advanced everyday english Flashcards
baffle (v) - to confuse, puzzle
- Computers really baffle me; I’m not cut out for the modern age at all.
- I was baffled by her behavior. What do you think came over her?
keep sb posted (about/on sth) - keep sb up-to-date with the news/what is going on
All the amendments are clearly laid out in this document, but we’ll keep you posted on anything else which crops up.
backlog - a large amount of work which has been building up over a period of time, a lot of people waiting to be dealt with or seen
I’ve got a backlog of paperwork to get through before I can turn my mind to these other issues.
loophole - a gap or mistake in a particular law/rule which allows people to avoid having to obey it
a law designed to close any loopholes in tax
cocky (adj) - too confident or sure that one knows everything <colloquial></colloquial>
He comes over as too cocky. I don’t think he’ll fit in with the other members of the staff.
to bog down/to get bogged down - prevent a progress, to confuse people by giving them too much work or information, to get stuck/to be slowed down, often because of too much work
We’ve got to get our marking spot-on and not bog potential customers down with too much information.
at stake - at risk, often money or one’s reputation
(lawyer to client): I’m sorry to be blunt, but it’s not worth putting my career at stake over such a borderline case.
have a lot/enough on one’s plate - to have a lot of work to get through/problems to sort out)
I don’t think rubbing him up the wrong way is the right way of going about it. He’s got enough on his plate as it is.
deep down - the true character or feelings that sb has rather than what he first appears to have
He might make out that he takes it all in his stride, but deep down he can’t cope with what’s going on.
gist - the main point of what sb is saying, the general sense of a conversation/speech, etc.
I’m afraid I don’t quite follow your gist (= what you really mean).
miss out on = miss the opportunity of doing sth enjoyable or beneficial
Don’t miss out on this one-off opportunity to get to grips with English Company Law.
get to the bottom of sth - resolved a long-standing problem
Deep down, she still feels that the doctors haven’t got to the bottom of her illness.
streetwise (adj) - having the knowledge and experience that is needed to deal with the difficulties and dangers of life in a big city
Survival in HCM city boils down to how streetwise you are.
laughing stock - a person that everyone laughs at because they have done something stupid
If you go by what the experts are saying, the outlook for English tennis is not very promising. We have been the laughing stock of world tennis for far too long.
corner the market (in sth) - to get control of the trade in a particular type of goods
PNJ has cornered the market in jewellry for decades.
stand sb in good stead - to be useful or helpful to somebody when needed
Your languages will stand you in good stead when it comes to finding a job.
tactful - careful what one says so as to avoid upsetting sb
I think he has an uninviting, cumbersome style of writing in his books, which I find unreadable… but it wouldn’t be very tactful of me to tell him.
waffle (on) (about sth) - to talk or write using a lot of words but without saying anything interesting or important
The principal waffled on about exam results but no one was listening.
to be lulled into a false sense of security - to be deceived into thinking or to take for granted that, due to recent success, everything is going to be fine, when it isn’t
His friendly manner lulled her into a false sense of security (= made her feel safe with him when she should not have).
weigh up - balance/consider all aspects of a situation before coming to a decision
Having weighed everything up, we thought we’d be better off keeping a low profile.
stumbling block (to (doing) sth) - sth that causes problems and prevetns you from achieving your aim
Money could prove a stumbling block to the project.
by no/any stretch of the imagination - used to say strongly that something is not true, even if you try to imagine or believe it
By no stretch of the imagination could it be said that the result is a foregone conclusion. There’s a lot at stake everyone involved.
jump/climb on the bandwagon - do or say the same thing as many others, without having thought about it for oneself or just because it is fashionable
I’m not going to jump on the bandwagon and slate the play like other critics. Once it got going, it was fun.
down-to-earth - genuine, unpretentious, practical, realistic
Jane tends to go a bit over the top (= too much, excessive) with her designs; mind you, as a person she’s very down-to-earth
keep a low profile - behave in a way that does not attract attention to oneself, to remain unnoticed
As I’m most likely to be made the scapegoat, I’m going to keep a low profile until everything is sorted out.
go astray - to become lost; to be stolen; to go in the wrong direction or to have the wrong result
- Several letters went astray or were not delivered.
- The argument is so complex, a reader might easily go astray.
dwell on/upon sth - to think or talk a lot about something, especially something it would be better to forget
So you made a mistake, but there’s no need to dwell on it.
pompous (adj) = pretentious = showing that you think you are more important than other people, especially by using long and formal words
His speech sounded very pompous and self-congratulatory.
get a kick out of sth - enjoy/get special pleasure out of doing sth <very often sth dangerous, unusual or sth most other people would not enjoy>
It baffles me sometimes as to how some people get a kick out of breaking the law; I’ve always gone by the book in whatever I do
frenzy (of sth) - a state of great activity and strong emotion that is often violent or frightening and not under control
in a frenzy of activity/excitement/violence
perpetual (adj) - never ending, generally negative
Trying to get my head around these statistics is proving to be a perpetual nightmare.
skim the surface - deal with a matter only superficially
This report has barely skimmed the surface of the subject.
reap the rewards - enjoy the benefits of sth
One loses track of time, I wrote the book ages ago, but have only just begun to reap the rewards. Many critics wrote my work off as being passe. Pompous idiots!
get one’s head around sth - understand sth complicated/a difficult situation
She’s dead. I can’t get my head round it yet.
unwittingly = inadvertently = without realising, unaware
I thought my wallet had gone astray, inadvertently, I had left in on the table.
keep/lose track of - to have/not have information about what is happening or where somebody/something is
I lost all track of time (= forgot what time it was).
relish = enjoy = to get great pleasure from something; to want very much to do or have something
- relish a challenge/chance/opportunity (to do sth)
- relish the idea/thought of sth
- don’t relish the prospect of doing sth
makeshift (adj) = provisional = improvised - used temporarily for a particular purpose because the real thing is not available
They all took the mickey out of a makeshift treehouse I built in the garden for my son. I’m not an adept carpenter by any stretch of the imagination.
huddle - to gather closely together, usually because of cold or fear
The only stumbling block remaining was what the troops would wo with the many refugees they had found huddled together under makeshift tents.
take your cue from sb/sth - to copy what somebody else does as an example of how to behave or what to do
Investors are taking their cue from the big banks and selling dollars.
cue (for sth) - an action or event that is a signal for somebody to do something
Jon’s arrival was a cue for more champagne.
be under no illusions = have no illusions (about) - know and understand what is really happening instead of imagining how thigns could be, to be realistic
Let me make it clear: we’re acting under no illusions. We are quite aware that, by and large, our competitors have cornered the market.
prone to = liable to
likely to suffer from sth or to do sth bad (prone to injury)
plausible - (of an excuse or explanation) reasonable and likely to be true
sth sounds perfectly plausible
>< implausible
viable = feasible - that can be done, that will be successful
a viable option/proposition/alternative
to be commercially/politically/financially/economically viable
doom (v) - make sb/sth certain to fail, suffer, die…
be doom to (do) sth => doomed to failure, doomed from the start
leave a lot/much/sth… to be desired
to be bad or unacceptable
Ex: The service in the restaurant left a lot to be desired.
flawed (adj) - having a flaw; not perfect or correct
seriously/fundamentally/fatally flawed
deem = consider - to have a particular opinion about sb/sth
=> deemed it + adj (not) + to V; deem (un)necessary; deem sb/sth to be sth; deem (that)
gut reaction/feeling/instinct
based on feelings and emotions rather than thought and reason
be tarred with the same brush (as sb)
Tarring all immigrants to this country with the same brush is ludicrous, and will only serve to alienate them further from the society in which they now live.
teething problems/troubles - small problems that a company, product, system, etc. has at the beginning
Despite a few teething problems, the car has been a great success.
plight (n) - a difficult and sad situation
be in a desperate plight
the plight of homeless people
dabble in/with sth - to take part in a sport, an activity, etc. but not very seriously
She is a talented musician but is content to just dabble.
