Becoming fluent in English can be tricky but isn’t impossible. This is because English is a confusing language. There are many words that look and sound totally weird. The good thing is that all those words are in the dictionary and not invented from a fairytale! You might think, by reading English, with proper grammar rules, slang words, idioms and vocabulary, you have mastered it. But wait, just look at the below words and their weirdness.

Know these words

By learning new words, you will have more brilliant ways to describe things and express your ideas. You can impress your friends with your knowledge and get a great new job by demonstrating your skills in a big interview.

1. Whippersnapper

No, it has nothing related with whips or snaps. Whippersnapper (noun) means someone who is not important but at the same time cheeky and presumptuous. When you pronounce it quickly you will create a funny and harsh sound! The word is a mixture of two terms. One refers to a lazy person who has no ambitions and the other term is used for young people who live on the street and do  bad things, like stealing and tricking people. The meaning has changed over the years, and today, it’s used for a young person who’s too confident and perhaps a little cheeky!

2. Lollygag

To lollygag (verb) means to be idle and lazy or to waste time. You can hear it mostly in USA. Parents scold their children by stating, “stop lollygagging”. The word has been used since the 1800’s. Nobody really knows where it came from though.

3. Woebegone

An adjective which is easy to break into two parts – woe (extreme sadness) and begone (surrounded by something). So, woebegone means “surrounded by sadness.” It comes from Middle English, English that was used during the middle ages. The next time your friend looks sad, you can ask him,

“Why do you look so woebegone?”

4. Gibberish

Gibberish (noun) means to speak (about unimportant matters) rapidly and incessantly. It looks like a difficult word, but isn’t like this. Gibberish is an older term than gobbledegook. Make sure you practice your English since you don’t want to talk gobbledegook and gibberish!

5. Gobbledegook

Gobbledegook, a scary word,  means language that is used unintelligibly by excessive use of technical terms. In short, words that makes no sense or have no meaning. It also describes situation when people use too many technical words and so other people can’t understand what they are saying.

These difficult words are the part of English and yes they do exist. Add these words in your vocabulary list and use them to improve your English.

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- By Chander Madan


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