Common American phrases

By William R. Jones

It was only this past semester that I began presenting per week to my English language students 10 common American phrases we use in real-life conversation and small talk. It is rare to see any of these phrases written in our textbooks as the script dialogue is presented in plain English. The phrases are highly colloquial — that is, they are characteristic of familiar and informal conversation repeated from day to day. There are above 2,000.

In general, my students attend two semesters on average and after receiving a certificate, I usually do not see them again. However, a few are on a mission and realize the better the English, the better the job, and I do see them again.

In the first paragraph of this writing, I use the phrase "in plain English" and this means in very direct and clear English language that anyone can understand; simple and straightforward usually without jargon or technical terminology.

An example sentence: "That is too confusing; please tell me again in plain English." Also, you did read above "on a mission" and the usage and meaning there is that early on, one regularly decides with passion or steady compelling interest to continue to pursue the study of English for his/her advantage.

Obviously, we cannot review the entire range or extent of possible common American phrases, thus, the scope must be limited in this writing to include a few most popular ones. "I can live with that" means that it is something that you or I can accept or get used to; it's all right with us or it's OK with us. Example: Wife - "I want to paint the kitchen green." Husband - "It's not my favorite color, but I can live with that."

"Take my word for it" means believe me or trust me; I'm telling you the truth. Example: "Longman's Dictionary is the best dictionary for new learners of the English language; take my word for it." Of course, this is an opinion and it really is my opinion, although the authority for American English is Merriam-Webster’s. Nevertheless, when someone says "You can take my word for it," you must "consider the source." And, that means, is the person experienced or qualified to provide you with information, or is this person trying to persuade or influence you of something?

"Get off scot-free" means when you have done something wrong, you are not punished or you do not have to pay a penalty. Example: "I did not think I would get off scot-free for driving over the speed limit, but the kind police officer only gave me a warning without a ticket."

Please know that I have randomly at convenience selected the above-mentioned expressions. It is most certain that a deep study would reveal the expressions used most often by most people. At any rate, the cited expressions are extremely popular. The common American phrases, along with idioms, collocations, slang and other word combinations or "chunks" of language will help students produce easily and accurately natural English reaching native speaker competence. You can speak in polished English!

The author ([email protected]) published the novella “Beyond Harvard” and teaches English as a second language.