Nicknames for America
Today’s post is about all the different nicknames that Americans have for their country.
Nicknames for America
Have you ever asked someone where they are from and they answered “the States,” and you wondered, huh…? What state? Where? What does that even MEAN!?
Well, that’s because Americans have many different nicknames for their country. Before you come and study in the U.S., learn more about those names. To avoid future confusion, and maybe to even sound a little more fluent, here are the most popular names for America!
And on that note, today is America’s Independence Day, so Happy July 4th everyone! 🇺🇸
The United States of America
The full, official name of the country, as it’s written on our money and government buildings
The United States
A shorter but still pretty formal way to refer to the country.
America
We often just call the country America. Some of our neighbors in the other countries of North and South America object to our claiming this name, but it’s what we say!
The U.S.
A very common way that many Americans answer the question “Where are you from?”
U.S.A.
This one isn’t so common in speech, but it’s good for when you need to be a little bit clearer. Common in signs and Olympics chants!
The States
A very common, informal abbreviation.
U.S. of A.
A little funny and artistic. We don’t say this too often, but in songs where you need to make U.S.A. into four syllables, this does the trick!
The Land of Opportunity
An old nickname for the U.S. Still true?
The Melting Pot
This nickname refers to the fact that America is a land of immigrants who come together to produce a new culture. Recently, its been proposed that perhaps a stew is a better metaphor, showing that people don’t just “melt” and assimilate, but retain the beautiful aspects of their home culture.
‘Murica
This is a funny one, mimicking the lazy pronunciation you might hear from some hillbillies or rednecks. Often used to make fun of overly patriotic people.
Other English Resources
The Idiomatic Fridge
English Idiom - The Idiomatic Fridge
We came across this fantastic cartoon by John Atkinson, from his site Wrong Hands, and thought it would be the perfect topic for a vocabulary lesson. It’s called The Idiomatic Fridge because all of the “foods” in here are actually idioms in English!
Before we get started, take a look! Do you know any of these?
fish out of water
icing on the cake
piece of cake
top banana
second banana
tall drink of water
milk and honey
full of beans
bowl of cherries
bunch of baloney
whole enchilada
small potatoes
bad apples
good egg
big cheese
Definitions and Example Sentences
top banana 🍌
The idiom top banana is used to describe the best or most popular person in a show, group or organization.
Of all the comedians in the world, Robin Williams was the top banana. Would you agree?
second banana 🍌🍌
Going hand in hand with top banana is second banana which means the second best or most popular person in a show group or organization.
President Obama was top banana, but he would be nowhere without his second banana, Vice President, Joe Biden.
whole enchilada 🌮
The whole enchilada is a funny way of explaining that something is complete and comes all packaged together.
When considering vacation packages, I decided to go for the whole enchilada and get a deal that included the room, transportation to the airport, and unlimited food and alcohol. I didn’t regret it, I had an amazing trip!
small potatoes 🥔
If something is small, insignificant, or cheap, we might say that it’s just small potatoes.
The price we pay for health insurance is small potatoes compared to what we would pay for medicine without it.
bad apples 🍎
If a bad apple is stored in a container with good apples, it will typically cause the other apples to rot faster. Someone who is very negative can make people around them very negative as well, so we call a negative or badly behaved person a bad apple or a rotten apple.
Joey always complained about his homework in class, and then I started noticing my other students didn’t want to do their work either. I think he’s a bad apple!
good egg 🥚
A good egg is pretty much the opposite of a bad apple. If you someone is just all around (like an egg!) a nice, helpful, and responsible person, he or she is considered a good egg.
When I broke my leg, my neighbor mowed my lawn and made me dinner without me even asking! What a good egg!
big cheese 🧀
If someone is very important and successful, we might call them the big cheese, or a big shot.
After Alex got promoted, he thought it was the big cheese around the office, but he quieted down once he realized he still wasn’t such a big shot...
tall drink of water 🚰
This isn’t an expression that we use very often anymore, but it’s still a funny one! If someone is very beautiful, handsome, and overall just very attractive, you could say that they are a tall drink of water. Imagine drinking a tall glass of water on a hot day. This is how some people feel when seeing someone very attractive!
Even after all these years of marriage, when my wife comes into the room I still think she’s a tall drink of water!
milk and honey 🥛 🍯
This term is used to explain a land that has plenty of everything that you could possibly need to survive, and is therefore considered a perfect place to live.
When I moved to Florida, it had everything I could want, beaches, friendly people, and good food! I thought it was the land of milk and honey until I realized that I missed snow!
full of beans 🥫
If you have a ton of energy, are very happy, and can't sit still you’re full of beans.
On this beautiful summer day, we were full of beans and couldn't wait to go play outside!
bowl of cherries 🍒
When something is very nice, and everything is going perfectly in your day, or your life, we might say that it’s like a bowl of cherries.
Today I found $100 on the sidewalk! Life is a bowl of cherries!
However, this expression is actually used more often in a sarcastic or ironic way, meaning exactly the opposite of perfect.
My car broke down, and I was late for work so I lost my job. Life is a bowl of cherries, huh?
bunch of baloney 😡
If someone is telling you lies, or a fake story, we call this a bunch of baloney.
The car salesman promised me a good price on a car, but when I went to actually buy it, it was much more expensive than he originally said. What a bunch of baloney!!
fish out of water 🎣
A fish out of water is very uncomfortable, doesn’t know what to do and usually can’t survive. When someone is in a situation that they are unfamiliar with, or very uncomfortable with, we call them a fish out of water.
When Lexi visited China for the first time, she felt like a fish out of water because she didn't know anyone, couldn't speak Chinese, and had no idea where to find her hotel.
icing on the cake 🎂
This is another idiom that can be used positively or sarcastically. The icing on the cake is the colorful, sugary cream that goes on the top of the cake. It is the last thing done to make the cake look perfect.
We use this positively to talk about the final thing that made a situation just perfect:
The dinner was already amazing, but the waiter gave us a free bottle of wine, which was really the icing on the cake.
We also use it negatively, sarcastically, or ironically when a situation seems like it can’t get any worse, but then it does:
It rained on my wedding day, my mom couldn’t come because her flight was delayed, and the caterer canceled but the icing on the cake was that my husband got food poisoning! It’s ok though, the honeymoon was amazing!
piece of cake 🍰
Something that is very easily accomplished or achieved is known as a piece of cake.
I got the job! I had the right qualifications and had great answers prepared for their questions, so the interview was a piece of cake.
Other free English resources:
Idiomatic Fridge
Check out this blog post to learn what "going hand in hand" means!
What is a Free Demo Class, Anyway?
Free Demo Class
You may have seen this button on the Ginseng homepage and wondered, what is a "free demo"? What happens if I click this button!? Is it really FREE? Are there any strings attached? What happens next? Well, let me see if I can help to answer your questions!
We think our classes are pretty great, but you can't know that this is true unless you try one out, right?! That is where a free demo class comes in.
Demo is short for demonstration, which means we are showing you something. You might go for a demo, or a test drive, at a car dealership if you're thinking about buying a car, or you could get a free demo of a new computer software that your company is considering buying.
A "demo class" at Ginseng is a short, 30 minute sample of an online class class. You get to meet one of our teachers, see some of our fancy materials, and check out the follow-up emails we'll send you.
So, what happens when I actually click that button?
When you click on this button, you will need to fill out a short form and then I will get an alert from you. But wait, who am I?! Great question.
My name is Sarah, and I work for Ginseng. It is my job to help you with pretty much anything that you need from our online English school! You can ask me anything you want about our school, and I will do my best to help you out!
When I receive your free demo request, I will e-mail you to set up a time to video chat 📹 to learn more about what you are looking for. We can talk on Skype, Google Hangouts, WeChat, WhatsApp, Facetime—you name it!
I'll ask you questions about yourself, like:
- Where are you from?
- How long you've been studying English?
- Why is learning English important to you?
- What part of English do you want to study the most?
- What time is good for you to have classes?
(It's ok if you don't know, or even if you just want to study EVERYTHING!)
It is up to you to choose what you want your free class to be about. It can be focused on just about anything English, such as pronunciation, grammar, writing and conversation! We will also talk about what times are good for your free class.
After we speak, I will talk to our team here at Ginseng and find you the best online English teacher for your educational goals, and your availability.
But wait, is it really free?
Yes! Your 30 minute demo class is completely free. If you like what you see, we would love for you to share Ginseng English with your friends, and maybe even sign up for a class or two!
Ok, Now you've got me curious...
Great! So, take a moment to click the "request demo" button and fill out the form. Soon, you'll be hearing from me! Who knows, we might even become friends!
👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽👇🏽
Studying with Ginseng is easy! Click the FREE DEMO CLASS button to request your demo. Then you will get an email from one of our staff to schedule your class. Then just log in and meet your teacher! | ||
| Request Demo Class | Meet Ginseng Teacher | Schedule First Class! |
| 1 | 2 | 3 |
If have any questions about Ginseng, e-mail me at sarah@ginse.ng
My name is Sarah and I have 8 years of experience working with international students studying in the United States, most recently at Berklee College of Music in Boston. I share your passion for adventure, and am currently traveling through Asia as part of the Ginseng English Anywhere tour!
Describing People in English
This article introduces basic vocabulary for describing people in the English language, including adjectives, words for features, and words for clothing items.. This article is appropriate for beginner and low-intermediate ESL students.
If you are studying English online by yourself, a good place to start is by learning how to describe the people around you, your friends, your family, and yourself!
In this post we introduce over 40 vocabulary words for describing people in English, along with 6 sentence frames to use them in. The first three sentence frames are basic (level A1). The other three are a little more advanced (level A2-B1). All of the vocabulary is basic (levels A1 to A2). (If you don't know what A1 and A2 and B1 and B2 mean, learn about the CEFR!)
Note: Reading this article in English will be difficult for A1 and A2 students. We will soon translate this article into many different languages!
What is a Sentence Frame?
Sentence frames are a really useful way to learn how we speak English. A sentence frame is a sentence with an empty slot that many different words can go in for many different situations. For example, if you learn the sentence frame I feel [ADJECTIVE], you can make hundreds of different sentences. All you need to do is learn a new adjective that fits in that slot: I feel hungry. I feel tired. I feel angry. I feel sick. At a basic level, sentence frames are a great way to learn English!
Frame #1 - Basic Sentences for Describing People
The first three sentence frames we will look at are simple sentences. One of the most common ways to describe people is with adjectives: tall, short, fat, skinny, pretty, handsome, ugly. To use these common adjectives in a sentence, try this frame:
The man is [ADJECTIVE].
The man is tall. The man is fat. The man is ugly. The man is in shape. These are all good sentences in English.
It is important to know that The man is another slot that you can change. The woman is tall. My friend is tall. My dad is tall. Jane is tall. She is tall. You can put any person in that slot.
Now let’s take a look at some adjectives describing people that can fit into this slot:
| Word | Pronunciation | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| tall | /tɔl/ | greater in height than the average person; not short |
| short | /ʃɔrt/ | lesser in height than the average person; not tall |
| thin | /θɪn/ | not having lots of extra flesh; not fat |
| fat | /fæt/ | having lots of extra flesh; not thin |
| old | /oʊld/ | having lived many years; not young |
| young | /jʌŋ/ | not having lived many years; not old |
| in shape | /ɪn ʃeɪp/ | healthy and physically strong |
| out of shape | /aʊt ʌv ʃeɪp/ | not healthy or physically strong |
| beautiful | /ˈbjutəfəl/ | attractive; good looking (mainly for females) |
| ugly | /ˈʌgli/ | not attractive; not good looking |
| handsome | /ˈhænsəm/ | attractive; good-looking (usually for males) |
| bald | /bɔld/ | not having hair on the top of the head |
Frame #2 - Basic Sentences Describing Features
The next basic sentence frame for describing people in English focuses on a specific feature: glasses, curly hair, black hair, blue eyes, a mustache, a ponytail. To talk about a person’s features, use this sentence:
The woman has [FEATURE].
With this sentence frame, you can make lots of different sentences:The woman has curly hair. The woman has glasses. The woman has long hair. The woman has a ponytail.
Again, you can change the person slot as well: The man has long hair. My friend has long hair. My sister has long hair. Clara has long hair.
Here are some features (nouns or nouns with adjectives) that can fit into this sentence frame:
Frame #3 - Basic Sentences Describing Clothes
The last sentence we will talk about for describing people focuses on clothes. Who doesn’t love clothes!? Black shoes! Gray pants! Blue ties! Green skirts! But let’s make complete sentences with them. Here is the sentence frame:
The woman is wearing [CLOTHES].
And here is a list of clothes that can go into this sentence:
All of these clothing items can be used with color words to be even more descriptive. The woman is wearing black shoes. The man is wearing a yellow tie.
So, those three sentence frames, combined with this vocabulary, allow you to make hundreds of different sentences to describe people. If you are a beginner, and this is mostly new information for you, you can stop here.
But, if you know most of this stuff, and you want to learn some more advanced English sentences, read on!
Complex Sentence Frames Describing People
The first three frames talked about nouns, features, and clothes, in that order, right? The next three frames will be used to talk about the same three things, but in a more complex way. All of the same vocabulary from the sections above can be used with the next three frames, in the same order.
In the first three sentence frames, the main idea of each sentence was describing people. The sentences were about describing people. The thing that I want to tell you about the man is that he is tall. But sometimes we want to describe people in a sentence about something else, and the description is not the most important idea in the sentence. For example, maybe I want to tell you that the man is my neighbor, but I also want to mention that he is tall. These next sentence frames will help in situations like that.
Frame #4 - Adjectives Before Nouns
Let’s use that example. The I want to tell you that the man is my neighbor, and I also want to describe him as tall. I can put the adjective before the noun: The tall man is my neighbor. You can also put any of the other adjectives from above into that slot.
The [ADJECTIVE] man is my neighbor.
The handsome man is my neighbor. The old man is my neighbor. The fat man is my neighbor. And again, the end of the sentence (which we call the predicate) is a slot, too, and you can put different verbs in there: The tall man likes football. The tall man is eating. The tall man has a car.
Frame #5 - Features and With
If you want to talk about someone’s features in that same sentence, we need to use the preposition with. We could say The man with glasses is my neighbor. Any of the other features can go into that same slot:
The man with [FEATURE] is my neighbor.
The man with red hair is my neighbor. The man with a mustache is my neighbor.
Frame #6 - Clothing and in
When we want to talk about clothes, we need another preposition. Instead of with, we use in. The man in the blue shirt is my neighbor. Any of the clothing vocabulary above can go into that same slot:
The man in [CLOTHES] is my neighbor.
The man in the tie is my neighbor. The man in the grey pants is my neighbor. The woman in the red hat is my neighbor.
Wrap-Up
That's it! Study these six sentence frames and the vocabulary, and you can now make hundreds of new sentences to describe people! Check back soon and we'll have a quiz to check what you have learned!
Rob Sheppard is the founder and Chief Executive Teacher at Ginseng. Over the past ten years, he has taught English in Taiwan, South Korea, and his hometown of Boston. Now he teaches online at Ginseng while traveling the world.
You can email Rob at rob@ginse.ng.
More free English Vocabulary Resources
The Most Common English Adjectives
If you want to quickly expand your English vocabulary, adjectives are a great place to start! Adjectives are a really important part of speech. An adjective is a word used to describe a noun.
It is a good idea to focus on the most common ones in the language. Below are lists of the 50 most common words in both American and British English.
| No. | Adjective |
|---|---|
| 1 | OTHER |
| 2 | NEW |
| 3 | GOOD |
| 4 | AMERICAN |
| 5 | GREAT |
| 6 | BIG |
| 7 | HIGH |
| 8 | OLD |
| 9 | DIFFERENT |
| 10 | NATIONAL |
| 11 | SMALL |
| 12 | LITTLE |
| 13 | BLACK |
| 14 | IMPORTANT |
| 15 | POLITICAL |
| 16 | SOCIAL |
| 17 | LONG |
| 18 | YOUNG |
| 19 | RIGHT |
| 20 | BEST |
| 21 | REAL |
| 22 | WHITE |
| 23 | PUBLIC |
| 24 | SURE |
| 25 | ONLY |
| 26 | LARGE |
| 27 | ABLE |
| 28 | HUMAN |
| 29 | LOCAL |
| 30 | EARLY |
| 31 | BAD |
| 32 | BETTER |
| 33 | ECONOMIC |
| 34 | FREE |
| 35 | POSSIBLE |
| 36 | WHOLE |
| 37 | MAJOR |
| 38 | MILITARY |
| 39 | FEDERAL |
| 40 | INTERNATIONAL |
| 41 | TRUE |
| 42 | FULL |
| 43 | HARD |
| 44 | SPECIAL |
| 45 | RECENT |
| 46 | RED |
| 47 | OPEN |
| 48 | PERSONAL |
| 49 | GENERAL |
| 50 | CLEAR |
| No. | Adjective |
|---|---|
| 1 | OTHER |
| 2 | NEW |
| 3 | GOOD |
| 4 | OLD |
| 5 | DIFFERENT |
| 6 | LOCAL |
| 7 | GREAT |
| 8 | SMALL |
| 9 | SOCIAL |
| 10 | IMPORTANT |
| 11 | NATIONAL |
| 12 | HIGH |
| 13 | BRITISH |
| 14 | POSSIBLE |
| 15 | LARGE |
| 16 | RIGHT |
| 17 | LONG |
| 18 | LITTLE |
| 19 | YOUNG |
| 20 | POLITICAL |
| 21 | ABLE |
| 22 | GENERAL |
| 23 | ONLY |
| 24 | PUBLIC |
| 25 | AVAILABLE |
| 26 | FULL |
| 27 | EARLY |
| 28 | BEST |
| 29 | BIG |
| 30 | MAIN |
| 31 | MAJOR |
| 32 | ECONOMIC |
| 33 | SURE |
| 34 | REAL |
| 35 | LIKELY |
| 36 | BLACK |
| 37 | PARTICULAR |
| 38 | INTERNATIONAL |
| 39 | SPECIAL |
| 40 | DIFFICULT |
| 41 | CERTAIN |
| 42 | CLEAR |
| 43 | WHOLE |
| 44 | FURTHER |
| 45 | WHITE |
| 46 | OPEN |
| 47 | EUROPEAN |
| 48 | FREE |
| 49 | CENTRAL |
| 50 | SIMILAR |
Most of the most common adjectives are the same in the US and the UK (78% of the top 50 and 92% of the top 25 words appear in both lists). Notice that American is the 4th most common adjective in American English and British is the 13th most common adjective in British English. We shouldn't read too much into these simple lists, but it is interesting to note that military, federal, and personal all appear in the American list. Do you notice any other patterns?
That's all for now! Start studying!
If you're looking for something similar, check out the most common verbs in English.
Sources: The primary sources for compiling this article were the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA) and the British National Corpus.
more free english tips
Parts of a Laptop
English Vocabulary - Parts of a Laptop
Today lets learn English words to talk about parts of a laptop. As you may know, a laptop is a computer you can close like a book and take with you. Larger computers that you cannot take with you are called desktops, because they sit on top of a desk. A laptop sits on top of your lap (your lap is the upper part of your legs, which is horizontal when you sit!
The part of the laptop that you look at is called the display. Display is also a verb: your computer displays pictures, videos, and websites. Some people call this a screen, too. Screen is a more general word—your TV has a screen, there is a screen at the movies—but display is better for computers. On most laptops, there is an area around the display that doesn't show pictures, like a frame. We call this the bezel. In the middle of the bezel, above the display, you probably have a webcam: a camera that you can use on the web.
The part of the laptop with the letters is called the keyboard. A board is a flat surface, and this board is covered with buttons called keys; that's why we say keyboard! In front of the keyboard is a touchpad, which you can touch to move your cursor (the arrow on your computer screen).
On the sides of the laptop (not shown in this picture) you may have many different ports to plug in your power cord, headphones, or a USB cord.
More free English resources
Parts of a Laptop Computer
10 Trending Words That Aren’t in Your Dictionary
10 TRENDING WORDS THAT ARE NOT IN YOUR DICTIONARY
Welcome to the first post in English written by Yentelman, the blogger who's been helping Spanish students with their English (and even their Spanish!) for quite a few years now. I was asked by my friends here at Ginseng English to adapt a few of my posts to English and—this being something that had been in my mind for some time— what could I say but "of course!" So, here we are. And, what am I going to talk about? Well, there were plenty to choose from but, considering the time of the year we're in, why not have a look at the most surprising words trending from 2017? (Note: You can read the original article in Spanish here).
Dictionary.com analysed the top 10 trending words in 2017. But not just any trending word—only those that are not currently included in the dictionary. We'll explain here what those events or movements were that made these words "go viral." Let's see!
1. Antifa
OK, as some of you may know—or may have already noticed—I'm a Spaniard. And this term, antifa, is fairly well-known in my mother tongue, as it has the same meaning, and is quite trendy as well. The Antifa movement in the USA, though, is slightly different from the one in Spain. It is a conglomerate of several anti-fascist (hence anti-fa) groups, with no formal organization nor official leader. With the antifa movement being quite active and on the rise in my home country, we Spaniards tend to believe that Anglo-Saxon countries are not so keen on them. Quite the opposite, the antifa movement is quite active overseas, and is composed of people from different ideologies, mainly anarchists, socialists and communists, but there are also liberals and social-democrats among their ranks. An odd mixture, tbh.
The main reasons for this trending word in 2017 were the numerous violent protests and demonstrations carried out during the summer in cities such as Charlottesville, Phoenix and Berkeley. The first one was particularly infamous due to the brutal confrontations between Antifa and white supremacists. Donald Trump has also been known to talk a lot about Antifa. So, there's another good reason for this word to be trending in 2017, just like our next word...
2. Covfefe
Now, there's this term I absolutely love in the English language: brain fart. That is NOT our next trending word, but it does accurately describe this and other statements from the current U.S. president. Donald Trump's famous tweet was published on May 31, 2017, and it immediately became the trending word of the moment. Half of Twitter and journalists from all over the world couldn't make up their minds as to whether it was a joke or he had really meant to send some obscure message to the reptilian government in the shadows.
Even the famous Merriam Webster dictionary—frequent fact-checker and internet troll to The Donald—was left speechless for once (see Tweet to the right).
To this day, we still don't know what the heck Donald Trump meant to say with that word. The most likely explanation is that covfefe was a typo of coverage (negative press coverage is a common phrase), but instead of clarifying, the president’s press secretary cryptically said “a small group of people know exactly what he meant.” Anyway, it was worth it if only for the LOLs.
Wakes up.
— Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) May 31, 2017
Checks Twitter.
.
.
.
Uh...
.
.
.
📈 Lookups fo...
.
.
.
Regrets checking Twitter.
Goes back to bed.
3. Cuck
Short for cuckold, this term has clearly pejorative and negative connotations. A cuckold is a husband who has been cheated on. The word stems from a 13th century poem, and is derived from cuckoo, the well known bird you can find in the clock of the same name. It wasn't until 2014 that the shortened cuck started getting popular on the Internet, too as an insult aimed at a certain type of male.
Here I intended to include a pic for cuck, but it just so happens that cuck is also a porn subgenre, and my safesearch was not enabled...
According to Michael Adams, professor of linguistics at Indiana University, shortening the term so it rhymes with fuck makes it more visceral. According to Adams, the name makes reference to a man "who’s timid, deferential and lacking in toughness and conviction […] it says you’re an unnatural man, someone who can’t stand for himself […] He’s inadequate, unable to hold on to what’s his."
Donald Trump is again behind cuck becoming one of the top trending words in 2017. This is a word that you might want to avoid using. It has become the insult of choice for members of the so-called Alt-Right (another one of the most looked up words), a political group composed of racists and fascists.
4. Despacito
Yep, kids. The title of Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's song is the fourth word in this list. I guess it was because of the version with that tool Justin Bieber in it. Yeah, I know I should now include the song's video-clip and all that, but I can't be arsed. I'd rather you guys listened to a couple of my favourite versions of the song. Cue video!
You may not find the definition of despacito in an English dictionary, but it translates to slowly.
5. Fidget spinner
Can you believe these things existed as far back as 1993? You wouldn't guess, judging by how recently they have become the most sought-after toy in 2017. Who knows why. Truth is, fidget spinners have become so popular among kids (and adults!) that many education institutions have decided to ban their use in class. Fidgeting is moving around restlessly, like many kids do when they’re bored at school. These spinning objects were sold as toys that can help kids to focus by using up their nervous energy.
6. Hygge
Am I an influencer yet?
No, when we talk about hygge we are not talking about the latest IKEA chair or wardrobe. This one's a Danish word, used to describe a special feeling or moment as cozy, charming, or special. Look it up in Google Images and you'll likely start puking rainbows.
It seems there's no direct translation for this term in English (there isn't one in my mother tongue either). We'd be speaking about a feeling, a sentiment or emotion. It is this lack of an exact definition and the association of the word with nice thoughts and ideas which made this a top trending word in 2017. Why? Because some sly marketing experts realized they could capitalize on this word to sell Americans basically everything, from wine to self-help books, wool sweaters, age treatment oils, idyllic holidays and even dog leashes.
7. Smize
You NEED to be Tyra Banks, otherwise it's not the same.
This is a portmanteau word created by supermodel Tyra Banks and meaning "smile with one's eyes". There's even a Wikihow guide on how to do it.
The thing is, it was actually 2009 when Tyra coined the term. Why, then, has this become a trending word in 2017? Easy: by the end of July 2017, the model introduced her 18-month-old toddler into society. Up to that point, the kid had been left outside the spotlight. So Tyra came up and said that her baby already knew how to smize, and it promptly went viral. You can see for yourself in the video below.
Yeah, I know. The kid in the pic appears to be more stoic than Steven Seagal in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. But he is smizing! He's smiling with his eyes! For fuck's sake, can't you see?
Meh, who am I kidding. I wasn't able to look away from that dress either.
8. Turnt
An example of teenage slang that shows the influence of social networks and everything social-media related on youngsters today. This term is used to express great excitement, anticipation or enthusiasm for an upcoming event. It is, allegedly, a variant of turned. Even though it first became popular in the music world around 2013, it's been this year when teenagers have really adopted it as their own and made it a trending word.
9. Vax
Short for vaccination, this expression has been widely used in 2017, the year when the so-called anti-vaxxers have finally exhausted the patience of many governments in Europe and around the world, who have started fining those irresponsible parents who decide not to vaccinate their children.
Using unfounded and outlandish arguments such as the one in the gif above ("vaccines cause autism in children"), the anti-vax movement is behind the recent outbreak of diseases such as measles, mumps or polio in many countries who had successfully managed to eradicate them long ago. This link will take you to a detailed map of the evolution of these diseases, so you can see what I'm talking about.
Just so you know, I don't usually discuss my beliefs openly on such topics as religion, politics, sports or adding chorizo to paella. But I'll be crystal clear this time: If you are an anti-vaxxer and my comments offend you, I don't give a frag.
10. Welp
Let's get this over with already, shan't we? The last top trending word of 2017 is another teenage slang term you can frequently find in that new agora of culture and knowledge: Twitter (yes, I'm being sarcastic). It is said that welp is the oral way of expressing what is implied by a shrug. Actually, it is just an informal synonym for well when conveying surprise or shock at something, as well as an interjection to start a conversation or introduce a new sentence. For example:
"Welp, what have we here?" Star Wars reference nº 4,815,162,342
Its use is becoming more and more popular, to the point that Merriam Webster (yes, the guys who bust Trump's stones) is thinking about including the term among their pages. However, until that happens, it is still little more than internet slang, even if it's older than most people are aware of.
So that's it. I hope you liked the post and, just in case… is there a word you have been reading or listening to a lot this year which has not been included here? Any you've been using a lot lately while not being sure if you're pulling a Donald Trump? Don't be shy and let us know!
Parts of a Bike
English Vocabulary - Parts of a Bike
As you probably know, bike is a common short word for bicycle in English. Let's build our bicycle vocabulary by learning English names for parts of a bike!
The place where you sit is the seat, just like at the movies or in a car. You put your hands on the handlebars. Notice that this word is a combination of two other useful words: handle (something you hold in your hand) and bar (a long straight piece of metal). You put your feet on the two pedals.
The word bicycle actually means two (bi-) wheels (cycle). The rubber part of the wheel that touches the ground is called the tire. The thin metal pieces that connect to the middle of the wheel are called spokes.
The pedals connect to the rear wheel with a chain and many different circular gears. All of this is held together on a metal frame, the red part in this picture.
More free English vocabulary resources
Take a look at the different parts of a bike in English!
Parts of a Shoe
English Vocabulary - Parts of a Shoe
Next up in our Ginseng English series Parts of a... is shoes! Do you know the names for the parts of your shoes? Read on and you soon will!
Three parts of a shoe actually have the same names as parts of your body. The toe is the part of the shoe where your toes are. The heel is the part of the shoe where your heel (the back of your foot) goes. The third one is a little less expected. The part on top that comes from the inside is called the tongue! Your foot doesn't have a tongue of course, but this part of the shoe looks a little like a tongue! 👅
On top of the tongue, the strings that you tie together are called the laces. Finally, the part on the bottom that touches the ground is called the sole of the shoe.
Other free English vocabulary resources
Parts of a House
Across the world, everyone has some kind of home, though they all look very different! This post will describe the parts of a typical American house.
Parts of a House
Let's take a look at some common words to describe parts of a house!
To go into a house, you use the door. Many houses have a front door and a back door. When you want to look outside, you can look out the window. Windows bring in lots of light and make a house brighter. If it's too bright, or if there's a storm, your house might have shutters on each side of the windows. If you shut the shutters, the windows are protected, and it becomes darker inside.
On the top of each house is a roof. The roof keeps you dry if it is raining! The roof is supported by walls.
Some houses have a fireplace inside so that you can have a fire to keep warm. But if you have a fireplace, it is important to have a chimney, too! The chimney takes smoke from the fire outside so your house isn't smoky!
Things In A Living Room
Let’s talk about the things in this living room. But, before we even get to that, you may be wondering, what exactly is a living room? Well, in America, we call the room where the family hangs out and relaxes the living room. The living room is usually on the first floor of the house. 🏡 There are typically comfortable chairs or couches in it, and it is just a nice room to spend time together. 👨👩👧👦
Take a look at the picture, and follow with me as we go left to right identifying things in this living room.
First you will see a floor lamp. A lamp is the machine that makes light, usually with a lightbulb. 💡 This type of lamp is called a floor lamp because it sits on the floor.
This family really likes a bright room because they have 3 lights in it! Next to the pole lamp is the overheard light. Overhead means over your head! 👆🏼 You may remember this from the Ginseng Blog post “Things in the Kitchen.” This overhead light is hanging above the couch.
Next to the overheard light is a nice piece of art or artwork. 🖼 You can also call this a painting. 🎨
To the right of the artwork is the bookcase. A bookcase is a piece of furniture that is usually tall and made out of wood, and we put books on, or other things that we want to display or organize.
This bookcase has a small pink lamp on top of it. Next to the lamp is a house plant. 🌿 A house plant is just what it sounds like, a plant that lives in your house! This room actually has a couple of house plants.
On the second shelf from the top there two vases. 🏺🏺 Vases are containers for plants or flowers. But some are just decorative, meaning they don’t actually hold flowers. They just look pretty!
Under the vases and books are two more house plants, including a cactus.🌵 A cactus is that plant that grows in the desert and has sharp spikes on it.
In the middle of the room is the big soft piece of furniture that we all love to sit on. In America we call this either a sofa or couch. 🛋 A couch can usually fit two or three people on it. On the couch you will find throw pillows which are usually just decorative! Under the throw pillows are the cushions which are the big soft pillows that are a part of the couch.
Things In A Living Room 2
Here is a different living room, with some new English vocabulary for you. Let’s start in the center of this picture and work our way around it. In the center, you will see a piece of art with trees on it. 🖼🌳 You can also call this a painting.
To the right, we have a bookshelf. In the picture above, we talked about a bookcase. A bookcase is a piece of furniture that has many bookshelves in it. But you can also just have a bookshelf on your wall, like we see here! On this bookshelf, you will find a blue vase and are a couple of books ⚱️📚.
On the floor, under the artwork is a lounge chair. A lounge chair is different from a couch because it usually fits only one person. Lounge means to to sit back and relax, which is exactly what you’re supposed to do in a living room! On the lounge chair there are two throw pillows.
Next to the lounge chair is a footrest. A footrest is a small piece of furniture next to a chair that you can rest (or relax) your feet on. On top of the foot rest is a cushion.
To the left of the lounge chair is a side table. We call it a side table because it is a small table that we keep on the side of a couch or chair. On top of the side table is another vase with some flowers. 💐Next to the flowers is an old radio, which plays music or the news. 📻
Things In An office
Now you will learn all about the things in a typical American office! An office centers around the desk, which is the big piece of furniture in the middle of this picture that everything sits on.
On the top of this picture you’ll see an overhead light hanging from the ceiling. It is casting a pleasant glow of light over the desk. Good lighting is very important in an office!
Right under the light is a wall clock. We call this a wall clock because it is hung on the wall. Instead of the usual numbers on this clock, there are Roman numerals. This clock is showing that it is almost 11:20. We could also say that it is twenty past eleven, or almost half past eleven.
To the right and left of the clock are shelves.
On the right shelf there are books stacked on top of each other, and also leaning against one another. To the right of the books is an organizer. We can’t see what’s inside of it, but my guess is that there are office suppliesinside. Common office supplies are rubber bands, which are those stretchy rubber strings that hold things together, paper clips, which are wire devices used to hold sheets of paper together, and maybe some stamps for mailing letters.
Note that office supplies are different than office equipment. Office supplies, as mentioned above, will be used up and need to be replaced or replenished. It is usually someones job as office manager to re-order the office supplies. Office equipment, such as the lamps, desks, chairs, and computers, are things that will (hopefully!) last much longer and only need to be replaced every five or so years.
On the left shelf there are decorations or artwork.
Underneath the right shelf is a small plant, or to be more specific, a cactus. Everyone needs to stay caffeinated while working, so of course, there is a a mug of coffee (or tea!) on the desk next to the plant!
To the left of the coffee cup is the desktop computer. We call it a desktop because it sits on top of the desk! This is different than a laptop, which is portable, and can sit in your lap.
Hanging on the desktop is a pair of headphones to listen to music. There is also a mouse, sitting next to the computer. If you notice, neither of these have wires or cords coming out of them, which means that they are wireless and connect to the computer using bluetooth.
Stuck on the computer is a Post-it ® note. We use these, or sticky notes, to write ourselves reminders of tasks or information that we don’t want to forget! Another important office item to help us stay organized is a calendar. A calendar keeps track of the date so that we can make sure to meet our deadlines.
To the left of the calendar you will see a pencil holder or jar which holds more office supplies: a pair of scissors, a ruler, pens, and pencils.
Underneath the desk there is desk chair which is hopefully comfortable! You'll also see a trash can, or garbage can to put unwanted things in to be thrown out.
Lastly there are electric outlets underneath the desk which are used to plug the cords or wires into the wall. On this electric outlet there is a power strip, something that is used to turn one outlet into many so that you can plug multiple devices into the wall.
The style in this office is modern and minimal, which means it is very simple with clean lines and muted colors. You'd probably see furniture exactly like this at Ikea!
Things In A Bedroom
This has been a super long post and you’re probably ready for a nap now! Let’s wrap up this post by talking about the bedroom.
The most important thing in a bedroom is the bed, so let's start there!
In the center of the room you can see the bed. For your reference, when talking about a bed, we typically call the top of the bed where your head goes the head of the bed and the bottom of the bed where your feet go is known as the foot of the bed.
A bed has different parts. There is the bed frame, which sits on the floor and holds the mattress, the soft thing that we sleep on! Bed frames can be made out of wood or metal. At the head of the bed, there is a piece of furniture called the headboard. According to Wikipedia, bed frames "historically, served to isolate sleepers from drafts and cold in less insulated buildings, and thus were made of wood." Nowadays, we hope that your room is warm enough that the headboard is just decorative!
The bed has two blue pillows on it at the head of the bed. On top of the bed there is a nice warm bedspread, or blanket. We can also call this a comforter, or a duvet cover.
At the foot of the bed, on the floor, you will see a box with a cushion on top. This box can open up and be used to hold things. We might call this box either a an ottoman or a hope chest.
You might notice that both the bed and the stool have legs which are the little pieces of wood that hold the furniture off the ground.
Things in a Kitchen
More free English Vocabulary Resources
Parts of a Car
Basic English Vocabulary - Parts of a Car
Welcome to the first post in a new series on basic vocabulary from the Ginseng English Blog: Parts of a... Today, let's look at some useful vocabulary for the outside of a car!
On a car there are four tires, two front tires and two rear tires. Front and rear are useful words when we talk about cars. A car has two bumpers to protect you in an accident: a front bumper and a rear bumper. Above the bumpers are lights. There are headlights at the front of the car, and taillights at the rear of the car. On each side of the car is a side-view mirror, to help you see behind you. Inside the car is a rear-view mirror, too.
What other car vocabulary do you know? What do you want to know? Comment below!
More free online English posts
Basic Geometry Vocabulary
Basic geometry vocabulary
Rob from Ginseng English recently took a trip to Shanghai and recorded a lesson on geograph—err, geometry vocabulary. Take a moment and have a look!
Geometry Vocabulary List
Vertical (adj.) - positioned up and down rather than from side to side; going straight up
Horizontal (adj.) - positioned from side to side rather than up and down; parallel to the ground
Diagonal (adj.) - not going straight across or up and down
Beam (n.) - a long and heavy piece of wood or metal that is used as a support in a building
Post (n.) - a piece of wood or metal that is set in a vertical position, especially as a support or marker
Narrow (adj.) - long and not wide
Wide (adj.) - extending a great distance from one side to the other; not narrow
Free Vocabulary Resources
If you're trying to improve your English vocabulary online, check out these other free vocabulary resources from the Ginseng English Blog:
British Bad Words
One of the most interesting and difficult things about learning a new language is learning which words are bad, and how bad they are. If you learn English, for example, we have the words crap and shit. Both have the same meaning, but shit is a much stronger word. Your mom might tell you not to say shit, but most people don't mind crap.
A recent article at British newspaper The Indepedent describes a survey that was done by the British government's Ofcom (of + com = office of communications). This office decides what language is okay to say on TV. In the UK some language and content is acceptable after 9:00, when most kids are not watching, but not okay before that.
In the survey, they asked 200 people to rank bad words. Different rankings were mild (not bad, okay for kids), medium (maybe okay on TV before 9:00pm), strong (mostly okay on TV after 9:00pm), strongest (never okay before 9:00, generally okay after).
Here's the full list (sorry Mom! 🙊)
If you like this, check out these other great English posts!
Most Common English Verbs
30 Most Common English Verbs
Many students ask which words they should learn first. On strategy is to focus on the most commonly used words. Check out this list of the 30 most common verbs in the English language! The verbs are listed in their base form, present tense, past tense, and perfect forms.
Words that are more common will generally be more useful, so it's a good idea to learn more common verbs first! Get to know these verbs first to make the most of your new vocabulary as you learn English.
What patterns do you notice in the list of verbs?
There is a general rule in languages (sometimes called Zipf’s Law or The Principle of Least Effort) that predicts that more commonly used words will tend to be shorter. And, as you might expect from that, the first 20 most common verbs are all only one syllable.
You may also notice that 19 of the verbs on the list are irregular verbs.
Note that verbs that work only as auxiliaries and modals (such as can and will) have been removed from this list. Verbs that act as both auxiliaries and main verbs have been left in. Data for this table came from the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).
List of 30 Most Common English Verbs Conjugated
If you like this, check out these other English grammar posts!
Language Learning Quotes
Learning a new language isn’t always fun and easy. Sometimes, it can be exhausting, frustrating and even infuriating! Here are some inspirational quotes about learning a new language that will hopefully cheer you up and might even remind you of why you’re learning a new language in the first place!
Language Learning Quotes
Learning a new language isn’t always easy. Sometimes, it can be exhausting, frustrating and even infuriating! Here are some inspirational quotations about learning a new language that will hopefully cheer you up and might even remind you of why you’re learning a new language in the first place!
Benefits of Language Learning
Just a quick Ginseng English post to share this great quote from an article in Fast Company about three benefits of language learning:
"New languages give you opportunities to shift your perspective on the world."
Do you agree? How has learning English changed your perspective?
WRITE TO EXPRESS, NOT IMPRESS
With the strong emphasis on vocabulary in standardized tests, it is not a surprise that many students thing that good writing is about big words. It isn't. Big words can be nice, when used correctly, but never forget that the primary reason we write is to communicate, to express. Only add the big words if they enhance and clarify your meaning, not to impress people with your big vocabulary while learning English!
IS CODING MORE IMPORTANT THAN ENGLISH?
Apple CEO Tim Cook caused some controversy this week when he said that he believes learning coding is more important for students around the world than learning English. His exact words are below:
“If I were a French student and I were 10 years old, I think it would be more important to learn coding than English. I’m not telling people not to learn English—but this is a language that you can [use to] express yourself to 7 billion people in the world. I think coding should be required in every public school in the world.”
There were different responses to Cook's words. Some people agreed, and some think he is wrong. Fortune said, "Acquiring coding skills makes financial sense," because coding can help you get many high-paying jobs. But, as Quartz points out, "it’s very difficult to become a good or even decent programmer without working knowledge of English."
What do you think? Is coding the language of the future, or will English remain important?
The Most Important Profession
Ridley Scott—the film director most well known for Blade Runner—just made a powerful statement about teaching at the The British Academy Film Awards after being awarded a BAFTA fellowship.
Scott says, "It's extraordinary what an enthusiastic teacher can do, drawing the student out, igniting independence, and encouraging a design of your own future, rather than waiting for something to happen. Teaching is the most important of all professions. Sort that out and social problems will get sorted out."
We couldn't agree more (but maybe we're biased!). What do you think?
THE QUIRKS AND BENEFITS OF RAISING BILINGUAL CHILDREN
In an article from The Economist, Lane Green discusses the strategies, challenges, and rewards that he and his Danish-speaking wife observe while raising their two children in a bilingual home. His son makes some cute errors, applying the grammar of Danish to English vocabulary, resulting in phrases like "Come heredown."
This interaction between two languages is called language transfer and many English learners do the same. Spanish and Portuguese speakers will often say to their teacher, "I have a doubt," when the more natural English phrase would be "I have a question." Chinese speakers will often use back as a verb, as they can in Chinese, creating sentences like "I back my home."
In the Economist article, Green mentions misguided teachers and doctors who warn parents to only speak the majority language with their children. This is based on the false idea that bilingualism can somehow harm children. The fact that children are learning two vocabularies simultaneously means that they might make errors (like "heredown") that their monolingual peers do not. But this is a temporary delay.
The research in fact supports the Greens' intuition, that bilingualism has many cognitive benefits. These include "enhanced attention control," “enhanced perceptual attentiveness,” and better spatial reasoning, among many others.
In the second half of the article, Green discusses some fascinating research on the development of bilingual children's minds. Read the whole article at the Economist!
TWAIN ON LETTER WRITING
This Mark Twain quote is one of our favorites as a Ginseng English teacher:
“I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
The phrasing is counterintuitive: we are inclined to think longer equals more time. But that's where the true insight of the quotation lies. Writing is deceptive in its simplicity, and anything but linear. Being concise requires more effort in the form of editing and organizing thoughts than simply pouring your thoughts out onto the page.