Hi and welcome to the Espresso English Podcast, where you can improve your English in just a few minutes a day.
My name is Shaina and I'm the teacher at Espresso English.
Make sure to visit the website EspressoEnglishnet, where you can get online courses and e-books that will help you learn English even faster.
Let's get started with today's lesson.
You already know words like hot, broke, and sick in English, right?
But did you know those same words have completely different slang meanings?
Hot doesn't just mean the temperature.
Broke isn't about snapping something in half. and sick might actually be a compliment.
In today's video we're going to look at 10 super common English words with surprising double meanings, the kind native speakers use in slang or informal conversation all the time.
If you want to understand real English in movies, music, and everyday speech, you'll love this one.
And you can download today's lesson PDF with a bonus quiz by clicking on the link in the video description and entering your email address.
Give it a try to see if you fully understand all these words with their hidden meanings.
All right, let's jump in.
Our first double meaning word is hot.
The regular meaning is a high temperature, the opposite of cold.
Like don't touch the pan, it's very hot or you need hot water to make tea.
But hot also describes a person who is very attractive or sexy.
For example, wow, that guy is really hot.
There are a couple of hot girls over there by the bar.
Our next one is broke.
Its regular meaning is the past tense of break.
I dropped my phone and it broke.
But its slang meaning is an adjective meaning having no money.
For example, I can't buy anything this month.
I'm broke.
High is an adjective and its regular meaning is the opposite of low.
Airplanes fly very high in the air.
There's a high risk of death with this experimental surgery.
But in slang it describes a person who is experiencing the effect of drugs making them mentally excited or altered.
For example, he always gets into fights when he's high.
The driver who caused the accident was high on marijuana.
Dump is a verb meaning to drop something or let it fall heavily or suddenly and without being careful.
For example, please don't dump all your clothes on the bathroom floor.
You should put them in the basket.
At the beach, my son dumped a bucket of sand into my drink.
But its other meaning is to break off a romantic relationship without caring much about the other person's feelings.
For example, he dumped his girlfriend when she gained a few pounds.
If your boyfriend cheats on you, then you should dump him.
Dig is a verb and its regular meaning is to make a hole in the ground by using a shovel or your hands, but its hidden slang meaning is to like, enjoy or appreciate.
For example, You saw Taylor Swift in concert?
I really dig her music.
I'm just not digging my new job.
The work isn't very interesting.
The word grand is an adjective meaning good, excellent, or large.
For example, The minister of education has a grand plan to reform all the country's schools.
The grand prize in this contest is an all-expenses-paid vacation to Hawaii.
But grand also means $1,000.
For example, they sold their house for 200 grand.
That's $200,000.
She makes about 60 grand a year at her job.
Beat is a common verb, and its regular meaning is to win in a competition or to hit repeatedly.
For example, Italy beat France in the final game of the World Cup, meaning Italy won.
He beat his fists against the door.
Beat meaning to hit repeatedly.
But its slang meaning is tired.
We can say, I don't feel like going out tonight.
I'm beat.
After a 30-hour journey, we were totally beat.
Joint is a noun meaning the place where two bones come together and your body can bend or move.
Your knees, elbows, shoulders, wrists, and neck are all joints.
For example, it can take a while to recover from injuries to your joints.
But a joint also means a marijuana cigarette.
For example, the teenagers were behind the school smoking a joint.
Sick is an adjective, meaning when a person is not healthy, of course.
My daughter stayed home from school because she was sick.
I think I'm getting sick.
I'm coughing a lot and I have a fever.
But its secret slang meaning is describing something that is very cool, great, or awesome.
For example, he did a triple backflip into the water.
It was a sick move.
Props.
This word is a noun, meaning the objects used by the actors in theater or film productions.
For example, this isn't a real gun.
It's a prop for a cowboy movie.
Have you seen the box with all the props for the children's play?
But props also means respect, recognition and credit.
It's often used in expressions of gratitude and admiration.
For example, props to Katie for throwing this awesome party.
It was a complicated situation, but I have to give him props for the way he handled it.
Now you know how even easy words in English can have multiple meanings, especially in slang.
The more of these you learn, the more natural and confident your English will sound.
So make sure to download the free PDF to review and remember what we learned today, as well as testing yourself with the quiz.
If you want to keep improving your fluency, check out my online courses at Espresso English.
I've got clear, practical lessons on grammar vocabulary pronunciation, speaking idioms, phrasal verbs and more, all designed to help you make real progress even if you only have a few minutes a day to study.
Check out all my courses by clicking on the link in the description.
Thanks for joining me today and I'll see you in the next video.
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Keep practicing your english and i hope you have a wonderful day.
