7 ways to say that you understand…

Want a more creative way to tell someone that you understand what they are saying?  Here are 7 different expressions that have similar meanings to I understand.

I feel your pain

– This expression is used more when you are empathizing with someone and what they are going through.
Wow, that is terrible that your husband cheated on you, I feel your pain, my husband did the same thing to me last year. (FYI – not true.)

I know where you are coming from

– This means that you understand the situation that the person is in.
I know where you are coming from, it must be so hard to have to go through that.

I’ve been down that road

– This means that you understand the emotions they are going through because something similar happened to you.
Your daughter has chicken pox? I’m so sorry, I’ve been down that road before, it isn’t fun.

I hear you

– This is the same as the one above; it means that you understand what the person is going through.
Yup, I hear you alright. I knew that guy was bad news.

10-4 (ten four)

– This is a code that you is used on radio scanners. It means that the person has received the message and they understand what was said.

I follow you

– This means that you are following the line of conversation that is going on with you and the person who you are talking to.
Yes, I totally follow you, it must’ve been so hard for you.

Roger or Roger that

– It is used in military or aircraft aviation and means that the person receiving the message heard everything that was said.

Either/Or vs. Neither/Nor

I recently was asked when to use neither/nor instead of either/or.  The rule is pretty simple.  You use either/or when you are talking about something in a positive sense.  You use neither/nor when you are talking about something in a negative sense.

Remember either must be paired with or and neither must be paired with nor.  Below are some examples of both pairs of words.

Neither/Nor

I like neither chocolate flavored ice cream nor vanilla. (Of course, this is not true. I love all flavors of ice cream.

There are neither dogs nor cats in my house, only birds.

Either/Or

Either come over here and talk to me or I will go over there and talk to you.

My son is either very sleepy or just plain lazy as he just fell asleep while he was eating his dinner.

 

 

Daylight Savings Time

It’s my favorite time of the year. It’s Daylight Savings Time (DST) when we “Spring forward.” It means we’ll get an extra hour of sunlight every day. This year it will take begin on March 13th. It takes place on the 2nd Sunday of March and begins at 2am. It’s observed in the USA, Canada, lot of European countries and other countries as well.

It ends every year on the first Sunday in November at 2am, which it reverts to standard time. When we change in November, we say we: “Fall back.”

There are 2 states that don’t observe Daylight Savings Time in the US and one province in Canada. The states are: Hawaii and Arizona. Also, these US territories don’t observe it: American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands. The Canadian province is Saskatchewan – most of the province does not follow Daylight Savings Time.

Why do we have Daylight Savings Time? Why do we change our clocks 2 times a year? Because it saves electricity. It gives us an extra hour of sunlight. This means we don’t need to use lights in our house, as much during this extra hour. Also, the government says that it prevents car accidents. There are fewer accidents in the daylight according to statistics.

In 2007 they increased Daylight Savings Time by 1 month, this way we can save even more electricity.

Wednesday’s Slang!

As mentioned last week, Wednesday is the day that I will highlight some American English slang.  Usually phrases that I said frequently throughout the week.

the skinny

This is information that you really want to hear about or need.
Give me the skinny about the concert!

boo-boo

This is a cut or bruise, when you hurt yourself, usually used with children. Or it can also mean a mistake that you did.
Did baby fall down and get a boo-boo?

buck

Although this means a male deer, in slang it means a dollar.
Hey, can you give me a buck? I wanna buy a coke.

bummed

This means to be disappointed about something.
I’m so bummed that my package didn’t come in the mail today.

Eye, I, or Aye


Here are three words that look different, yet sound the same.

Eye – This is an easy word, that I’m sure you all know. It’s the body part that you see through. It can also be used to mean the center of something, like the center of the hurricane or eye of the hurricane.

I – Another easy one and I’m sure this was one of the first words you learned in English. It’s the nominataive singular pronoun that a user uses to talk about himself/herself. It’s also a letter in the alphabet. Another definition for it is that it can be an abbreviation for the word ‘interstate’ (or big highway).

Aye (or Ay) – This is a less used English word, unless you are a pirate or in the British Parliment. It means yes. And, like I said before they are all pronounced the same way, but usually when you hear an American say ‘Aye’, they usually say it with a fake British or Pirate accent.

6 Great Texan Sayings


Yeehaw! As many of you know, I was born and raised in Texas. I thought it would be interesting for you to read about some Texan sayings. Some of these can be heard throughout the Southern states of the USA as well. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!

nu-uh – This simply means no.
Nu-uh, I’m not going there today!

shoot – We use this word where you might use the word ‘darn’.
Shoot, I really wanted to watch the football game tonight and I missed it!

wore-out – This comes from ‘worn out’. It means to be tired.
The cowboy is all wore out from his trip across the valley.

y’all – The contraction used for ‘you all’ down in the South.
When are y’all going to come over for dinner?

fixing to – This means you are about to do something. I use this a lot and my mother-in-law always points it out.
I’m fixing to go out to the store and buy some milk.

hissy fit – This is when someone gets really mad.
Wow, did you see her throw that hissy fit last night when her husband showed up with lipstick on his collar. Yikes!

At the Post Office

It’s easy enough to just ask for a stamp at the post office, “I would like to buy 1 stamp, please.” But, what if you have bigger needs for your post office visit? Here are some things you might say at the post office.

Can I have a book (roll) of stamps? In the past if you wanted to buy a lot of stamps, you could buy a roll. These are more outdated now that most stamps in the United States are stickers. Nowdays, if you want to buy a large amount of stamps you can buy a book of stamps.

Can I buy some ‘forever’ stamps? During the last few years the cost of a stamp has gone up every May, by a penny. The United States Post Office made some stamps that are forever the correct price of mailing an envelope in the United States. These are the types of stamps I would buy unless I wanted special stamps, like Christmas stamps or some with pretty flowers.

How much does it cost to mail this package? There are several different methods of shipping at the post office. You have Media Mail for mailing books. Then, there is parcel post, which is cheap, but slow. There are other options too, but the fastest is next-day which costs an arm and a leg (saying something costs an arm and a leg means it costs a lot).

Do you have prepaid boxes? Prepaid boxes – boxes you can buy that cost the same amount to ship no matter how much you pack into them – are quite handy. If you can fit it in, you can ship it for a set price. I often come out ahead when using these boxes.

Can I buy insurance for that? You can insure anything you mail as long as you pay for the insurance. It’s not really too expensive, and often worth the extra money.

Some Slang for the Soul

I love teaching English and helping people learn a new language since learning foreign languages is my favorite pastime.  What I love even more is teaching slang!!!  I’ve decided to dedicate Wednesdays (even though today is Thursday, I’ll be doing it on Wednesdays in the future) to teaching you all some slang phrases.  Here are a few that I’ve used a lot in the last few days:

lollygag

This means to lurk or linger.
Why are the students lollygagging in front of the school when they should be in class?

dilly-dally

This is simliar to lollygag.
“Stop your dilly-dallying and come and eat breakfast!” she said to her son. (Yes, I say this all of the time to my own son.)

get your act together

This meants to get organized with what you are doing. It is a bit negative to say to someone.
“Get your act together, we need to leave now,” Sally said to Mark.

5 ways to say I’m nervous

Here are five unique ways to say I’m nervous in English. Of course they all have a slight difference in meaning, but all convey similar meanings.

1. Anxious

I’m anxious about hearing the results of my test.

2. Freaked out

I’m totally freaked out about going to the party tonight. This is slang and can also mean that you are scared.

3. Pins and needles

I’m on pins and needles waiting to see if I’m pregnant.

4. Butterflies in my tummy (belly or stomach)

Sally walked into the classroom for the first time and felt butterflies in her tummy.

5. Bundle of nerves

After talking to that handsome boy, I’m just a bundle of nerves!

My Family’s Christmas Traditions

Someone on Twitter asked me to write about my family’s Christmas traditions.  I think some things vary from family to family and from region to region, so I’m going to focus on which traditions we do as a family.

Christmas season usually starts right after Thanksgiving is over.  Thanksgiving is the 4th Thursday of November.  The weekend right after that, I usually put up lights outside of the house.  I like blinking, multicolored lights the best, although most people in our neighborhood put up white lights.

We also go to big festival of lights events.  Disney World has an amazing one, but also local communities like my own have some smaller festival of lights.  Here at a local county park, you can drive around and look at the huge displays of lights.  There are themes to the lights like underwater animals and toys.  Also, they have a huge fire where you can roast marshmallows.  Additionally, you can visit Santa, ride a small train, ride a carousel or buy some treats to eat.  I always make sure we visit Santa there, at a party, or at a shopping mall. The kids like to tell Santa what they want for Christmas.  And we make sure we take a picture of them with Santa as well.

Another one of my family’s traditions is to send out Christmas cards.  I usually send them to family and close friends.  Sometimes I enclose a picture of our family as well.  I usually send these out early in December because people like to display their Christmas cards on a door or on their fireplace mantel.

Listening to Christmas carols in the car and watching Christmas shows on TV is another family tradition. I like watching old Christmas movies like ‘Holiday Inn’.  My kids like to watch old classic Christmas cartoons like ‘Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.’

Going Christmas caroling is a tradition we don’t do every year.  But we have done it in the past.  We get a group of the neighborhood kids and we walk around the neighborhood and sing Christmas carols.  Sometimes the neighbors give us cookies or candy as a way to say thanks.

Those are our family traditions for the time up until Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  I’ll write about those next week.  Post a comment about how you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or any other holiday you celebrate around December or January.