Improve Your English: English in Everyday Life

INTERVIEWER:
So what did you do when you couldn’t 
understand somebody?
WOMAN:
I asked them to repeat or I, or I just guessed.

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Impr
ov
e Y
our Englis
h: Englis
h in Ev
er
yda
y Life
102
DEFINITIONS
AP:
Advanced placement classes, off ered in high school.
busted out:
In this context, to have suddenly exclaimed 
or to have said something unexpectedly.
’cause:
Short for 
because
.
chatterbox:
Slang for a talkative person.
color commentary:
Information provided by one of the 
members of a broadcast team at a sporting event that 
is designed to fi ll time when action is not taking place 
in the competition. Th
at information includes things 
such as personal interest stories, statistics, and points of 
strategy.
drawl:
A colloquial word used to describe the lengthen-
ing of vowels in a person’s speech. It is frequently found 
in speech patterns in the southern United States.
linguistic chameleon:
A person who adapts or adjusts 
his or her speech and language usage to match the envi-
ronment in which he or she is at any given time.
Navy brat:
A child who grew up with one or both parents 
in the U.S. Navy and typically lived in many places.
play-by-play:
A detailed moment-to-moment descrip-
tion of the action in a sporting event.
so to speak:
A phrase used to mean “as an example” or 
“in that way.”
turn in:
Often used to mean “go to bed.”
turn out:
Th
e end or resolution of a situation—for exam-
ple, “How did everything turn out?” It can also mean the 
attendance of people at an event.