Common American Phrases in Everyday Contexts

in Everyday Contexts

A Detailed Guide to Real-Life Conversation and Small Talk

Third Edition

RICHARD A. SPEARS, Ph.D
.

Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Also by the author
American Slang Dictionary
McGraw-Hill's American Idioms Dictionary
McGraw-Hill's Conversational American English
NTC's Dictionary of Everyday American English Expressions
Phrases and Idioms

TERMS OF USE

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About This Dictionary

Guide to the Use of the Dictionary

Terms and Symbols

Dictionary of Common American Phrases

Key Word Index

This dictionary is a collection of more than 2,100 everyday sentences and utterances that Americans use over and over in their greetings, good-byes, and everyday small talk. The third edition has been enlarged and updated to include the latest contemporary, high-frequency conversational idioms. Whereas it is true that there is an infinite number of possible sentences in any language, it is also true that some of those sentences are used repeatedly from day to day. The effective use of language is not in being able to create and understand an infinite number of sentences but in knowing and using the right sentence in the right way in a given context. Nonnative speakers of English have found the first two editions extremely useful for unraveling the shortened sentences and sentence fragments that they hear in personal encounters, both formal and informal.

The kinds of expressions recorded in this collection include complete sentences as well as sentence fragments and phrases. In many instances, fragments are punctuated as complete sentences (initial capital letter and terminal punctuation) because such utterances can stand alone just like complete sentences. Phrases and fragments that are always included or imbedded in other sentences do not have initial and terminal punctuation. The utterances here are presented without profanity, swearing, or slang unless the latter is a necessary part of the utterance. Depending, on age, class, context, and personal choice, actual use of these entries may be replete with profanity, swearing, and slang.

The style of the typical entry and the examples is highly colloquial. Many of the examples express joking, anger, and sarcasm. In general, this is not the type of language that one would choose to write, unless one were writing dialogue for a script. It is the type of language that one hears every day and needs to understand, however.

This collection is not only a dictionary but also a resource for the learning of these expressions. The user is encouraged not only to use the dictionary as a reference book but also to read it from cover to cover. An index of key words is included that allows the user to find the full form of a phrase by looking up any major word in the phrase.

1. Entry heads are alphabetized word by word.

2. Entry heads appear in
boldface type
. Cited entry heads appear in roman type and most often appear after the text “Go to” but also “See also” and “Compare to.”

3. An entry head may have one or more alternative forms. The alternatives are printed in
boldface type
and are preceded by “
AND
.” Alternative forms are separated by semicolons.

4. Definitions and descriptions are in roman type. Alternative or closely related definitions and paraphrases are separated by semicolons.

5. A definition or paraphrase may be followed by comments in parentheses. These comments give additional information about the expression, including cautions, notes on origins, or cross-referencing. Each numbered sense can have its own comments.

6. Many expressions have more than one major sense or meaning. These meanings are numbered with boldface numerals.

7. Sometimes a numbered sense will have an additional alternative form that does not belong to the other senses. In such cases the
AND
and the alternative form follow the numeral.

8. The definitions of some entries are preceded by information in square brackets. The information provides a context that narrows down the scope of the definition. E.g., [of truth] undeniable.

9. The first step in finding an expression is to try looking it up in the dictionary. Entries that consist of two or more words are entered in their normal order, such as
Act your age
!
Phrases are never inverted or reordered like
age! Act your
.

10. The alphabetizing ignores
a
,
an
, and
the
at the beginning of an entry head. Look for expressions beginning with
a
,
an
, and
the
under the second word.

11. If you do not find the expression you want, or if you cannot decide what the form of the expression you seek is, look up any major word in the expression in the
Key Word Index
, which begins on
page 241
. Pick out the expression you want and look it up in the dictionary.

(a box) marks the beginning of an example.

AND
indicates that an entry head has one or more variant forms that are the same or similar in meaning as the entry head.

catchphrase
describes an expression meant to catch attention because of its cleverness or aptness.

cliché
an expression that is overused and sounds trite.

compare to
means to consult the entry indicated and look for similarities to the entry head containing the “compare to” instruction.

entry head
is the first word or phrase, in boldface, of an entry; the word or phrase that the definition explains.

go to
means to turn to the entry indicated.

see also
means to consult the entry indicated for additional information or for expressions that are similar in form or meaning to the entry head containing the “see also” instruction.

an
A for effort
recognition for having tried to do something even if it was not successful.
The plan didn't work, but I'll give you an A for effort for trying
.
Bobby played his violin in the concert and got an A for effort. Tom said, “It sounded terrible!
”