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Real English, explained plainly

Idioms, phrases, and grammar that confuse learners, explained the way a native speaker would, not a textbook.

Workplace

39
My boss said 'let's circle back on that' - what does it mean? Is 'per my last email' passive aggressive? My manager keeps saying 'let's take this offline' - what does it mean? My colleague said she doesn't have the 'bandwidth' - is that a tech thing? What does 'low-hanging fruit' mean in business? What does 'move the needle' mean? My boss said we need to 'do a deep dive' - what does that mean? Why do people say 'going forward' instead of just 'in the future'? What is a 'pain point' in business English? What does it mean to 'loop someone in' on an email? What is a 'ballpark figure'? My manager said I 'dropped the ball' - is that an insult? What does 'pushback' mean at work? What does 'hit the ground running' mean? What does 'game-changer' mean? What does 'keep me in the loop' mean? What does 'blue sky thinking' mean? What does 'pivot' mean in business? What does 'buy-in' mean at work? What does 'red flag' mean? What does 'boil the ocean' mean in business? What does 'scalable' mean in business? What does 'siloed' mean at work? What does 'best practice' mean? What does 'deliverable' mean in business English? What does 'stakeholder' mean in business? What does 'bottleneck' mean in business? What does 'benchmark' mean in business? What does 'synergy' mean? What does 'proactive' mean? What does 'leverage' mean in business English? What does 'onboarding' mean in business? What does 'follow up' mean in business English? What does 'due diligence' mean? What does 'at capacity' mean? What does 'take this forward' mean? What does 'next steps' mean in business English? What does 'in the pipeline' mean? What does 'sign off on' something mean?

British English

37
What does 'fair enough' mean? Why do people say 'no worries' instead of 'you're welcome'? Why do British people say 'cheers' for everything? What does 'gutted' mean in British English? What does 'sorted' mean? My British friend says it all the time. What does 'chuffed' mean? What does 'I reckon' mean? What does 'do you fancy' mean in British English? What does 'bloody' mean in British English - is it a swear word? What does 'mate' mean in British English? What does 'keen' mean - is it always about enthusiasm? What does 'proper' mean as British slang? What does 'alright' mean when British people say it as a greeting? What does 'ta' mean? What does 'dodgy' mean? What does 'knackered' mean? What does 'cheeky' mean? What does 'gobsmacked' mean? What does 'brilliant' mean in British English? It seems to mean more than clever. What does 'bloke' mean? What does 'quid' mean? What does 'fortnight' mean? What does 'miffed' mean? What does 'posh' mean in British English? What does 'faff' mean? What does 'ace' mean in British English? What does 'bits and bobs' mean? What does 'shambles' mean? What does 'skint' mean? What does 'a do' mean in British English? What does 'having a go' mean in British English? What does 'give it a miss' mean? What does 'nicked' mean in British English? What does 'sacked' mean in British English? What does 'mint' mean as slang? What does 'chancing it' mean? What does 'off you go' mean?

Idioms

42
What does 'bite the bullet' mean? What does 'it's up in the air' mean? What does 'sitting on the fence' mean? What does 'spill the beans' mean? What does 'throw someone under the bus' mean? What does 'get cold feet' mean? What does 'burning your bridges' mean? What does 'does that ring a bell' mean? What does 'hang in there' mean? Why do you say 'break a leg' instead of 'good luck'? What does 'it costs an arm and a leg' mean? What does 'once in a blue moon' mean? What does 'the elephant in the room' mean? What does 'under the radar' mean? What does 'the ball is in your court' mean? What does 'every cloud has a silver lining' mean? What does 'think outside the box' mean? What does 'Catch-22' mean? What does 'tip of the iceberg' mean? What does 'a blessing in disguise' mean? What does 'get out of hand' mean? What does 'in the same boat' mean? What does 'hit the sack' mean? What does 'sit tight' mean? What does 'get the ball rolling' mean? What does 'cut to the chase' mean? What does 'miss the boat' mean? What does 'on thin ice' mean? What does 'rule of thumb' mean? What does 'off the top of my head' mean? What does 'let the cat out of the bag' mean? What does 'back to square one' mean? What does 'piece of cake' mean? What does 'under the weather' mean? What does 'the whole nine yards' mean? What does 'the lay of the land' mean? What does 'that ship has sailed' mean? What does 'call it a day' mean? What does 'kill two birds with one stone' mean? What does 'barking up the wrong tree' mean? What does 'a penny for your thoughts' mean? What does 'bite off more than you can chew' mean?

Grammar

40
Americans say 'I could care less' but shouldn't it be 'I couldn't care less'? I used 'actually' and my colleagues seemed confused - what does it really mean? My teacher said 'eventually' doesn't mean what I think - what's the difference? What does 'sensible' mean in English? It doesn't seem to mean what I expected. When do you use 'make' and when do you use 'do' in English? I always confuse them. What is the difference between 'say' and 'tell' in English? What is the difference between 'lend' and 'borrow'? I always confuse them. What is the difference between 'bring' and 'take'? When do you use 'since' and when do you use 'for' with the present perfect? What is the difference between 'used to', 'be used to', and 'get used to'? What's the difference between 'affect' and 'effect'? What's the difference between 'its' and 'it's'? What's the difference between 'there', 'their', and 'they're'? When do you use 'less' and when do you use 'fewer'? When do you use 'who' and when do you use 'whom'? Why do people write 'could of' instead of 'could have'? What's the difference between 'boring' and 'bored'? What's the difference between 'lie' and 'lay'? What's the difference between 'your' and 'you're'? What's the difference between 'hear' and 'listen'? What's the difference between 'see', 'look at', and 'watch'? What's the difference between 'speak' and 'talk'? What's the difference between 'hard' and 'difficult'? When do I use the present perfect tense in English? What's the difference between 'may' and 'might'? What's the difference between 'despite' and 'although'? What's the difference between 'unless' and 'if not'? What's the difference between 'I wish' and 'I hope'? When do I use 'so' and when do I use 'such'? What's the difference between 'too' and 'very'? When do I use 'either/or' vs 'neither/nor'? What's the difference between 'by' and 'until'? What's the difference between 'during' and 'for' with time? What's the difference between 'already', 'yet', and 'still'? When do I use the present simple vs the present continuous? What's the difference between the past simple and past continuous? What's the difference between 'will' and 'going to' for the future? What's the difference between 'should' and 'ought to'? When do I use 'much' and when do I use 'many'? What's the difference between 'few' and 'a few'?

Confusing Words

21

American English

19

Phrasal Verbs

50
What's the difference between 'give up' and 'give in'? What does 'take off' mean? It seems to have many meanings. What does 'carry on' mean? What does 'fall out with someone' mean? What does 'work out' mean? It seems to mean different things. What does 'get away with it' mean? What does 'put up with' mean? What does 'run into someone' mean? What does 'it fell through' mean? What does 'get on with someone' mean? What does 'look up to someone' mean? What does 'sort out' mean? What does 'back down' mean? What does 'pick up on something' mean? What does 'hold on' mean? What does 'lay off' mean? What does 'make up' mean? It seems to have many meanings. What does 'come across' mean? What does 'let down' mean? What does 'wrap up' mean? What does 'take on' mean? What does 'bring about' mean? What does 'crack on' mean? What does 'look into something' mean? What does 'build up' mean? What does 'call off' mean? What does 'bring up' mean? What does 'put off' mean? What does 'go through' mean? What does 'come up with' mean? What does 'figure out' mean? What does 'look after' mean? What does 'set up' mean? What does 'wear out' mean? What does 'turn down' mean? What does 'catch up' mean? What does 'give away' mean? What does 'fit in' mean? What does 'hold back' mean? What does 'fall behind' mean? What does 'move on' mean? What does 'stand out' mean? What does 'take back' mean? What does 'point out' mean? What does 'put forward' mean? What does 'go ahead' mean? What does 'run out' mean? What does 'pull off' mean? What does 'draw up' mean? What does 'blow up' mean?

Social English

20

Business Writing

11

Expressions

27

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