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Understanding English Slang and Terminology
Posted by Renddy Rose Rodriguez
on
1/11/2009 11:38:00 PM
by: Larissa
It is important to understand English slang in order to speak confidently and correctly. Below is a sample conversation between co-workers. Please read once and then read again out loud with the help of your teacher.
Lesson 1:
Conversation and Role Playing:
Read the dialogue
A: AB, what’s going on?
B: Not much, just taking it easy today. Work’s been killing me lately.
A: What do you say we head downtown and grab a coffee at the Starbucks near plaza 66?
B: I’ve had way too much caffeine lately. I wouldn’t mind grabbing something to eat though. Would you be up for that?
A: It’s a nice day today, so we could get something at Element Fresh near the Portman. They’ve got a patio so we could sit outside.
B: Sure, do you want to work out after?
A: I’ve already gone. Wasn’t great though. 6 out of 10 at best.
B: Just come with and do some cardio. I think you could afford to shed a few more pounds.
A: We’ll see. Let’s meet at Element at 2.
B: K, later.
Lesson 2:
Building the slang:
Read the following vocabulary words and their descriptions.
AB: Friends sometimes call people by their initials just for fun. My name is Andrew Best so friends of mine might call me AB.
What’s going on? A slang phrase meaning, “What are you doing now? Or what are your plans for the next while?”
Taking it easy: relaxing, not doing much.
Been killing me: A phrase meaning “causing you a lot of stress”. You can say, “My new job has been killing me.” Or you could say, “The summer has been so hot this year, it’s killing me.”
Grab a coffee: In casual conversation, we sometimes use the verb “grab” for food or drinks. “Let’s grab a coffee”, means, “let’s go somewhere and get a coffee”.
Way too much: In casual conversation, we sometimes use “way” instead of “far”. “Way too much”, means, “far too much”.
Caffeine: The drug found in coffee that gives people energy and keeps them awake.
Would you be up for that? A casual phrase meaning, “Do you want to do that”, or “Will you do that?”
Patio: A place to sit outside. Sometimes restaurants and pubs have patios where people can sit outside and eat on a nice day.
6 out of 10: Sometimes people rate things out of 10. 10 out of 10 is perfect. 0 out of 10 is the worst.
At best: Ranking something is subjective, which means that it is not always clear what the score out of 10 will be. If you say, 6 out of 10 at best, it means, 6 out of 10 or even lower than 6 out of 10.
Come with: A slang phrase that means, “come with me” or “come with us”.
You could afford to shed a few more pounds: Sometimes we say “shed a few pounds”, which means, “lose weight”.
We’ll see: It means, “I’m not sure yet”.
Element: In the dialogue, I said the restaurant’s name is Element Fresh. When both people know clearly what is being talked about, people sometimes use short forms.
K: Slang and short for “ok”.
Later: When hanging up the phone we sometimes say “later”. It’s slang and should be used only with friends.
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It is important to understand English slang in order to speak confidently and correctly. Below is a sample conversation between co-workers. Please read once and then read again out loud with the help of your teacher.
Lesson 1:
Conversation and Role Playing:
Read the dialogue
A: AB, what’s going on?
B: Not much, just taking it easy today. Work’s been killing me lately.
A: What do you say we head downtown and grab a coffee at the Starbucks near plaza 66?
B: I’ve had way too much caffeine lately. I wouldn’t mind grabbing something to eat though. Would you be up for that?
A: It’s a nice day today, so we could get something at Element Fresh near the Portman. They’ve got a patio so we could sit outside.
B: Sure, do you want to work out after?
A: I’ve already gone. Wasn’t great though. 6 out of 10 at best.
B: Just come with and do some cardio. I think you could afford to shed a few more pounds.
A: We’ll see. Let’s meet at Element at 2.
B: K, later.
Lesson 2:
Building the slang:
Read the following vocabulary words and their descriptions.
AB: Friends sometimes call people by their initials just for fun. My name is Andrew Best so friends of mine might call me AB.
What’s going on? A slang phrase meaning, “What are you doing now? Or what are your plans for the next while?”
Taking it easy: relaxing, not doing much.
Been killing me: A phrase meaning “causing you a lot of stress”. You can say, “My new job has been killing me.” Or you could say, “The summer has been so hot this year, it’s killing me.”
Grab a coffee: In casual conversation, we sometimes use the verb “grab” for food or drinks. “Let’s grab a coffee”, means, “let’s go somewhere and get a coffee”.
Way too much: In casual conversation, we sometimes use “way” instead of “far”. “Way too much”, means, “far too much”.
Caffeine: The drug found in coffee that gives people energy and keeps them awake.
Would you be up for that? A casual phrase meaning, “Do you want to do that”, or “Will you do that?”
Patio: A place to sit outside. Sometimes restaurants and pubs have patios where people can sit outside and eat on a nice day.
6 out of 10: Sometimes people rate things out of 10. 10 out of 10 is perfect. 0 out of 10 is the worst.
At best: Ranking something is subjective, which means that it is not always clear what the score out of 10 will be. If you say, 6 out of 10 at best, it means, 6 out of 10 or even lower than 6 out of 10.
Come with: A slang phrase that means, “come with me” or “come with us”.
You could afford to shed a few more pounds: Sometimes we say “shed a few pounds”, which means, “lose weight”.
We’ll see: It means, “I’m not sure yet”.
Element: In the dialogue, I said the restaurant’s name is Element Fresh. When both people know clearly what is being talked about, people sometimes use short forms.
K: Slang and short for “ok”.
Later: When hanging up the phone we sometimes say “later”. It’s slang and should be used only with friends.
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