Informal English vocabulary

A
about to	Peggy is about to leave.
in advance	We booked the tickets in advance.
alive and kicking	I love Berlin. It's alive and kicking.
all of a sudden	I went out in the sun. Then, all of a sudden, it started to rain.
all over the place	There are environmental problems all over the place.
B
to go from bad to worse	My marks went from bad to worse last term.
to bag sb.	Tom bagged this special offer at an online-shop.
beat-up	Mark is too beat-up to play tennis this evening.
to do the best	He always does his best.
blabber	Don't listen to him, he's a blabber.
to blag sb.	Once in a while young Tim blags his father's cigarettes.
bloody	What a bloody day!
to be blue	She's been feeling blue all day.
bouncer	A bouncer's task is to keep out those who might cause trouble.
be broke	I can't go to the cinema with you, I'm broke.
to brush up on sb.	I have to brush up on my Spanish.
buck	You can buy a DVD player for less than 100 bucks (dollars).
butt	You're a pain in the butt.
buzz	Parachuting gives me a real buzz.
Buzz off!	Buzz off! I have told you not to come to my place anymore.
C
a close call	I had a close call. A stone almost hit me!

to catch sb.	Sorry, I didn't quite catch your telephone number.
to catch cold	I walked out in the rain, so I caught cold.
not to have a clue	I don't have a clue about repairing the faucet.
Come off it!	Come off it! This isn't the truth.
as far as I'm concerned	As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to watch the film.
cop	A big crowd of cops gathered in front of the Bank of England.
corner shop	Mother really liked corner shops when she was a child.
cram school	Many pupils have to go to a cram school in the afternoon.
on credit	I'd not buy the new TV on credit.
cut	Mr Brown made big cuts of $500 million.
D
damned	I hate going through that damned rush hour.
to dig in one's heels	If you take or express an opinion and refuse to change it, you dig in your heels.
to disrespect sb.	Poor people shouldn't be disrespected.
to do one's best	He does his best to fix the car.
to do someone good	Let's go on a holiday. The sun will do us good.
to do without	If there's no milk for the tea, it'll do without.
down under	Down under will be my next destination.
E
to be up to one's ears	Sorry, I can't go out with you. I'm up to my ears in work.
every now and then	Every now and then I play the piano.
every other	He comes to me every other week.
to see eye to eye	World Bank and IMF see eye to eye on Asia
F
fair enough	Fair enough! Let's go out for dinner tonight.
fiddle	Especially fiddles are necessary to play folk music.
to keep the fingers crossed	I have to see the doctor for a checkup. - I'll keep my fingers crossed for you.
flutter	The old lady loves a flutter on the slot machine.
folk	We all are fond of the Irish folk.
for free	I was lucky. I got this CD for free.
freak out	Ron freaked out when he heard that Peter had broken his car.
fridge	Butter must be kept in the fridge.
G
to get a lot of stick	In his new job Jack gets a lot of stick.
to get cold feet	He wanted to speak to the boss, but he didn't. He got cold feet.
to get fed up with sb.	They get fed up with their neighbour's parties.
to get rid of sb.	We have to get rid of that old car.
to get sb.	Jason, did you finally get your exercise?
to take sth. for granted	I took it for granted the meeting was on Tuesday.
greasy spoon	I'd rather starve instead of eating at a greasy spoon.
groovy	This cocktail tastes groovy.
guy	Jennifer fell in love with the guy from the supermarket.
H
had better	You'd better go now.
on the other hand	Sue likes pop music, on the other hand she doesn't like discos.
to give a hand	Can you give me a hand with the cupboard?
hard graft	Building our house has been a hard graft.
by heart	My brother has to learn the poem by heart.
hip	Molly always knows what's hip.
to hold s.o.'s horses	Hold your horses," I said when John began to leave the room.
to be hooked on sth.	Bill is hooked on car racing.
J
to jump down sb.'s throat	The boss jumped down my throat because I was late for work.
K
knackered	What has happened? You look so knackered.
to keep an eye on sth./sb.	Will you keep an eye on my baby?
L
little by little	Andrew had an accident while playing ice-hockey. Little by little he begins to walk.
to look forward to sb.	I look forward to my holidays in Rome.
M
to make ends meet	She's been out of work for years. How can she make ends meet with four children?
to make friends easily	Chris makes friends easily.
to make oneself at home	Come in, please. Make yourself at home.
to make the most	Let's make the most of the last day of our holidays.
to make up one's mind up	Did you make your mind up to buy a new computer?
mash	I love Grandma's homemade mash.
What's the matter?	You look sad. What's the matter with you?
to be mean	Grandfather is mean with money.
to meet sb. halfway	I don't like his ideas, but I can imagine that we should meet halfway.
to mess around	The clown messed around to make the children laugh.
to mess up	Sandy has really messed up this time.

P
from now on	From now on I'm going to drive more carefully.
old fart	Bob isn't an entertainer, he is an old fart.
pint	"A pint for me, please."
to be pissed off	Leave me alone, I'm pissed off!
plonk	Plonk often causes a bad headache.
to come to the point	Don't talk for hours. Come to the point.
to pop in	I won't be back early. I'll pop in at Max's.
to put in a word for sb.	My mother doesn't let me go out. Can you put in a word for me, please?
pretty much	They earn pretty much money together.
out of the question	We can't come to the party. This is out of the question.
Q
quid	A quid is a pound in British currency.
R
red tape	Too much red tape takes everything longer.
right as rain	Your baby is right as rain.
S
to sack sb.	Fred was sacked because he had lost his driving licence.
scruffy	Her apartment is very scruffy.
to see about	Let's have a party on Saturday. I'll see about the drinks.
sharpish	After a quarrel Mike left sharpish.
to be in someone's shoes	I don't want to be in Peter's shoes.
to shut up	Shut up or disappear before I get furious.
can't stand	I can't stand the rain.
in the sticks	During their holiday the Bakers lived in the sticks. Far away from towns.
to stick sth./sb.	I can't stick more of this.
stroppy	Jimmy is a stroppy child.
stuff	Where is all that stuff I bought at Oxfam's yesterday?
T
Take it easy.	Take it easy.
telly	You're a couch potato. All you can do is sit in front of the telly.
thick	Are you thick? This is the right number.
Think nothing of it.	Think nothing of it.
to be on time	Please be on time.
to take one's time	Take your time.
tipple	After walking through the cold rain everyone enjoyed a tipple.
to loose track	Do you know where Fred lives? - I've lost track of him.
to take turns	My sister and Anne take turns babysitting.
W
Watch your step.	You'd better watch your step if you don't want trouble with your boss.
to wear many hats	You've got to wear many hats if you want to run your own hotel.
when push comes to shove	When push comes to shove you'd rather accept the job.
to feel under the weather	I think, I'll stay at home tonight. I'm feeling a little under the weather.
no wonder	No wonder he is ill. He went out in shorts in winter.
a word in your ear	Could I have word in your ear?
Words fail me.	Did you hear about Sue and Pat? - Words fail me.
to eat one's words	I'm sorry. I'll eat my words.
in other words	In other words, you can't answer the question.
to have words with sb.	I had words with the headteacher of my son's school
would rather	Would you like to spend your holidays in the North? No - I'd rather fly to Mexico.
to wow sb.	His appearance at the party wowed me.
Z
to zing through sth.	The arrow zinged through the trees as fast as lightning.