Say What?
EVERYDAY ENGLISH EXPRESSIONS EXPLAINED
I have had this project on the back-burner for awhile now. This new Blog provides a perfect opportunity to flesh this project out into reality. It will either turn out to be a nice little hobby or, if carried to the ultimate, a published book.
This particular page on my site is NOT for
everyone. That's probably true of all of them. But maybe this one in
particular. There will be hard core base of people who will love this,
but a majority probably will not care for it. It's not for the faint
of heart.
I've spent several years developing this list of English expressions, and while not everyone will enjoy exploring them, I am absolutely sure that if you've lived in the United States for any length of time, or if you've been here since birth, you have used at least SOME of these in your daily conversations.
Why am I so sure of this ? First of all, because of my perception and experiences. I've become more sensitive to these expressions since I began researching them. But I've become aware that I, and practically everyone around me, have been using these slang colloquial expressions almost every day, without even realizing what we are actually saying. And yet, we use these almost continuously in our everyday speech. If we did stop a moment and think about it, we would probably realize that we have NO IDEA what we are speaking. And we would probably become just a little bit curious as to where these expressions actually came from, and why we use them.
I've spent several years developing this list of English expressions, and while not everyone will enjoy exploring them, I am absolutely sure that if you've lived in the United States for any length of time, or if you've been here since birth, you have used at least SOME of these in your daily conversations.
Why am I so sure of this ? First of all, because of my perception and experiences. I've become more sensitive to these expressions since I began researching them. But I've become aware that I, and practically everyone around me, have been using these slang colloquial expressions almost every day, without even realizing what we are actually saying. And yet, we use these almost continuously in our everyday speech. If we did stop a moment and think about it, we would probably realize that we have NO IDEA what we are speaking. And we would probably become just a little bit curious as to where these expressions actually came from, and why we use them.
How did "Say What?" come about ? Well, I noticed in watching and listening to people, reading books, and watching TV shows and movies, that we often use colloquial or slang expressions of which we rarely know the meaning. Over the course of the last couple of years, I have collected many of them into a compiled list and occasionally have researched their meanings.
My eventual goal is to provide a means for people to better understand the language that they use. Most people use these expressions in everyday conversation without even thinking about it or their meanings. Some of these expressions have roots that go back hundreds of years and span across continents and different cultures and civilizations.
I would like to see this find its way into book form, and be marketed to public libraries, and used in colleges and universities for American as well as International students. Many foreign students coming here to study are bewildered by our colloquial expressions. Several years ago, I met a young lady from Bosnia who was here in America on a visa and working over the summer in a store at Myrtle Beach, SC. In talking to her, I used one of these colloquial sayings and she had no idea what I was talking about. The information shared at this site will be an outlet for people like her to understand and make sense of all of the many unique sayings that we use in our everyday language.
Finally, I'd like to see it become simply a coffee table book that families will use as a novelty, conversation piece, or icebreaker with friends and other family members. It will provide a great source of enjoyment for all ages.
Many of these expressions are rich in humor and sarcasm. I would like to supplement each entry with comic sketches or cartoon drawings that would utilize the many exaggerations and euphemisms in these colloquialisms. Hopefully, this will allow the reader to laugh while they learn.
My eventual goal is to provide a means for people to better understand the language that they use. Most people use these expressions in everyday conversation without even thinking about it or their meanings. Some of these expressions have roots that go back hundreds of years and span across continents and different cultures and civilizations.
I would like to see this find its way into book form, and be marketed to public libraries, and used in colleges and universities for American as well as International students. Many foreign students coming here to study are bewildered by our colloquial expressions. Several years ago, I met a young lady from Bosnia who was here in America on a visa and working over the summer in a store at Myrtle Beach, SC. In talking to her, I used one of these colloquial sayings and she had no idea what I was talking about. The information shared at this site will be an outlet for people like her to understand and make sense of all of the many unique sayings that we use in our everyday language.
Finally, I'd like to see it become simply a coffee table book that families will use as a novelty, conversation piece, or icebreaker with friends and other family members. It will provide a great source of enjoyment for all ages.
Many of these expressions are rich in humor and sarcasm. I would like to supplement each entry with comic sketches or cartoon drawings that would utilize the many exaggerations and euphemisms in these colloquialisms. Hopefully, this will allow the reader to laugh while they learn.
The following is an incomplete list of some of these expressions; they are listed in random order. I will also include listings in Alphabetical and Topical order. If you have any others that you would like to submit, or share the meanings of, please feel free to do so.
Hope you enjoy! If you take a liking, you may follow updates by clicking on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" at the bottom of this.. and every other page. THANKS !
Hope you enjoy! If you take a liking, you may follow updates by clicking on "Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)" at the bottom of this.. and every other page. THANKS !
© 2014 Bob Wingate
