Why Learning Colloquial Expressions

Learning a language takes time and effort, especially if it is not your first language. Even if it is your mother tongue, you still need time and effort to master it. Language is forever changing. What is currently popular may be replaced by something else in years to come, and the use of slang is a strong testament to that. Colloquial expressions are often acceptable in informal writing. The more you learn, the more you will know when to use them or not to use them in your writing or speaking. 

Pooped: exhausted.

e.g. I was pooped after working for nine hours in the yard.

Hard at it: busy.

e.g. "Are you working on the project?" "You bet! I'm hard at it."

Are you with me?: understand or agree with me.

e.g. I've been explaining this for an hour. Are you with me?

Bang out: reveal.

e.g. If you go into politics, you must be prepared to let all your secrets bang out.

Half-baked: silly.

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

Keep early hours: go to bed early.

e.g. If you want good health, keep early hours.

Cry blue murder: make a great fuss.

e.g. Just ignore him: he's crying blue murder over everything.

Beat hollow: be superior to.

e.g. She is bossy, beating everyone hollow.

Excuse my French: pardon my bad language.

e.g. Ladies, please excuse my French; he really made me mad.

Jump on: blame or criticize strongly.

e.g. You jumped on him every time he opened his mouth.

Keep one's head above water: stay out of debt or a difficult situation.

e.g. In this economic environment, it is not easy to keep your head above water.

Boloney: nonsense.

e.g. For almost an hour, he was talking boloney, and nobody understood a word of what he said.

Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Better English for You

Correct Use of Prepositions

The use of prepositions is one of the difficult aspects of learning English. A preposition is a functional word that appears before nouns and relates to some other constructions in the sentence.

A phrasal verb is a combination of a verb and one or more prepositions that functions as a single unit of meaning. Phrasal verbs are commonly used in writing. As an ESL learner, learn some prepositional phrases:

DRIFT

Drift apart: separate slowly.

e.g. He drifted apart from his friends and lived a secluded life.

Drift back: go back to someone or something slowly.

e.g. He drifted back to her former girlfriend, and they were soon married.

Drift off: move away slowly.

e.g. The boat drifted off and it disappeared in the thick fog.

Drift off to sleep: fall asleep gradually.

e.g. He sat on the sofa, and finally drifted off to sleep.

FROWN

Frown at: scowl at someone or something.

e.g. She frowned at my cat and gave her a kick.

Frown on: show disapproval.

e.g. His parents frown on everything he does.

HOLD

Hold no brief for: tolerate someone or something.

e.g. I hold no brief for that kind of behavior.

Hold off: delay; restrain.

e.g. The air strike might hold off the enemies for some time.

Hold one's end up: carry one's share of the bargain or burden.

e.g. We expect you to hold your end up and keep your promise to back us up.

e.g. With only that much money left, I don't know how long we could hold out.

Hold still for something: put up with something.

e.g. It is not easy to hold still for that kind of rude remark.

GROUND

Ground in: instruct.

e.g. We should ground our children in love and compassion as they grow up.

Ground on: form a foundation for.

e.g. His intelligence was grounded on reading books on wisdom.

DANCE

Dance on air: be very happy.

e.g. When she heard the good news, she was dancing on air.

Dance to another tune: change one,s manner, act very differently.

e.g. What I,m going to tell you will make you dance to another tune.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau