a group of people smiling and dancing together at a party in a living room decorated with balloons and coloured lights

Reunions and housewarmings (Words for different parties)

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a group of people smiling and dancing together at a party in a living room decorated with balloons and coloured lights
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by Kate Woodford

This week we’re putting on our best clothes and grabbing a box of chocolates for the host because we’re going to a party! Well, okay, we’re not actually going to a party, but we are looking at words that we use to refer to social occasions where people meet up to enjoy themselves. You might be surprised at how many words there are. Continue reading “Reunions and housewarmings (Words for different parties)”

photo edit of a girl looking upwards in amazement as she is handed an unrealistically large ice cream cone, taller than she is - illustrating the concept of words meaning very large

Vast, mahoosive and monstrous (Words meaning ‘very large’)

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photo edit of a girl looking upwards in amazement as she is handed an unrealistically large ice cream cone, taller than she is - illustrating the concept of words meaning very large
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by Kate Woodford

Today I’m looking at words that mean ‘very or extremely large’. You’ll already know several words in this area – adjectives such as enormous, huge and massive – so I won’t focus on those. Instead, I’ll look at a set of adjectives that you might not know. Most have rather similar meanings. The differences are mainly found in the register of the words, that is, whether they are formal or informal. Continue reading “Vast, mahoosive and monstrous (Words meaning ‘very large’)”

a car stopped on a rural road in front of a damaged section of tarmac with a warning sign - representing the concept of preventing progress

A bump in the road: talking about things that prevent progress

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a car stopped on a rural road in front of a damaged section of tarmac with a warning sign - representing the concept of preventing progress
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by Liz Walter

Today’s post looks at ways of talking about things that prevent or delay us doing things we want to do. Continue reading “A bump in the road: talking about things that prevent progress”

a young woman seen from behind looking at empty supermarket shelves, illustrating the concept of not having enough of something

Scarce, scant and sparse (Ways of saying ‘not enough’)

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a young woman seen from behind looking at empty supermarket shelves, illustrating the concept of not having enough of something
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by Kate Woodford

I recently wrote a post on expressions that we use to convey that there is enough of something. Today I’m looking at the opposite – the way we talk about too little or too few of something. Continue reading “Scarce, scant and sparse (Ways of saying ‘not enough’)”

colourful illustration of three cartoon snails, illustrating the concept of talking about speed: two are looking surprised as one speeds ahead of them on a skateboard

Flat out or at a snail’s pace? Talking about speed

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colourful illustration of three cartoon snails, illustrating the concept of talking about speed: two are looking surprised as one speeds ahead of them on a skateboard
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by Liz Walter

Today’s post looks at ways of talking about the speed at which people, vehicles, or other things move. Many of the items in this post can also be used figuratively, for instance to describe the speed of change or progress. Continue reading “Flat out or at a snail’s pace? Talking about speed”

close-up photograph of a young girl holding a small green frog

Growling, hissing and croaking: using animal noises to show human emotions

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close-up photograph of a young girl holding a small green frog
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by Liz Walter

My last post looked at replacing the common verb ‘say’ with more interesting verbs that can convey information about a speaker’s emotions or personality. This post continues that theme, this time concentrating on verbs that are used for animal noises. Continue reading “Growling, hissing and croaking: using animal noises to show human emotions”

black-and-white photograph of a young woman with her head tipped back and mouth open as though laughing or shouting, with brightly coloured abstract shapes coming from her mouth to represent speech

Spluttering, cackling and drawling: verbs to use instead of ‘say’

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black-and-white photograph of a young woman with her head tipped back and mouth open as though laughing or shouting, with brightly coloured abstract shapes coming from her mouth to represent speech
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by Liz Walter

This post looks at ways of conveying personality or emotions by choosing a more interesting verb than ‘say’ when you report someone’s speech. Anyone who has been on a creative writing course will be familiar with the maxim ‘Show, don’t tell,’ and choosing a specific synonym for ‘say’ can help you to do this. Continue reading “Spluttering, cackling and drawling: verbs to use instead of ‘say’”

a person's hand reaching out to take one slice from a pie chart made up of five coloured segments: red, white, green, yellow and blue

Obtaining information and deriving satisfaction: 5 different ways of saying ‘get’

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a person's hand reaching out to take one slice from a pie chart made up of five coloured segments: red, white, green, yellow and blue
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by Liz Walter

One way to improve your English is to find more interesting vocabulary to use instead of very common words. This post looks at five verbs you can use instead of ‘get’. Regular readers of my posts will know that I often talk about collocation, or words that commonly go together. I’ll be focusing on this particularly today because although the words I’m covering are basically synonyms, some of them tend to collocate strongly with particular groups of nouns. Note that they are all a little more formal than ‘get’ but still commonly used, especially in writing. Continue reading “Obtaining information and deriving satisfaction: 5 different ways of saying ‘get’”

a small white cat with black and orange markings on its ears and tail looking frightened by something off-camera

Wimps and scaredy-cats: talking about people who are not brave

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a small white cat with black and orange markings on its ears and tail looking frightened by something off-camera
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by Liz Walter

My last post was on the topic of bravery, so by way of a contrast, this one looks at words and phrases connected with the opposite. The most common word for someone who isn’t brave is coward. The related adjective is cowardly (one of those rare adjectives that ends in -ly) and the noun is cowardice: Continue reading “Wimps and scaredy-cats: talking about people who are not brave”

picture of an old, worn teddy bear against a dark red background

On its last legs (Describing the condition of objects, Part 1)

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picture of an old, worn teddy bear against a dark red background
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by Kate Woodford

A friend recently told me that she needed a new sofa. Her current one, she said, ‘had seen better days’, meaning that it was clearly old and damaged. This nice idiom (‘have seen better days’) got me thinking about the many ways we describe the condition of objects, both good and bad. This post, in two parts and covering both single words and phrases, is the result of this. Continue reading “On its last legs (Describing the condition of objects, Part 1)”