Hi guys. Welcome back to English with Max.
In this video we're going to look at some advanced vocabulary. These aren't strange or obscure words
(most high school students who are native speakers would know these words),
but they're words that non-natives often don't learn. If you know all or most of these words,
then you probably have a C2 level, at least in terms of comprehension.
If you don't know these words, don't fret (that's also a good word) because
this is a good opportunity to perhaps add some more
interesting verbs to your vocabulary. Oh and "don't fret"
simply means don't be unhappy or worried. Now if you're really interested in improving your vocabulary, you
might like to sign up for my free advancedEenglish email lessons.
I send them out every two weeks and you
can unsubscribe at any time. I'll put the link in the description.
If you're interested in improving your grammar, remember that
I also have a video course on Udemy which covers 55 very common mistakes made by non-native speakers. If you'd like to receive my special
discount for that, you'll also find the link in the description. And just one more thing before we start.
Frank - that's frank - would also be really happy if you followed
us on social media. I have Facebook, Instagram
and Twitter. If you want to hear Frank talk, you'll find some
videos on those platforms. Okay and now the verbs. Yes, this video
is just on verbs. I've sort of divided them into categories and then
there are a few miscellaneous ones at the end. This first group is all to do with breaking the law.
These ones are actually all to do with financial crime.
Number one: to defraud. To defraud means to take money
or goods from a person or organisation illegally. For example: He was found
guilty of defrauding his business partner of thousands of dollars. Naughty, naughty. And now we have to embezzle. To embezzle means to secretly and
illegally take money from the place where you work. Normally it's
used for people who are in positions of power and
are in control of large sums of money. The company's
managers went to prison after they embezzled more than a million pounds. Number three is extort.
To extort means to illegally force somebody to give you
something (usually money) by using threats. For example:
The gang has been extorting money from local business owners for years.
And now we have to swindle. Swindle is very similar to defraud.
It means to get money from somebody by deceiving them. This is a little informal,
so you might hear it on the news, but it probably wouldn't be used in a courtroom.
The company swindled their investors out of millions
of dollars. And now we have some words related
to conflict. The first one is to badmouth. This is an informal word
and it means to criticise somebody or something in a very unpleasant way.
She got fired for badmouthing the company in public. Jack acts like her best friend,
but he badmouths her behind her back. And now we have
to bicker. To bicker means to argue, especially about things
that aren't very important. It isn't as strong as to fight.
Bickering is basically just silly arguing. My grandparents love each other,
but they're always bickering. The party members frequently
bicker amongst themselves. A synonym of bicker is squabble
This basically means the same thing as bicker. It's perhaps just a little bit stronger. People might make a bit more noise, for example, when they squabble.
Here's an example sentence: That tennis player is always squabbling
with the umpire. Now some people after they bicker or
squabble with somebody aren't very happy, and if they're not very happy,
they might sulk. To sulk means to be angrily silent.
If a person sulks, they might refuse to be friendly or not
want to talk to anybody. After I told Frank to behave better,
he sulked in his room for a couple of hours.
And now let's look at some movement verbs. The first one is
to amble. To amble means to walk slowly in a relaxed way.
For example: She ambled along the path without a care in the world.
The next one is to dawdle. Yes, I know that sounds a bit funny. Anyway, to dawdle means to walk slowly or
to take more time than necessary to do something. It's used in a
disapproving way. A parent might say to their children:
Stop dawdling. You'll be late for school. Or if you're going to a party with some friends and you're walking there and
some friends are walking very slowly behind you, you might say to them:
Guys, please don't dawdle. The party has already started. And now we have to hover.
This has a few meanings, but I'll just give you the two
main ones. Firstly, it can mean to stay in the one place in the air.
It's used for things like birds, insects or helicopters.
For example: When we eat outside, there are always flies hovering around us. You can also say "to hover above".
For example: The helicopter hovered above the lake.
It can also be used for people. In that case it means to stand around
the same place, usually because you're waiting for something or you're not sure
what to do. For example, you could say: I appreciate good service,
but I don't like it when waiters hover around my table. And now
we have to linger. This is similar to hover, but they're not exactly the same.
This means to take longer than usual to leave or disappear. I don't like
eating raw onions because the taste always
lingers in my mouth. After the conference, Frank
lingered in the dining area to make the most of the leftover food.
And now to stroll. Stroll is a synonym of amble. It means to
walk in a slow and relaxed way, but normally it's done for pleasure.
For example: We decided to stroll along the beach after the meal.
The last one in this section is to strut. To strut means to walk in a
proud way trying to look important. We use this in a disapproving way.
For example: The manager's son strutted around the office
as if he owned the place. And now we have a few ways of
speaking. The first one is to mumble. This is actually one of my
bad habits - in real life, in any case. I try not to do it in my videos. To mumble means to speak
quietly and in an unclear way. Normally it happens when
people don't open their mouths wide enough. For example:
I only understood half of what she said because she was mumbling. Next we have to mutter. This is very similar to
mumble, but people normally mutter if they are angry or annoyed.
It looks something like this: (muttering) Yeah, maybe that's an exaggeration, but
that's basically it. It's like mumbling when you're not very happy
about something. For example: After the argument he muttered
something to himself and left. And now to shriek. This has
two main meanings. Firstly it can mean to make a loud, high-pitched sound. It could be because the person is
scared or in pain, but it could also be because the person is
excited, so it might be for a positive reason. For example:
The kids shrieked with joy when they found out they were going
to Disneyland. I'm not going to imitate it because if you're
listening to this with headphones, it might not be very pleasant.
It can also mean to say something in a
loud, high-pitched voice. For example: When the burglar
entered her home, she shrieked, Get out of my house!"
And now a few random ones before we finish. The first one is to backfire. This has two main meanings.
Firstly it can be used to talk about an engine. It's when an engine makes
a sudden, loud sound because it's not working properly. I don't
actually know how it works because, frankly, I don't care that
much about those types of things, but I'm sure we've all heard
a car or a truck backfire. It's a really loud "bang" sound.
Here's an example sentence: We all got a fright when a car in the street backfired. Secondly, it can be used
to talk about plans or actions. It means to have
the opposite effect of the one intended. He tried to make
himself more desirable to his girlfriend by flirting with other people,
but the plan backfired and she dumped him. To dump means to
break up with somebody. The next one is to grin. To grin means to
smile widely, especially in amusement, so if you find
something funny. For example: I was suspicious when I saw Frank grinning this morning. The thing is,
sometimes people grin just if they're happy or if they find something funny, but sometimes people grin
if they've done something a bit naughty. And finally we have to milk.
I'm sure you know the noun "milk", but it can be a verb as well.
This has two main meanings. Firstly it can mean to take milk
from an animal, such as a cow or a goat. So if you're doing it manually,
it looks something like this. It's also an informal word meaning
to get as much as you can from a situation or a person,
usually in an unfair or dishonest way. It's similar to take advantage
of or exploit. For example: The company is milking their
clients for even more money. That's it, guys. I hope you found this
useful. As I said in the beginning, if you know all of these words,
then you probably have a very advanced vocabulary. If you didn't know these words, like I said, this is a good opportunity to add some new words to your vocabulary.
And now a little bit of homework. I encourage you to take one
of these words and use it in a sentence in the comments.
I will try to correct it for you. Thanks very much for watching.
I'll see you next time. For example... Excuse me. There's a dog barking. I don't really... To mutter...
