Slang: Happy New Year ^_^

Well, it's almost New Year's Eve. That is the most popular time for people to have crazy, late parties and drink a looot of alcohol.

In English, we have many, many adjectives that mean 'really drunk' (drank too much alcohol).

Here's a short list. There are a lot more:

pissed *

plastered

smashed

sozzled

shit-faced *

blotto

legless

off one's face (eg, 'he's off his face')

paralytic/paro

pickled

trashed

sloshed

wasted

inebriated

* = more rude

All of these words are slang (not polite) except 'inebriated', which is more formal/polite.

Which ones are most common? Well, it really depends where you are (which country, who you are talking to). I, personally, tend to use 'plastered', 'smashed', 'wasted' and 'off one's face'.

But what if you're not wasted, but just drank a little? All of the above words mean really drunk. If you're only a little drunk, use the adjective 'tipsy'. And if you are not drunk at all, you are sober.

Are you gonna get plastered this year? Take care! ^_^ Happy New Year!

Vocabulary/slang: lame, pathetic, sad

I'm not sure whether this is 'vocabulary' or 'slang' - my feeling is that these words are more common for young people - but here are some useful words.

If you want to criticise something, these are some useful adjectives:

lame

sad

pathetic

All three of these words have other meanings. 'Lame' originally means 'unable to walk normally'. 'Sad' means 'unhappy'. 'Pathetic' means 'something that makes you feel pity/sorry for someone'.

But they can also be used to criticise something. They can be used in a sarcastic way, a joking and fun way, or as a mean insult.

Lame and sad mean weak, unimpressive. If someone tells a lame joke, it really wasn't very funny. If a person is lame, they are uncool, rather stupid.

Oh dear, this new song is rather lame.

You stayed home to play RPGs? Your idea of fun is pretty sad.

So you wrote those mean notes? That is really sad. You are a really pathetic person.

In these examples, the idea is that you (sarcastically) feel sorry for the person - they are so stupid, or mean, or uncool, that you feel sad for them.

Pathetic has a similar meaning, but is usually a bit stronger and more negative.

His performance during the match was pathetic.

How about you? Do you have any habits or interests that are, well, lame? ^_-

Slang: get your sexy on

In this slang expression, get your ___ on, ___ is usually an adjective or noun, and usually expresses a feeling or attitude.

Grammatically, this expression does not make sense. It doesn't really mean anything. Even native speakers can't really understand it. The best translation might be: 'be ___'.

For example, if I get my snark on, I am being critical.
'Get your sexy on' means 'be sexy' or 'act sexy' (I think... ha ha ha...). Justin Timberlake sings this in his song 'Sexy Back'.

Missy Elliott has a song, 'Get your freak on'. ('Get your freak on' usually means 'have sex'.)

In my house, we have a sugar product with the tagline: 'get your sweet on'. I guess this means 'be sweet' or 'make your life sweet' or 'enjoy our sweet product'. Ha ha ha...

This slang is quite new and rarely used by older people. It is not used often in conversation. You probably will never need to use this, but it's starting to become more popular in pop culture.

Slang: I'm loving it

In your English study, you probably learned about 'action' verbs (like work, eat, run, do) and 'state' verbs (like be, know, love, believe).

You probably also learned that 'state' verbs do not usually use an -ing form.

"I was knowing John for two years." X

"He is believing in God." X

"I am liking coffee. X

These sentences are incorrect. You should say, 'I knew John for two years', 'He believes in God' and 'I like coffee'.

However, sometimes we do use -ing state verbs in a slang way, especially verbs of like or dislike. It's to express our state in a more 'dynamic' or lively way.

"I'm really liking what I'm hearing."

"You can see he's really hating this song."

McDonald's has a famous slogan, 'I'm lovin' it'.

Be careful though. This language makes the like or dislike into a temporary action. Use it for short-term things. If you always love cake, don't say 'I'm loving cake'.

If you're eating a particular cake which tastes good, you can say 'I'm loving this cake'.
If you didn't eat much cake before, but you suddenly started enjoying it, you can say 'I'm loving cake at the moment'. Here, 'at the moment' means 'these days'.

These examples are not 'good' or correct English, but are quite common in casual speech, especially with younger people.

How about you? Is there a TV show you're loving at the moment? Is there a particular food or product you're liking?

Slang/Idioms: go on, go down

Something weird is going on. Something weird is going down.

Here, both go on and go down mean happen. (Something weird is happening.)

A common casual greeting in English is "hey, what's going on?" or "hey, what's going down?" It's like saying "what's happening?" or "what's new (in your life)?"

If you come into a room, and your friends are looking angry, you could ask 'what's going on?' to learn more about the situation.

'Go down' is much more casual and slangy. 'Go on' is still casual, but is very widely used.

So what's going on in your life right now? Anything good going on? ^_^

Slang: snark

snark can be a verb or noun.
snarky is the adjective

'snark' means to complain or criticise, usually in a snide or sarcastic way.

I enjoy getting snarky at some TV shows. Fashion magazines are famous for their snarky comments about famous people. Mean people snark behind their friends' backs.

How about you? What makes you snarky?

Slang: bitchy

Note: This slang can be rude, especially the noun. Do not use this in polite conversation.

The slang verb bitch means to complain about someone, or something. This complaining is usually in a petty or unkind way.

They're always bitching about their jobs.

Fashion magazines always bitch about famous people.

The adjective is bitchy, which means unkind, catty. This word is usually used to describe women, not men.

She made a lot of bitchy comments about Sarah, who wasn't at the meeting.

High school girls often act bitchy toward each other.

Finally, the noun is also bitch. This is used to describe a really nasty woman.

I can't believe she gossiped about me! What a bitch!

I hated those bitches I went to high school with.

Occasionally, someone will call their friend a bitch as a joke. But usually, this word is very insulting. I don't like hearing anybody use this word.

So you can see, it's not a nice word, but it's very common, and I'm sure you'll hear it in movies, books, and other places. ^_^

How about you? What do you often bitch about? When you were a teenager, were you ever bitchy to anybody?