In this article, you are going to learn about 39 Advanced American English phrases for daily use and words in American English. I’ve underlined them here so that you can learn, train, and sound more American.
In this post will only concentrate on words and phrases that will help you replace everyday words like “awesome” and “good.” We’re going to discuss words that Americans use to diversify their speech. Additionally, we’ll use phrases from TV shows and expressions commonly heard on television.
39 Advanced American English Phrases
- What the heck is going on?
- To rub elbows
- Drop-dead gorgeous
- Off the record
- Don’t quote me on that
- Kiss and fly
- To insinuate
- Jonesing
- In no time
- Uptight
- Pig out
- Pass the buck
- Hyped
- To hit the books
- Take your time
- To go cold turkey
- Wuss
- Pushover
- Swanning
- Showoff
- Full of crap
- Douche
- Douchebag
- Bestie
- Squeaky clean
- Hotshot
- A-game
- Rip off
- Loose cannon
- You bet
- You’re telling me
- A bunch of
- Heads up
- Play by ear
- Quality time
- Top-notch
- Zero tolerance
- There is no such thing as a free lunch
- I gotta go
1. What the heck is going on?
Meaning- When you don’t know what’s going on?
So, let’s start. The first phrase “What the heck is going on?”
So, “What the heck is going on?” is the question you’re going to ask when you do not know what’s going on in a place. What the heck is going on?
2. To rub elbows
Meaning – to meet somebody and hang out with someone
Phrase number two, and I recently heard it from my friends. We were sitting and eating a burger, and he’s like, “When are we going to rub elbows the next time?”
To rub elbows is to meet somebody and hang out with them. If you want to see your friends, you can call them and say, “Hey, let’s go and rub elbows,” which is literally like rubbing elbows when you’re close to each other, spending time together.
3. Drop-dead gorgeous
Meaning – very beautiful
When you see a girl or a burger that’s really good-looking, you can say “drop-dead gorgeous,” instead of saying very beautiful, very nice, or good-looking. If you want to sound more American, you can say “drop-dead gorgeous.”
4. Off the record
Meaning – When you don’t want people to know extra
When you say something in a conversation, but you don’t want people to attribute this phrase to you, you can say, “Let’s keep this off the record.”
Or when you’re just about to say something, you’re like, “Off the record, I also do this, this, and that.” Maybe you don’t want people to know that you are doing something extra; you say “off the record,” so that it stays just between you and the people you’re talking to [American English Phrases].
5. Don’t quote me on that
Meaning – used to indicate that the speaker is uncertain of the accuracy of their statement
The phrase that I personally use a lot is “Don’t quote me on that.” I use it when I’m talking about immigration stuff or visas. Officially, because I’m not an immigration lawyer when you guys ask me about getting a green card or getting a work visa in the United States, I can only say what happened to my friends and me. Because I am not a professional here, I always say something and also add “Don’t quote me on that,” just because I got a Visa; it doesn’t mean that everybody can get it this way because there is a law, and you should listen to the law. So you can say the phrase, “Don’t quote me on that.”
6. Kiss and fly
Meaning – to express a situation when saying goodbye to someone who is quickly leaving.
Another phrase or something that you can see when you’re driving around America is “kiss and fly.” I flew from LA to San Francisco, and when I went into San Francisco, I saw a sign saying “kiss and fly.” It’s like, “Come on, kiss and fly.” Literally, this means that there is a train from the airport to the nearest city or town, and you can drop your car there. So you just go on the train, kiss, and fly. The train takes you to the airport. This is a funny phrase; I really like it.
7. To insinuate
Meaning – to suggest or hint
When you are reading an article that blames something or somebody, and you don’t think that’s true, you can say, “The article insinuates that,” and then you tell about the content. Instead of saying “the article said,” “the article claimed that,” you can say, “The article insinuated that.” So basically, to insinuate means to suggest something bad, in an unpleasant or shady way.
8. Jonesing
Meaning – to want something badly
The word “jonesing” ā means to want something badly. For example, “I am jonesing for coffee,” which means I want coffee. [American English Phrases]
9. In no time
Meaning – very soon
When you are just about to finish something or just about to call somebody, and you are asking, “When are you gonna call me?” You can answer, “In no time,” which means really soon. “I’m gonna call you in no time.” “I’m gonna finish in no time.”
10. Uptight
Meaning – When you’re uptight, you’re stressed out and anxious.
“Uptight!” That’s the word you use when you are the opposite of relaxed. For example, you come to a business meeting, and you don’t know what to say, and you’re really reserved ā you are uptight! I always want to imagine something when I’m talking about the word, so for me, tight means stiff, all in one straight line. So, you are uptight: you’re sitting straight and you are not relaxed at all! Uptight.
11. Pig out
Meaning – to eat a lot or too much
To pig out ā again, that’s really informal. “Pig out” means to eat so much that you cannot move, and you’re feeling sick. That was me yesterday. Oh, we came from LA, I was so hungry, and I was pigging out. We ordered some tight food and big stuff.
12. Pass the buck
Meaning – When you don’t wanna do something it means you transfer your work or task
“Pass the buck.” When you don’t want to do something, you just pass the buck to somebody else, which means you transfer responsibility, transfer something onto somebody.
Students Also Read: 50 advanced English words: Meanings, Usage and Examples
13. Hyped (adj)
Meaning – to be very excited or anxious about something
Hyped means being excited. Again, you are replacing the word you probably used 200 times, or 300 times (excited). You replace it with “Hyped!” You know the word “hype” that means something really popular right now. But “hyped” is the adjective when you’re super-excited about something happening. [American English Phrases]
14. To hit the books
Meaning – to start studying
Now, when you need to release your studying, you can say, “I need to hit the books.” It does not mean literally hitting the booksāno, hitting the books, no. But “hit the books” is an idiom, and it means to start studying. Now, you’re visualizing, and now you really think that “hit the books” means start studying.
15. Take your time
Meaning – When you don’t want somebody to hurry
When you don’t want somebody to hurry, when you want somebody to act without any rush, you can say, “Take your time.” When you get literal, if you translated words to words like “taking time” or “what does that mean,” taking your time actually means taking slowly, acting in a very relaxed manner. So, I am taking my time.
16. To go cold turkey
Meaning – to suddenly quit something that’s bad for your health or dangerous
Another great phrase is to go cold turkey. This is not a phrase that you would hear every day. These are phrases that you won’t hear every day, but I feel that’s really, really important to know them.
“To go cold turkey” is the phrase that I want to share with you, and it means to suddenly quit something that’s bad for your health or dangerous. For example, to quit drinking alcohol, which I did back in 2015. Three years without drinking alcohol at all. And yes, I just quit alcohol; I went cold turkey. [American English Phrases]
17. Wuss
Meaning – a weak or ineffectual person
The first word is “wuss.” And yes, I took it from one of the episodes. You can tell somebody, “Don’t be a wuss” or “Stop being a wuss.” And if you translate it, that’s the same as “Stop being a pussy.” And “wuss” is a person who’s physically and mentally weak. And the synonym is “pussy.”
So, we are learning a lot of bad words today :)
18. Pushover
Meaning – a person who is easy to overcome or influence.
If you’ve been also called somebodyāI don’t advise on that, but you can do itāyou can call somebody a “pushover,” and a pushover is a person who is easily controlled by somebody else. So, in the TV show that I took this phrase from, there was this girl who was working for one company, and then somebody called her from another company, and she just ran away to this new company. So she is a pushover; she is really easily controlled.
19. Swanning
Meaning – to move about or go somewhere in a casual
When somebody is doing nothing in an office, they’re just swanning around the office. And it comes from the word “swan,” which is a bird, and you can see these birds swanning around the lakes; they just go back and forth with no particular purpose. This verb is actually coming from this noun, so when somebody is doing nothing, you can say, “Hey, stop swanning around; do something, do something that mattersālearn English.“
20. Showoff
Meaning – a showoff is a person who boasts all the time.
When you are irritated by a person who is constantly trying to show how great he is or maybe trying to show that he’s wearing fancy clothes, you can call him a “showoff,” and a showoff is a person who boasts all the time.
21. Full of crap
Meaning – When someone tells things that don’t really make sense
When somebody lies a lot and you tell people not to trust him, you can say, “Don’t trust him; he’s full of crap!” which means he lies all the time; he does not check the facts; he, you know, tells things that don’t really make sense, so he is full of crap.
Three more phrases, and we're done with offending others :)
22. Douche
Meaning – spray or shower with water
Douche is a tool that you actually use in a toilet. But when somebody is brainless and acts in a stupid manner, you can call him a “douche“. [American English Phrases]
23. Douchebag
Meaning – an obnoxious, offensive, or disgusting person
Again, “douchebag” is pretty similar; when somebody just acts in a way that he only respects himself, not respecting others, and has no understanding of social rules, and this is a douchebag.
Now let's couch some less offensive words. Let's talk about friendship.
24. Bestie
Meaning – best friend
we have a friend. And when he is your best friend, you can call him “bestie” or her “bestie”ā¦ I think girls normally use this word, so “bestie” is a best friend.
25. Squeaky clean
Meaning – completely clean
When you clean your apartment and you want to say that it’s super clean, instead of saying “super,” because “super” is the word you use all the time, you can say, “Squeaky clean.” This makes you sound a lot cooler.
Sometimes, when somebody looks really good, you can say, “Oh wow, you look so fresh and so clean,” that’s from the song, and “squeaky clean,” again, means really cool. So, an apartment is squeaky clean, which means really, really clean.
26. Hotshot
Meaning – an important or exceptionally able person.
When you want to emphasize that the person is extremely talented and brings a lot of value, you can call this person a “hotshot,” which means that he is a really valuable person and has a lot of talents. He is a Hotshot.
27. A-game
Meaning – one’s best possible performance
When you have an important meeting or you have your English language exam, you tell your parents: “I’ll bring my A-game,” which means I’m gonna act in the best manner possible; I’m gonna be my best self. I’ll bring my A-game! [American English Phrases]
28. Rip off
Meaning – insanely overpriced
When you go to the main street of your city and there are many expensive shops like Louis Vuitton, or Dior, or Gucci, and you’re walking and you see a T-shirt that costs $600, you can say, “That’s a rip-off.” This is extremely, insanely overpriced; this is a rip-off. Is it not weird that a T-shirt costs $600? So, that is a rip off hundred percent.
29. Loose cannon
Meaning – an unpredictable or uncontrolled person who is liable to cause unintentional damage.
When a person changes his mind all the time, and when you cannot trust them because they can do something really unexpected, you can call this person a “loose cannon.”
But you won’t tell him that just during the conversation; you’ll probably do that when you are talking to another person and you’re like, “I don’t trust him; he’s such a loose cannon!” which means that, yes, he can do something unexpectedly. I wouldn’t just leave him alone; I would watch him.
30. You bet
Meaning – you may be sure; certainly
Another way to say “yes” or “of course,” is to say, “You bet.” For example, somebody is asking, “Do you enjoy living in SF?” I would answer, “You bet!” OMG, SF is such an amazing city; I do not know how you can not enjoy living here. “You bet.”
31. You’re telling me
Meaning – of course
Sometimes people tell me, “You know, it’s so important to learn English!” The best answer for me would be not “of course”; the best answer would be “You’re telling me that.” And that means, “Come on, of course, I know that; that has changed my whole life!
Learning a foreign language, and learning English has changed my whole life, so when you tell me that English is important, I can answer, ‘You’re telling me that? Of course I know, of course!’” So, instead of saying “of course,” I’m saying a phrase that makes me sound more American.
32. A bunch of
Meaning – a lot of
Instead of saying “a lot of,” you can say “a bunch of,” so this is super-American. I have a bunch of friends who live in LA, instead of saying “I have got a lot of friends in LA.”
33. Heads up
Meaning – a message that alerts or prepare
“Heads up” is another phrase that Americans use a lot. For example, my banker told me yesterday, “he next time you send a wire, please, give me a heads up, so I can make sure that something is correct.” So, heads up means to warn somebody in advance.
34. Play by ear
Meaning – to act spontaneously and according to the situation
Another idiom that I used a couple of weeks ago is “play by ear.” You can say “play by ear” when you’re talking to somebody and you cannot agree on the time when you’re gonna meet, you just tell him: “Hey, so we’re gonna meet tomorrow, but let’s play by ear, let’s rely on the circumstances that we’re gonna have tomorrow and we’re gonna decide what time we’re gonna meet. Play by ear. [American English Phrases]
35. Quality time
Meaning – time that you spend with someone, giving them your full attention
“Quality time.” To spend quality time with somebody means spending time without distracting yourself with a phone or computer. So, you sit down with your friend and spend quality time with him, for example, playing games or just talking and not staring at your iPhone or scrolling through Instagram. To spend quality time with somebody.
36. Top-notch
Meaning – of the highest quality; excellent
Another way to say “excellent” is “top-notch.” So, for example, if you like this article, you can say, “Simmz, this is a top-notch article!” which means that’s an excellent article.
My advice to you, if you like the phrase, practice it right now! Write a comment below and say, “Hey, Simmz, this is a top-notch article!” or if you don’t like it, please comment below and tell me what can be improved in this article. This is really helpful! When you give me feedback, I can learn from it, and I can improve my next articles for you.
37. Zero tolerance
Meaning – used when you wouldn’t tolerate something.
Another phrase, “zero tolerance.” Zero tolerance is the phrase that you use when you don’t tolerate something. So, for example, I wouldn’t tolerate my camera to stop recording!
38. There is no such thing as a free lunch
Meaning – it isn’t possible to get something for nothing.
A lot of Americans use it because it describes that everything is paid for. Sometimes it’s not paid for by you; it’s paid for by somebody else. For example, you’re reading this article for free, but I get some money from Google because they are showing ads to you. So, there is no such thing as a free lunch; somebody’s already paid for everything.
39. I gotta go
Meaning – Goodbye
Instead of saying “goodbye to you” but in a different manner, you can say, “I gotta go.” So, for example, “Sorry, guys, I gotta go; I gotta have my breakfast” [American English Phrases]
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