Advanced English Skills

Idiom of the Day take a telling-off To be scolded, rebuked, or reprimanded, as for a wrongdoing. Watch the video ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day trackless Definition: (adjective) Lacking pathways. Synonyms: pathless, roadless, untrodden. Usage: They had to traverse the most dreary and desolate mountains, and barren and trackless wastes, uninhabited by man, or occasionally infested by predatory and cruel savages. Discuss ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub help out If you help someone out, you do something to help them. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day metonymy Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 22, 2025 is: metonymy • \muh-TAH-nuh-mee\  • noun Metonymy refers to a figure of speech in which a word that is associated with something is used to refer to the thing itself, as when crown is used to mean “king” or “queen.” // Wall Street, Silicon Valley, and Hollywood are common examples of metonymy. See the entry > Examples: “The stick used to command the crowd is called a ‘brigadier.’ A brigadier is usually used to describe one who commands a military brigade, yes, but does not a stage manager lead his theater brigade? That’s the idea, according to organizers. It was a term used so often to refer to a stick-wielding stage manager that, through the magic of metonymy, the stick itself is now referred to as a brigadier.” — Emma Bowman, NPR, 6 Aug. 2024 Did you know? When Mark Antony asks the people of Rome to lend him their ears in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar he is asking them to listen to him, not to literally allow him to borrow their ears. It’s a classic example of the rhetorical device known as metonymy, which comes to English (via Latin) from the Greek word of the same meaning, metōnymia: the use of a word that is associated with something to refer to the thing itself. Metonymy often appears in news articles and headlines, as when journalists use the term crown to refer to a king or queen. Another common example is the use of an author’s name to refer to works written by that person, as in “They are studying Austen.” Metonymy is closely related to synecdoche, which is a figure of speech in which the word for a part of something is used to refer to the thing itself (as in “need some extra hands for the project”), or less commonly, the word for a thing itself is used to refer to part of that thing (as when society denotes “high society”). ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub up for grabs unclaimed and still available ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day Word of the Day: arid This word has appeared in 113 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence? ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Idiom of the Day screw (one's) courage to the sticking place To remain bold, resolute, determined, and courageous, especially in the face of possible danger, difficulty, hardship, or adversity. Taken from a line in Shakespeare's Macbeth: "We fail! But screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we'll not fail." Watch the video ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day skepticism Definition: (noun) Doubt about the truth of something. Synonyms: disbelief, incredulity, mental rejection. Usage: Ghek made no reply, nor did his expressionless face denote either belief or skepticism. Discuss ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub dress up If you dress up, you put on formal clothes for a special occasion. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Wordsmith.org: Today's Word Plimsoll line noun: 1. Any of various horizontal lines on the side of a ship indicating the depth to which it may be immersed under various conditions. 2. A threshold or limit. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day bloviate Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 21, 2025 is: bloviate • \BLOH-vee-ayt\  • verb To bloviate is to speak or write in an arrogant tone and with more words than are necessary. // The podcaster tends to bloviate endlessly on topics about which he is not particularly knowledgeable. See the entry > Examples: "While other characters bloviate about their lives, Barbara is a much more internal character, her quietness making her seem all the more an outsider in her hometown." — Kristy Puchko, Mashable.com, 13 June 2025 Did you know? Warren G. Harding is often linked to the word bloviate, but to him the word wasn't insulting; it simply meant "to spend time idly." Harding used the word often in that "hanging around" sense, but during his tenure as the 29th U.S. President (1921-23), he became associated with the "verbose" sense of bloviate, as his speeches tended to be on the long-winded side. Although he is sometimes credited with having coined the word, it's more likely that Harding picked it up from local slang while hanging around with his boyhood buddies in Ohio in the late 1800s. The term likely comes from a combination of the word blow plus the suffix -ate. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub threads clothes ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day Word of the Day: revitalize This word has appeared in 228 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence? ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Idiom of the Day rubber jungle An aviation term among pilots and airline crew for the effect created when the rubber oxygen masks in a commercial aircraft deploy from its ceiling. Watch the video ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Word of the Day perturb Definition: (verb) Disturb in mind or make uneasy or cause to be worried or alarmed. Synonyms: cark, disorder, disquiet, unhinge, distract, trouble. Usage: She was rather perturbed by the news that her father was seriously ill. Discuss ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub go off (2) If a bomb or a firework goes off, it explodes. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Wordsmith.org: Today's Word Dantean adjective: 1. Relating to Dante or his writings. 2. Having a hellish quality. ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day gauche Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for November 20, 2025 is: gauche • \GOHSH\  • adjective Gauche describes someone or something having or showing a lack of awareness about the proper way to behave. When describing a person or a behavior, gauche can mean “socially awkward” or “tactless”; when describing an object (such as a product with a vulgar image or slogan on it) it can mean “crudely made or done.” // Some people view giving cash in lieu of a wrapped present to be terribly gauche, but I like knowing that my friends and family will be able to pick out something they truly want. See the entry > Examples: “Ignorance of classical music, for many people, is no longer something to be ashamed of, as it was sixty or seventy years ago. If you are indifferent to it, no one will notice; if you hate it, you may even be praised for your lack of snobbery. Almost no one will be so gauche as to tell you that you are missing out on something that could change your life.” — David Denby, The New Yorker, 20 July 2025 Did you know? Although it doesn’t mean anything sinister, gauche is one of several words (including sinister) with ties to old suspicions and negative associations relating to the left side and use of the left hand. In French, gauche literally means “left,” and it has the extended meanings “awkward” and “clumsy.” These meanings may have come about because left-handed people could appear awkward trying to manage in a mostly right-handed world, or perhaps because right-handed people appear awkward when trying to use their left hand. Regardless, awkwardness is a likely culprit. Fittingly, awkward itself comes from the Middle English awke, meaning “turned the wrong way” or “left-handed.” On the other hand, adroit and dexterity have their roots in words meaning “right” or “on the right side.” ➖ @EngSkills ➖

Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub airhead a silly, stupid person ➖ @EngSkills ➖