Advanced Phrases for Highly Proficient Speakers | Build Your Vocabulary

I just want to give you a heads up because this is not your average run-of-the-mill lesson I'm going to teach you some Advanced phrases for highly proficient speakers of English and these phrases are even a little more challenging than the C2 level they are a bit informal but I think they are useful when it comes to everyday conversation so if you are at your wits end when it comes to building vocabulary look no further now I'm not going to drag my feet any longer so let's go ahead and begin with the phrase that I just mentioned to drag your feet this means to do something slowly or not start it because you just don't want to do it so let's say there's a deadline and you're working slowly your boss might say why are you dragging your feet we need to hurry or every year yeah we have to pay taxes I'm always dragging my feet because I just don't want to start the process I procrastinate I put it off I drag my feet even Morpheus knows this phrase now it may often be used as a jiren if someone's giving you a command like quit dragging your feet or stop dragging your feet or you may often use it in the continuous tense to talk about what's happening right now he is dragging his feet or she is dragging her feet this is a phrase that I think you may certainly come across when watching a movie or TV show see for yourself moving kid quit dragging your feet mother we caned Gordon stop dragging your feet don't act like he's the only reason you've been dragging your feet to stay here he accidentally got it right didn't he you've been dragging your feet on the next OS so you can figure out what Apple's going to need now I would like you to stop dragging your feet and subscribe to the channel turn on notifications that way I can become your teacher my name is Wes the channel is interactive English it's all about trying to help you reach your fluency goals let's continue with our next phrase which is to go to bat for someone it means to support someone when the person needs help this phrase originated from baseball the idea of Simply substituting one batter for another to help out the team it was slang but now it's used more generally and to show you that here are some news headlines Pharma funded Republicans go to bat for drug industry as Medicare moves to negotiate prices to help stop the killing of pets we must go to bat for Chicago's abandoned animals and Eagles as veterans go to bat for embattled head coach Nick serani serani serani okay any anyway I want to quickly talk about how to pronounce this phrase and I want to focus on the word to which has two different pronunciations when stressed it sounds like to when unstressed it may sound like it has that schah sound t it's a much softer sound but that's what I would use when I say the phrase to go to bat for someone the other thing I want to point out is the flap T which is specific to the American accent and I am from the United States but it occurs when the t comes between two vow sounds so it's going to sound like to go to bat for someone can you hear that flap te go to go to to go to bat for someone just listen for it they wouldn't honor my coupon for two free streaks they wouldn't well I'll go to bed for you honey obviously I said by no means are you kidding me I always go to Bath for you then we have the phrase run-of the-mill this means ordinary or not special or exciting in any way and often you may use this adjective phrase as an attributive adjective it's going to come before the noun perhaps you're talking about a run-ofthe-mill Cofe coffee shop or somebody gives a run-ofthe-mill presentation or maybe we're talking about a run-ofthe-mill lesson but at the beginning I told you that this is not your average run-ofthe-mill lesson and that's what I want to point out is that you may use this adjective phrase with the negative to say that something is not ordinary it is special and exciting and yes I do believe this is not your average run-of-the-mill lesson when pronouncing this phrase I want to point out that linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in run with the beginning vowel sound in of and it's almost like we're moving that consonant sound over so it sounds like run of run of the- Mill it's totally acceptable to be a everyday run-of-the-mill average worker is that what you think Gordon does run-of-the-mill interviews does the run-of-the-mill college experience include stripping you of your dignity next is the phrase to air on the side of caution this means to be especially careful rather than taking a risk or making a mistake so instead of saying we should be careful or we don't want to make a mistake you could say we should air on the side of caution and I would recommend that you go ahead and hit the like button I don't want you to forget so let's air on the side of caution and go ahead and do that for pronunciation the only thing I want to point out is that first word that e RR is pronounced as air or ER you may hear either one in the US I feel like most people are going to say air but it can be a little tricky because the spelling and the pronunciation don't really match to air on the side of caution once again just listen for it if you're worried there's extra milk in the freezer okay yes I will air on the side of caution and defrost a fresh badge I didn't care for the way that he handled it so I'm going to have to air on the side of caution and say pass why it's the first rule in pain management always air on the side of caution then we have the phrase pull strings I like this one it means to secretly use the influence you have over someone in order to help someone or get something that you want now again I should say it doesn't always have to be like you have a a lot of influence over this person it could just mean like maybe your friends let's let's say that you want to go see a movie and it's sold out and I tell you hey look I I know someone who works at the theater maybe I can pull some strings and get us some tickets and I have not really influence but I have a connection I have a contact there and I can pull some strings one thing I want to point out with this phrase is that you're often going to use a determiner before the word strings to pull some strings or to pull a few strings if you don't believe me listen for yourself fck did you get me out of that and pull some strings have you getting this a few calls pulled some strings so what do you think pull a few strings you know hook me up with some tickets I decided to pull a few strings call in a few favors and I've decided to make you official Security Supervisor of the branch next is a phrasal verb chime in this means to add one's comment or opinion to a conversation or discussion that one has been listening to and sometimes this is done by interrupting I know when my wife is talking to someone else and I want to share my opinion I may chime in and yeah it can be a little rude and annoying if someone chimes in or other times someone may be asking for someone to share an opinion and they may say does anyone want to chime in to give you some more examples as to how this phrasal verb is used in context I have some more news headlines for you whoopy Goldberg chimes in on Barbie Oscar snub drama a Tik tocker went viral with a tearful reaction to a Super Bowl party snub and celebs chimed in Snowflake CEO says he values Merit over diversity VC's chimed in when pronouncing this phrase I just want to point out that more linking may occur and we can link the final consonant sound in chime with the vowel sound in in chime in to chime in Chris I'm not sure you have the green light to just chime in whenever anyone please chime in well take it easy and this is not her fault oh look who decided to chime in anyone else want to chime in then we have the phrase to cut someone some slack this means to treat someone in a less harsh or critical way so some examples I will cut you some slack if you don't hit the like button I know I told you to air on the side of caution and go ahead and do that but if you don't I will cut you some slack I will cut you some slack if you don't join my email Community but I will will not cut you any slack if you don't write to me in the comments so I I I want to talk to you quickly about the difference between I will cut you some slack versus I will not cut you any slack remember that we're going to use some with affirmative statements and any with negative statements one more thing I want to point out is that you may hear people use this with the verb give to give someone some slack however as we can see using enr Vier it's over whelmingly more common for people to use the verb cut to cut someone some slack young lady this may be the high point of B's life cut him some slack let's say you get a job which you probably won't they're not going to cut you any slack you're meant for a job with lots and lots of slack then we have the phrase to oneup someone I like this phrase even though it's not really a good thing to do it means to get an advantage over someone by saying or doing something better or more extreme so let me give you some examples and I want you to think about who is trying to one up the other next week I'm going for a hike next week I'm climbing Mount Everest last month I met the star of the high school basketball team yeah that's nice I met Michael Jordan I think I might buy a new car maybe a Honda I've been thinking about buying a new car as well but probably a Ferrari I think it's quite clear that person B is trying to oneup person a it's time I come up with a to score with the ladies there's Jimmy trying to one up me I go to church too and I have raffled and bingoed and B sailed my way as close to the good Lord is you so do not try to one up me because I will one up yours the next phrase is perfect if you ever feel like you are so worried confused or annoyed you just don't know what to do you can say I'm at my Wit's End often people may use this phrase at home or at work parents might say this when they're frustrated with their kids kids I'm at my wits end or maybe at work you just have too much going on you can't handle it and you tell your colleague I'm at my wits end and I just don't know what to do most of the time you will use this phrase to talk about yourself your own frustration therefore you're going to use the possessive adjective my I'm at my wits end but you can use other possessive adjectives as well his wits end her wits end your wits end and keep in mind when pronouncing this phrase more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in wits with the beginning vowel sound in N witsend I'm at my witsend I'm sorry I'm at my wits end Sally I think she may need private school if there's anybody who could understand what I'm going through it's you and to tell you the truth I'm I'm at my Wit's End I am I am really sorry about this I'm just at my wits end with these two then we have to second guess this means to criticize or question a decision after it has been made and typically you say what's wrong with it so let's say that you make a decision and then I am telling you like well why did you make this decision what were you thinking did you consider this in that case I am second guessing your decision so it really has a negative connotation keep in mind this phrase may also be used with a reflexive pronoun when we're just not confident with the decision that we've made if I said well why did I do this that was a dumb mistake what was I thinking I am second guessing myself I think everyone can relate to this and I'm sure at some point in your life you have second guessed yourself for pronunciation I just want you to know that the final D in second may get muted because of Aion this is when sounds or syllables get removed and this may occur with the t or d when they come between two consonants think about the phrases old car or next day you don't really hear the t or d nor do you hear it when I say second guess to second guess someone don't second guess yourself you made the right call cautious not cautious enough I'm already second guessing myself and that's the last thing a captain could afford hey I figured out on my first job when a little creative thinking on my part almost got me not paid never second guess a client heads up this is a phrase that I use all the time and it's a warning that something is going to happen usually so you can prepare for it and I might use this you know I'm out walking with my wife on the street and I see a bike coming down the sidewalk and I say heads up and she tells me well why don't you just say there's a bike coming down the sidewalk and I tell her that's too long you got to be concise fast efficient heads up now I want you to know that this phrase is often used with the verb give to give someone one a heads up it's a common collocation so I will give you a heads up when the next vocabulary video comes out I will also give you a heads up when I start my next speaking course and I will give you a heads up when this lesson is getting ready to come to an end when pronouncing this phrase you guessed it more linking may occur we can link the final consonant sound in heads with the beginning vowel sound in up heads up to give some one a heads up Mak Not freak out it's not my responsibility to care a heads up heads up hey wonderful but before you fully commit I should probably give you the heads up my plan is very elaborate and you might get a little messy I'm in it's the highest and then there's to foot the bill this means to pay the bill for something especially something expensive now I want to clarify how you would use this phrase because if um you go out to an expens expensive restaurant with a group of people you're not really going to say well who's going to foot the bill but you may use it when talking about things that are a lot more expensive think about education or travel I could say my parents foot the bill for my college education go Buffs or if you are going to travel for work I might ask you is the company going to foot the bill for your trip it's expensive there are multiple things you may pay for flight hotels is the company going to foot the bill the other thing I want to point out with this phrase and you may have noticed it with the examples is that you're really going to use this when talking about paying the bill for someone else so my parents foot the bill for my education or the company foot the bill for your business trip so so keep that in mind when using this phrase here are some other examples I'm sorry Alex so much for attorney client privilege not when I'm footing the bill one call to the town they'll declare that thing a hazard and they'll rip it down themselves and they'll foot you with the bill I'm renting a yacht and I'm calling all our friends and we're taking a yacht to Catalina and you're coming and I'm putting the whole freaking bill you know what now for a little review so I'm giving you a heads up that the lesson will end shortly and I hope that you will cut me some slack because I'm sure that you want to continue learning more useful phrases but we've we've talked about quite a few already I don't want to overwhelm you therefore I decided to air on the side of caution because I believe that's what good teachers do and I certainly don't want to think that I'm your average run-ofthe-mill teacher but you can let me know down in the comments feel free to chime in with your thoughts but if you would like to continue learning watch another one of my video lessons make that decision don't second guess yourself continue watching and learning so I'm going to stop dragging my feet and wrap things up if you enjoyed the lesson and learned something new please hit that like button as always thank you so much for watching and I will see you next time so long

Channel: Interactive English

Views: 41,571

Keywords: interactive english, learn advanced vocabulary, advanced vocabulary in english, c2 vocabulary english, c2 vocabulary, advanced phrases in english, c2 phrases in english, c2 phrases, advanced vocabulary, advanced phrases, advanced phrases vocabulary, build vocabulary, useful english phrases, learn c2 phrases, learn c2 vocabulary, learn advanced vocabulary in english, advanced english phrases, english phrases, idioms, english idioms, vocabulary, english vocabulary

Id: _Cq_ZTH2SOc

Length: 17min 11sec (1031 seconds)

Published: Wed Feb 21 2024