English Exclusive ᴼᶠᶠⁱᶜⁱᵃˡ

2022-04-22 17:19:10 Everything but the kitchen sink – almost everything has been included

Example:
Maria was trying so hard to get the question right, she was throwing out everything but the kitchen sink!




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2022-04-22 11:54:50 To Grit One's Teeth

I think I should just grit my teeth and ask Elliot so I can bite down on some actual facts. Otherwise I may end up suspecting everybody I know who may have spoken to Andie at some point in their lives. And paranoia does not suit me. But how do you casually ask a grown man you’ve known since you were six why they lied about a murdered girl?

Definition:
to accept a difficult situation and deal with it in a determined way:

We had to grit our teeth and agree with their conditions because we wanted the contract.

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2022-04-21 21:48:56 #idiom

Pip was fidgeting nervously under the table, hoping that Cara was too busy jabbering to notice. It was the first time ever that Pip had to keep things from her and the nerves were puppet-stringing Pip’s fiddling hands and the knot in her stomach.

The knot in ones stomach
Is used to say
that a person has an unpleasant and tight feeling in the stomach, usually from nervousness.
Her stomach was in knots as she awaited the start of competition.

(one's) stomach is in knots

One is confused, anxious, worried, or upset (about something), causing an unpleasant feeling in their stomach.

My stomach was in knots for days leading up to my master's thesis defense.


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2022-04-10 23:26:27 Join our group Open / Comment

2022-04-07 19:59:40 To have a knack for sth
"I Have A Knack For It"

a natural ability : talent
She has a knack for making friends.

a clever or skillful way of doing something

trick Skating is easy once you get the knack.

And, you must understand, it takes a particular knack to understand statistics.

a knack for remembering face.

She has the knack of making people feel uncomfortable.

There's a knack to using this corkscrew.

Moreover, tomorrow's critics have an uncanny knack of blaming today's legislators.

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2022-04-07 15:17:41 #idiom

"spill your guts''

1.If someone spills their guts, they tell you everything about something secret or private. [informal]

Note: Your guts are your intestines or internal organs. The idea is of dramatically revealing something hidden.

Ex:
People call in and just spill their guts about whatever's bothering them on the job or in a relationship.

Ex:
to tell all; to confess. I had to spill my guts about the broken window. I didn't want you to take the blame. Mary spilled her guts about the window. She confessed that she was trying to shield Bob.

2. tell somebody everything you know or feel about something, because you are upset.

Ex:
I know you’re upset about what I did, but did you have to spill your guts to my parents?

3.To vomit violently and extensively.

Ex :
I've been spilling my guts all morning, so, no, I don't think I'll be in to work today.

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2022-04-01 19:40:19 Plot twist

A plot twist is a literary technique that introduces a radical change in the direction or expected outcome of the plot in a work of fiction. When it happens near the end of a story, it is known as a twist or surprise ending. 

And you can read examples here

When sth goes wrong in your life just yell plot twist! And move on
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2022-04-01 19:31:35 #vocabulary
plot [plot]
 noun
1 a plan, especially for doing something evil; a conspiracy: a plot to assassinate the President

2 the story of a play, novel etc : The play has a very complicated plot.

3 a small piece of land eg for use as a gardening area or for building a house on.


 verb – past tense, past participle ˈplotted –
1 to plan to bring about (something evil): They were plotting the death of the king.

2 to make a plan, map, graph etc of: The navigator plotted the course of the ship.

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2022-04-01 15:31:38 Helen: Hello, and welcome to The English We Speak. My name is Helen.
Rob: And I'm Rob.
Helen: I saw you looking for your headphones earlier; did you find them?
Rob: No, Helen. I looked for them everywhere. Someone must have nicked them.
Helen: Nicked them? What do you mean?
Rob: Oh, sorry, what I mean is someone stole my headphones. To nick something means to steal something.
Helen: That's terrible. But how is it spelt?
Rob: It's spelt N.I.C.K. nick, to nick something.
Helen: My son's best friend is called Nick. It's the same spelling, isn't it?
Rob: It is, but not the same meaning. Here the word 'nick' is a verb and it's British slang too.
Helen: Let's hear a couple of examples. What items have been stolen?
Man: Someone nicked my bike this morning.
Lady: Oh, no. Did you report it to the police?
Man: Yes, I did.
Man 1: Where are the chocolate biscuits I was saving? I am sure I saw them yesterday.
Man 2: Sorry, I don't know. Blame Dave, he's always nicking things.
Rob: So, one of them lost a bike and the other one lost his chocolate biscuits.
Helen: Unlucky chaps. Maybe the police can help them.
Rob: Yes. The police can definitely help them by nicking those petty thieves.
Helen: That's very confusing. The police can nick too? They can steal?
Rob: No, no, no, no. The police can't nick things from people. But when they arrest someone, we can say the person is nicked. It means they're arrested by the police.
Woman: Have you heard from Inspector James?
Man: No. He's working on a big case. I think they have just nicked the main suspect!
Helen: So if a criminal is caught by the police, then we can say he's nicked.
Rob: That's right. Let's go over the two meanings of the verb 'to nick'. First, if something is nicked, it means it's stolen.
Helen: Like my pen got nicked.
Rob: Yes, that's right. But if a person gets nicked, we mean he's arrested by the police.
Helen: A comedian got nicked for throwing a pie at Rupert Murdoch.
Rob: Yes, he did. Helen, you've got it. Just remember it's not a formal expression.
Helen: Thank you. I'll keep that in mind. Bye for now.
Rob: Bye! Open / Comment