“Interesting” and “interested” are both adjectives, but they mean different things. Let’s say your friend offers you two free movie tickets. — If you are interested in it, that means that you want the ticket. — If the movie was interesting, it means that you liked the movie. In other words, “interested” refers to “you” […]
Track record: do you know the meaning?
The expression ‘track record’ has nothing to do with a record studio or music as it may seem when you first encounter it. At least I thought something like this. The term is usually used in a work-related context and can refer both to success and failure. For instance, Jenny has a track record for […]
TED Talk vocabulary: Stress, health and psychology
As you probably already know TED Talks are a great way to improve any of your English skills: vocabulary, listening, pronunciation and reading. In this post, I collected some useful words and expressions from the TED Talk of psychologist Kelly McGonigal about our stress response. Recommendation: Watch (or read) the TED Talk and see what […]
Going Down the Rabbit Hole: Meaning and Examples
We all go down rabbit holes from time to time. If you don’t know the meaning of this expression, don’t worry, it’s not something to be ashamed of and it has nothing to do with poor rabbits. Although, literally rabbit hole is a hole that rabbits dig in the ground as their home. The expression […]
My Biggest Mistake with “Perception” and “Percept”: How to Use Them Right
Perception is a great word. Besides “the ability to see and hear” it also means a way in which something is understood or interpreted. Let’s look at some examples: Dopamine and Serotonin Play Key Role in Perception and Cognition (action or process of acquiring knowledge), Study Finds. (ability to see and hear) Study of 2020 […]
‘Touch base’ and ‘check in with’: two simple idioms to use instead of ‘talk’
I’ve heard both of these sentences ‘touch base’ and ‘check in with’ in daily conversations at my workplace. They basically means ‘to talk’ but sound more professional. And after some research I saw that people actually use these idioms quite often. Check in with: meaning and usage Let’s start from check in with. We all […]
What Does POV Mean: Definitions and Examples
If you’ve ever wondered what POV means on TikTok or in text messages, you’ve come to the right place. POV stands for ‘point of view’. Initially a movie term, POV describes a shooting technique when a scene is viewed from the perspective of the camera or main protagonist. The classic example is Terminator where we […]
When to Use ‘On the Flip Side’: Meaning and Examples
‘On the flip side’ is one of those English expressions you like right away. At least it was like that for me. Once I heard it I was eager to find out more about it and start using it. So, what exactly does it mean? ‘On the flip side’ is a synonym for ‘on the […]
7 Great Words from the Great Gatsby That You Can Use in Daily Speech
I read The Great Gatsby several years ago in my mother tongue. I loved the novel and the language. Back then I wasn’t into English and I had no desire to read the original. Recently I read it in English and loved the novel and the language. But of course this time it wasn’t always […]
Malleable: Meaning and Synonyms
In this post, you’ll learn what the word malleable means. Here’s an audio with the pronunciation of malleable /mæliəbəl/ American version UK version Listen to the word and repeat it several times until you can pronounce it easily. Malleable is an adjective. We use it when we want to describe a material or a substance […]