Are you ready to expand your vocabulary? Let's talk about it.

Vanessa: Last week I shared a 90 minute English conversation

between my husband, Dan and I, where we talked about 12 different topics. In this way, you

could immerse yourself in English for an hour and a half, and learn over 200 new expressions.

In today's lesson, I'm going to take 25 of those expressions and explain them in detail.

I'll be explaining each new expression and then after my explanation, you're going to

see a clip from the original conversation with Dan. If you haven't watched that conversation

and make sure you do that. Vanessa:

Let's get started with the first one. Number one: To look like. To look like. In the conversation

with Dan, I said, "I mostly look like my mom," and this is talking about my physical appearance.

I resemble my mom. Or we could say, "It looks like it's going to rain. The sky looks similar

to the way that it looks when it's going to rain." So we have two things that look similar.

"It looks like it's going to rain," or "I mostly look like my mom." Let's take a look

at the clip from the original conversation so that you can see how it was used.

Dan: So appearance, I look mostly like my mom,

I think. Vanessa:

Okay. Dan:

I have more of her skin tone. I have her eyes. So appearance, I look mostly like my mom,

I think. Vanessa:

Okay. Dan:

I have more of her skin tone. I have her eyes Vanessa:

Number two: To a T. To a T. What is T? This is an idiom and it means perfectly. Exactly.

If we say, "She looks like her mom to a T," that means she looks like her mom exactly.

We often use this to talk about directions or to follow some instructions. So the teacher

might say, "You need to follow these instructions to a T. If you don't follow them to a T, you're

going to fail the exam." So you need to follow the instructions exactly. Follow them to a

T. Let's take a look at the clip from the conversation.

Vanessa: I think I look a lot like my mom.

Dan: Yeah, she looks exactly like her mom. They're

like to a T. Vanessa:

I think I look a lot like my mom. Dan:

Yeah, she looks exactly like her mom. They're like to a T.

Vanessa: Number three: Off the charts. This is a fun

idiom and it means more than expected. Dan said, "Her enthusiasm was off the charts."

We can imagine that maybe you're in some kind of business meeting and there's a chart that

shows some progress of the product that you're selling, and then all of a sudden the line

goes off the chart. That means that it was more than you expected. You didn't even have

a chart big enough to show the growth of that product, but it doesn't need to be a product

that we talk about. Instead, it could be enthusiasm. "Her enthusiasm was a way more than I expected.

It was off the charts." It doesn't need to be a positive thing though. You could say,

"Our heating bill was off the charts last month." That means it was so high that I could

have never expected that it would be so high. "Our heating bill was off the charts. It was

incredibly high." Vanessa:

All right, let's watch the original clip. Dan:

She was like bouncing. Vanessa:

I always have a lot of enthusiasm. That's true.

Dan: It was off the charts. She was like bouncing.

Vanessa: I always have a lot of enthusiasm. That's

true. Dan:

Yes, it was off the charts. Vanessa:

Number four: A gray area. The word gray, this color, it's not black, it's not white, it's

in the middle. So we're talking about something that's not clearly defined. It's not black

and white. It's gray. In the conversation with Dan, we said that, "The area between

childhood and adulthood is kind of a gray area. It's not that one day you wake up and

you're an adult. No, it's kind of a gray area." There are a lot of things in life that are

not clearly defined, especially when it comes to values or morals. So you might say, "Sharing

pictures of your child on social media is a gray area. Some people think it's not a

good thing. Some people think it is a good thing. Some people feel like, I don't know

what to think. It's kind of undefined. This is a new territory for new parents." This

is a gray area. All right, let's watch the original clips that you can see how it was

used. Vanessa:

Yeah, I think you can still be an adult just making your own decisions, but we still need

help from other people as adults, so it's a gray area.

Dan: Sure. Yeah.

Vanessa: Yeah. It's not so clear. I think you can still

be an adult just making your own decisions, but we still need help from other people as

adults, so it's a gray area. Dan:

Sure. Yeah. Vanessa:

It's not so clear. Vanessa:

Number five: To be paid under the table. Does this mean that Dan's boss literally gave him

money under the table? No. This just means that he was paid illegally. He wasn't officially

on a register as an employee of that restaurant. Instead, they just gave him cash. To be paid

under the table. When he said, "I was paid under the table," that was most likely because

of his age. I think he was probably too young to be officially an employee, and that's kind

of common in the US that if you get a job when you're too young, the boss will probably

just pay you in cash under the table, or if you have an odd job. Odd jobs are often paid

under the table. If you're babysitter, if you walk your neighbor's dog you're not going

to get a tax form that says you are the babysitter for this person. No, it's just between two

people. They just give you cash, or maybe they write you a little check, a personal

check. It's paid under the table. Vanessa:

All right, let's watch the clips that you can see how this was used.

Vanessa: Things you don't want to know when you visit

a restaurant. Dan:

And I was was paid under the table. Vanessa:

Oh really? Dan:

Mm-hmm (affirmative). Vanessa:

Why did they have to pay you under the table? Dan:

I don't know. Vanessa:

Things you don't want to know when you visit a restaurant.

Dan: And I was paid under the table.

Vanessa: Oh really?

Dan: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Vanessa: Why'd they have to pay you under the table?

Dan: I don't know.

Vanessa: Number six: The meat. This is a little bit

of a funny metaphor here. We're not talking about meat like chicken or beef or pork. Instead,

we're talking about the majority of something. Usually we talk about the majority of money

or of revenue. Vanessa:

So Dan said that, "The meat of our tourism is nature in the US. Yeah, people go to New

York or LA, but a lot of people visit the US to see nature. This is the majority of

our tourism. The meat of our tourism." Or you might say, "Selling pottery is the meat

of the craft shops revenue. A craft shop might sell quilted things, or knitted scarves, or

paintings, or pottery, but if they sell a lot of pottery, if the pottery is really what

helps them to pay the bills, then that's the meat of their revenue." We might say, "Selling

pottery is the meat of the craft shops revenue." All right, let's watch the clips that you

can see how this expression was used. Vanessa:

I feel like a lot of tourism is natural tourism. Dan:

Yeah. The meat of our tourism is nature. Vanessa:

I feel like a lot of tourism is natural tourism. Dan:

Yeah. The meat of our tourism is nature. Vanessa:

Number seven: To crash somewhere. This doesn't mean that you're breaking or destroying something.

Instead, it's just an informal expression that means you're going to arrive somewhere.

It doesn't need to be arriving somewhere uninvited, but it does have this casual feeling to it.

So we could say, "We're going to crash their vacation." Dan and I were talking about how

his parents have a vacation planned to go to Hawaii, and he was trying to scheme a way

that we can go, they can watch our kids, and we can go and have fun on vacation. This is

not a positive situation. This isn't really probably going to happen, but we said, "We're

going to crash their vacation." We're going to arrive informally and kind of break into

the middle of their vacation and change their plans. Or we could use this in a less extreme

and just say, "If you need somewhere to stay, feel free to crash at my house."

Vanessa: Maybe if you're taking a long road trip and

halfway through the road trip you're going to be passing near where one of your friends

lives. That friend might say, "Oh, it's too far to go in one day. You can just stop at

my house and then drive the next day." So you might say, "You can crash at my house."

This means you can sleep there, you can just relax because driving all that distance in

one day is too much. "Feel free to crash at my house if you need to." All right, let's

watch the clips that you can see how this fun expression was used.

Dan: But if my parents are there-

Vanessa: They can watch our kids.

Dan: They can watch the kids!

Vanessa: So we're going to crash their vacation and

make them watch our kids? Dan:

But if my parents are there- Vanessa:

They can watch the kids. Dan:

They can watch the kids! Vanessa:

So we're going to crash their vacation and make them watch our kids?

Vanessa: Number eight: You can't go wrong with. This

means that it's impossible to make a bad decision about something. So I said, "You can't go

wrong with salmon. Salmon is a tasty food. Really any way that you cook it is going to

be great." So I said, "You can't go wrong with salmon." Or if there's something else

that everybody loves, it's impossible to do it incorrectly. You might say, "Oh, you can't

go wrong with a beach vacation. The beach will always be nice. It doesn't matter what

your plans are. If you just want to chill on the beach, or if you want to do a lot of

stuff, or go alone, or go with a lot of people, you can't go wrong with a beach vacation."

I hope you feel that way about my lessons. "You can't go wrong with Vanessa's lessons."

That means that any lesson that you watch, you'll learn a lot and hopefully have a good

time. All right, let's watch the clips that you can see how this expression was used.

Vanessa: Ah, yeah. Well, I think you can't go wrong

with Salmon. Dan:

Yeah, but it's just a very healthy meal that tastes very filling and fulfilling.

Vanessa: Ah, yeah. Well, I think you can't go wrong

with salmon. Dan:

Yeah, but it's just a very healthy meal that tastes very filling and fulfilling.

Vanessa: Number nine: To make it work. To make it work.

Does this have to do with going to work and having a job? No. Instead, we're talking about

succeeding even though there's some difficulties. So when we were talking about our office space

that we used to film in, Dan said, "We made it work." That means we made the small space

of the office acceptable for what we needed. "We made it work. The small space was difficult,

but we still tried to succeed." We made it work. Or if you want to have a little bit

of a longer sentence, you might say, "Having a long distance relationship is really tough,

but we will make it work." If your boyfriend is planning to 300 miles away and you're not

going to see him as often, you might say, "Oh yeah, it's so tough to have a long distance

relationship, but don't worry we will make it work. We are going to succeed despite the

difficulties." All right, let's watch the clip.

Dan: She used to film in a closet.

Vanessa: It wasn't a closet, but it was a really small.

Dan: Two closets combined.

Vanessa: Yeah, it was like a little triangle room.

Dan: It was very small.

Vanessa: But-

Dan: Hey, we made it work.

Vanessa: Yeah. It worked. We made it work.

Dan: She used to film in a closet.

Vanessa: It wasn't a closet, but it was a really small.

Dan: Two closets combined.

Vanessa: Yeah, it was like a little triangle room.

Dan: It was very small.

Vanessa: But-

Dan: Hey we made it work.

Vanessa: Yeah. It worked. We made it work.

Vanessa: Number 10: Where on earth? This is a fun,

shocked statement. Where on earth did you hear that? It means that you are completely

shocked that someone said something to you. Where on earth did you hear that? That sounds

like it's absolutely crazy. Or if you get a package in the mail, you might say, "Where

on earth did this package come from?" You're not actually talking about the globe, the

world, the earth. You're just saying, "I have absolutely no idea where this package came

from. Where on earth did this come from?" This is a really fun expression. It's a casual

expression, but it's a fun way to show shock. "Where on earth did you hear that?" All right,

let's watch the clips that you can see how it was used.

Dan: Me and my siblings, we all just made fun of

her. We were like, "Mom, you just made that up. Where on earth did you hear that?" But