10 Slang Words: Love & Relationships

Learn American English slang words about relationships

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Learn 10 American English slang words and expressions about relationships! Read the slang words and example sentences, listen to the pronunciation and repeat the words and sentences out loud to improve your English speaking.

To “hit on” someone means to flirt with, to say or do things that demonstrate romantic interest.

“I wish Peter would stop hitting on me. I’m just not interested in him.”

To “make out” with someone is to kiss passionately.

“When I was a teenager, I’d make out with my boyfriend in the back of his car so that my father wouldn’t see us!”

 If you “hook up” with someone, it means you have casual sex. “Hook up” is usually something you do after going to the bar or a party. In general, it is one night of sex, not in a committed relationship.

“She got drunk and hooked up with some guy she met at the bar.”

 A man who is a “player” is a man who has relationships with many women or someone who “plays” with women’s emotions. “Player” is generally a negative word.

“I don’t think Rob’s good boyfriend material. He seems like a player.”

 If a woman gets “knocked up,” it means she got pregnant – often unintentionally (without wanting or planning to). 

“Amanda got knocked up by a famous actor, but he claims he’s not the father of the baby.”

 Be careful – “Knocked up” is not a very nice expression. Don’t say it about yourself, and never say it directly to a pregnant woman.

If a woman “wears the pants” in a relationship, it means she has more control of the relationship than her boyfriend or husband.

“Peter’s wife is the one who wears the pants in the family – she makes all the important decisions.”

 An “old flame” is a person with whom you had a romantic relationship in the past.

“Many affairs start when the husband or wife receives a message from an old flame on Facebook.”

 If one person “dumps” their boyfriend or girlfriend, it means they end the relationship.

“Susan dumped her boyfriend after she caught him kissing another girl.”

“Dump” is a rather strong word, usually meaning that the relationship ended badly. If you want to describe the end of a relationship with a more neutral phrase, you can say “She broke up with her boyfriend.”

To “patch things up” is to resolve problems or conflicts in a relationship.

“My aunt and uncle were having some problems in their marriage last year, but they’ve patched things up.”

Quiz: American English Slang Words - Relationships

http://www.espressoenglish.net/slang-words-relationships/

Common Mistakes

Estou estudando todos os dias para melhorar meu inglês."

Não diga: “I’m studying every day for improve my English.”

Diga: “I’m studying every day to improve my English.”

As palavras TO e FOR são frequentemente confundidas. Aqui estão algumas regras:

Use TO para:

1. Destino
   (We’re going to Paris. = Nós vamos para Paris.)
2. Horas
   (It’s a quarter to 2. = São quinze para as duas.)
3. Até
   (We’ll be in the office from 5 to 6. = Estaremos no escritório das 5 às 6.)
4. Comparação
   (I prefer sleeping to working. = Prefiro dormir a trabalhar)
5. Destinário 
   (I gave the present to her. = Dei o presente a ela.)
6. Motivo – seguido por verbo 
   (I came here to see you. = Vim aqui para ver você.)

Use FOR para:

1. Destina-se a pertencer a alguém 
   (This is for you. = Este é para você.)
2. Período de tempo 
   (We’ve lived here for 2 years. = Moramos aqui há 2 anos.)
3. Agendamento 
   (I made an appointment for May 3. = Marquei um encontro para 3 de maio.)
4. A favor 
   (Are you for or against nuclear arms? = Você é a favor ou contra armas nucleares?)
5. Em nome de – para ajudar alguém 
   (Could you carry these books for me? = Você pode carregar estes livros para mim?)
6. Motivo – seguido por substantivo 
   (Let’s go out for a drink. = Vamos sair para um drinque.)

Como você pode ver da regra #6, TO ou FOR podem ser utilizados no caso de um motivo, mas TO é sempre seguido por um verbo, e FOR por um substantivo. Mais um exemplo pode ajudar:

• I came to New York to work. (Vim para Nova Iorque para trabalhar.)
• I came to New York for a new job. (Vim para Nova Iorque para um novo trabalho.)

10 English Idioms with Color

Are you ready to learn some colorful English idioms?

Enjoy this lesson with 10 idiomatic expressions based on color!

red tape

“Red tape” refers to complicated, inefficient bureaucracy that stops things from getting done. For example, if you’re trying to open a company, but all the rules and documents make the process very difficult, you could say:

“It took me 10 months to open my company because of all the red tape.”

You can remember this idiom because red is a color that often means “stop,” and tape is an item that holds things in one place.

red-carpet treatment

When a celebrity or someone very important arrives, it’s common to use a special red carpet for that person to walk on:

So giving people extra-special treatment is called giving the red-carpet treatment or rolling out the red carpet. 

green thumb

The color green is often associated with plants and nature. If a person has a green thumb, it means they have a great ability to make plants grow:

My aunt has quite the green thumb – she grows all her own vegetables in her garden.

give the green light

When a traffic light turns green, it means “go”:

So if you are working on a project and your boss gives you the green light, it means he gives his permission or approval for the project to proceed.

out of the blue

If something happens out of the blue, it means it happens completely unexpectedly. For example, imagine you have an old friend who hasn’t contacted you in a very long time – and then one day, you get a letter from her. You might say:

I hadn’t heard from Jennifer in years – and then she contacted me out of the blue.

until you are blue in the face

This idiom means for a very long time. It comes from the fact that if you hold your breath for an extremely long time, the lack of oxygen makes the skin on your face turn blue. Let’s say you’re arguing politics with your brother, and you strongly oppose his views. You could say:

You can argue until you’re blue in the face, but I’m still not going to agree with you.

brown-bagging

This expression means to make your own lunch at home and bring it to work (or to another place) – instead of buying food at a restaurant. The idiom comes from the brown paper bags that are often used to pack lunches:

Here’s an example sentence:

Brown bagging your lunch can save you thousands of dollars per year.

white knuckle

The joints between your fingers and the palm of your hand are called knuckles (the first “k” is silent!):

If you hold onto something extremely tightly, your knuckles turn white. So if you “white knuckle” something, it means you survive an extremely stressful experience.

For example, if you took a taxi through a dangerous area, and the driver was going very fast and out of control, you would be nervous that the car might crash. Afterwards, you could say:

That sure was a white knuckle ride!

grey area

The color grey is a mix between black and white – it is a color that is in the middle of these two extremes. If something is described as a grey area, it means that it is ambiguous or not well defined. Sometimes people describe complex moral or ethical issues as “grey areas” if there are no clear or obvious answers.

pot calling the kettle black

If there’s a situation in which Person A is accusing or attacking Person B for something that also applies to person A, we say that’s the pot calling the kettle black. 

For example, let’s say there’s a man named John who is always late for work. One day, John’s colleague David arrives late, and John yells at him for being late. That is “the pot calling the kettle black,” because John is guilty of the same thing!

A pot is a metal instrument used to cook food, and a kettle is used to heat up water for tea. In the past, both of these items were usually black:

Image source

That’s why “the pot calling the kettle black” is used to describe one person criticizing another person for a characteristic that they both share.

Phrasal Verbs with Emotions

Are you ready to have some fun with phrasal verbs? Here are 10 common phrasal verbs related to emotions and attitudes, with definitions and example sentences:

1. cheer up

When you're feeling sad, and then you start to feel happy again, you're starting to cheer up. This phrasal verb is often used to encourage other people to have a more positive attitude. For example, if your daughter is sad because she did badly in a swimming competition, you can say:

• "Cheer up - you'll do better next time!"

You can also do things to help cheer another person up- imagine your brother is depressed because he broke up with his girlfriend. You could say:

• "I'm going to take my brother to a basketball game to help cheer him up."

2. lash out at (someone)

When someone suddenly and unexpectedly speaks to you in an angry way (or yells at you), they are lashing out at you. For example, if your best friend tends to get angry and impatient when her life is very busy, you could say:

• "My best friend always lashes out at people when she's under a lot of stress."

3. crack up

To crack up is to suddenly start laughing (we also say "burst out laughing.") For example, if something funny happens during English class, you could say:

• "The whole class cracked up when the teacher spilled her coffee all over her desk."

4. calm down

The phrasal verb calm down is used to describe theprocess of going from angry/agitated to more relaxed/calm. For example, if your boss is having a really bad day, and he's screaming at everybody in the office, you could say:

• "I'm staying away from the boss until he calms down."

5. choke up

When you feel such strong emotion that it's difficult for you to talk, this is called choking up. Imagine you are listening to a speech, and the speaker is talking about his mother, who he loved very much and who died recently. He stops talking for a moment because of all the emotion. You could then say:

• "He choked up when he started to talk about the last Christmas he spent with his mother."

6. let (someone) down

To let someone down is to disappoint someone. Imagine you forgot your wedding anniversary, and your wife is sad and disappointed that you didn't do anything to celebrate. You could say:

• "I'm really sorry. I know I let you down."

7. grow on (someone)

When you don't like something at the first impression, butgradually you begin to like it more and more, that thing has grown on you. For example, imagine you don't like opera music the first time you hear it. However, over time, you begin to think "it's not so bad..." and then after a while you think "hey, I actually like this music." You could say:

• "At first I didn't like opera, but then it grew on me."

8. bottle up

To bottle up your emotions is to keep them inside and not express them. For example, imagine your have a friend who is going through many difficult situations, but he never talks about the problems, and he pretends that everything is OK. You could say,

• "It's not healthy to bottle up your feelings like that."

9. goof off / goof around

These phrasal verbs mean to act silly - not being serious. For example, if there are three students in your class who are always talking and laughing during the lesson, passing each other notes, watching videos on their cell phones, etc. - and not listening to the teacher - the teacher might say,

• "Pay attention and stop goofing off!"

10. lighten up / loosen up

These phrasal verbs mean to take things less seriously, not be so rigid and humorless. When someone is TOO serious, and they seem incapable of smiling, laughing, or being relaxed, you can say:

• "She really needs to lighten up!"

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