Learn Some Colloquial Expressions

Killer: a very funny joke.

e.g. That last one was really a killer;  everybody laughed.

Head above water: out of debt.

e.g. Nowadays, it is not easy to keep your head above water.

Mean-green: money.

e.g. Can I borrow a little mean-green from you?

Kick back: relax and enjoy.

e.g. I really want to kick back and enjoy the music.

Shag: depart.

e.g. I gotta shag now!

Kick the bucket: die.

e.g. He kicked the bucket when he smashed his car into the wall.

Keep one's cool: calm down and in control..

e.g. The burglar was able to keep his cool when he was stopped by the policeman.

Jammed up: in trouble.

e.g. He got himself jammed up (arrested) with the police

Face-off: a confrontation.

e.g. After my face-off with the manager, I quit the job.

Screw around: waste time.

e.g. Stop screwing around! Find something to do!

Cop out: plead guilty.

e.g. I decided not to cop out and got a lawyer instead.

In a jiffy: soon.

e.g. The manager will see you in a jiffy.

Next to nothing: hardly anything.

e.g. “Did she leave you anything at all?” “Well, next to nothing.”

Head above water: out of debt.

e.g. Nowadays, it is not easy to keep your head above water.

Mean-green: money.

e.g. Can I borrow a little mean-green from you?

Smoke eater: a fire fighter.

e.g. Do you really want to be a smoke eater -- a dangerous occupation?

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau