English Slang

 As good as your textbooks are, chances are they devote very little attention to the use of informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the English language. Yet, slang is everywhere and you need to be familiar with at least some of it to be able to fully understand and speak English. Slang expressions are usually particular to specific subcultures. For instance, the expression “up your sleeve” came from gambling and used to mean a powerful card that a player holds on to win a hand. Now, it refers to any hidden strength or unfair advantage. Another slang phrase, “go postal,” which means to be completely outraged, derives from the mass murder acts committed by the U.S. postal workers when they killed police, coworkers and supervisors. Some words and expressions we use on a daily basis once were slang, too, and then became so common that it’s hard to believe they were not always a part of normal, standard English speech. New York’s preferred schedule, 24/7, is one of those expressions. Slang is precise and descriptive. Don’t own any clothing save for that from Abercrombie & Fitch? Then don’t be surprised when your friends start calling you an Aberzombie.

If you are interested in learning more about modern urban lingo, you should definitely check out Urban Dictionary. The website is largely based on community collaboration so should you come up with a new expression you want everyone to use, you can go ahead and create a new entry. The website also has a blog which makes for a very fascinating read.

How To Increase Your English Vocabulary

Do you dislike reading because a lot of words are unfamiliar to you? Do you often find yourself at loss for words not due to emotional duress but simply because you don’t know how to say what you want? Don’t worry — many people, and even native speakers, are no strangers to this phenomenon. Fortunately, there is a way to overcome this weakness. Good working vocabulary is one of the defining factors in your success as an ESL Student. Of course, that does not mean you should start memorizing dictionary entries in alphabetical order. As we might have mentioned before, a bit of creativity and a lot of dedication go a long way toward your progress with studies. What if new words, along with their etymology, meaning and pronunciation, were selected at random and sent to you every day and all you’d have to do was to read and memorize them and then impress your friends and classmates with your English vocabulary? You can’t perfect your English overnight, but what you can and should do is to learn a little every day, so let’s start with an absolute minimum – one word.
Dictionary.com Word of The Day
Here you can sign up for a daily email and learn new words as well as the ways to use them in the sentence. Dictionary.com is a website you should definitely consider bookmarking for it offers a truly comprehensive array of linguistic tools, from thesaurus to an online translator. The website also has a “Did you know?” section where you can learn very interesting facts about words, such as what pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, which is the longest word in the English language, means.
Merriam-Webster.com Word of The Day
This is a great subscription service offered by Merriam-Webster Dictionary, owned and operated by the world-famous Encyclopedia Britannica.  Visited by over 40 million people every month, the site is one of the most popular and comprehensive vocabulary resources on the web. The print edition of the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary is one of the all-time bestselling American books.
A Word A Day
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