), make sure you know the answers to these questions or you won’t be flying anywhere.

Dialog:

Security Guard – Where are you going today?
You – To the US, to Georgia.
Security Guard – Did you pack your own bags?
You – Yes.
Security Guard – Did you receive any gifts that you were asked to transport?
You – No, sir.
Security Guard – Were your bags ever out of your sight?
You – No. I was with them the whole time.
Security Guard – Do you have any electrical items packed?
You – Yes, a blow dryer, a curling iron and a portable radio.
Security Guard – Anything else?
You – No, sir.
Security Guard – Do you have any sharp objects or weapons in your bags?
You – No, sir, I don’t.

Obviously answer truthfully. The dialog above was to get you used to what the security guard would ask you.