Common Slang Expressions

Back number: a person with outdated ideas or information.

e.g. If I were you, I wouldn’t take any advice from someone who is a back number

Swell-head: a conceited person.

e.g. Look at his ego, and he’s such a swell-head.

Hard and fast: unalterable.

e.g. He held hard and fast to his decision to retire.

Bean time: dinnertime.

e.g. Come on, guys, wash your hands; it’s bean time.

Half-baked: silly.

e.g. What do you take me for? A fool half-baked!

Hard hit: financially ruined

e.g. Our business was hard hit by the recession.

Caught short: caught at a disadvantage.

e.g. The market plunged, and we were caught short just as thought we were on the road to recovery.

Apple-pie order: very orderly; perfect condition.

e.g. When we returned home, we were surprised to find that everything was still in apple-pie order.

Also-ran: someone not likely to win.

e.g. In this presidential election, he was just an also-ran. In less than two months, he called it quit.

Turn in: go to bed.

e.g. Come on, guys, it’s time to turn in.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau