1 00:00:00,429 --> 00:00:01,429 Hi. 2 00:00:01,429 --> 00:00:02,429 Welcome to www.engvid.com. I'm Adam. 3 00:00:03,660 --> 00:00:06,799 Today's lesson is a little bit special and a little bit... 4 00:00:06,799 --> 00:00:09,850 You have to be careful with it, so I want to give you a little bit of a warning before we even start because I'm going to show you some ways to say: "crazy" and "stupid". 5 00:00:15,350 --> 00:00:20,090 I'm going to show you expressions that we use to talk about a person who's a little 6 00:00:20,090 --> 00:00:26,070 bit crazy or you think is stupid without actually using the words: "crazy" or "stupid". 7 00:00:26,070 --> 00:00:30,340 Now, on the other hand, I'm also going to show you some ways to say a person is very 8 00:00:30,340 --> 00:00:32,020 smart or sharp. 9 00:00:32,020 --> 00:00:37,710 Now, "sharp" generally means smart, but it could also mean very aware or very in control 10 00:00:37,710 --> 00:00:38,890 of a situation. 11 00:00:38,890 --> 00:00:43,540 Now, all of these expressions, they're very creative and you can play with them a lot. 12 00:00:43,540 --> 00:00:47,600 I'm going to show you basics and then show you how to expand on them, and I want you 13 00:00:47,600 --> 00:00:52,460 to understand them because they are very common, and especially if you're watching TV shows 14 00:00:52,460 --> 00:00:53,660 or movies... And I get a lot of students say to me: "I can understand all the English, but I don't 15 00:00:57,910 --> 00:00:59,190 know what they're saying on... 16 00:00:59,190 --> 00:01:00,190 In the movies." 17 00:01:00,190 --> 00:01:05,350 Well, the thing you have to remember, in the movies, their audience, their target audience 18 00:01:05,349 --> 00:01:10,290 is native English speakers, which means they can use slang, and they can use idioms, and 19 00:01:10,290 --> 00:01:17,090 they can use all kinds of cultural expressions that a non-native speaker, that someone who's 20 00:01:17,090 --> 00:01:22,119 learning English simply won't understand until it is explained to him or her. 21 00:01:22,119 --> 00:01:23,250 So that's what we're going to do here. 22 00:01:23,250 --> 00:01:26,830 So we're going to start with "crazy" and "stupid" expressions, and then we're going to look 23 00:01:26,830 --> 00:01:28,900 at "smart" and "sharp" expressions. 24 00:01:28,900 --> 00:01:29,900 Okay? 25 00:01:29,900 --> 00:01:32,290 Now, a very common expression... 26 00:01:32,290 --> 00:01:36,750 And the reason I'm starting with this is because you can be very creative with this one. 27 00:01:36,750 --> 00:01:37,750 You are... "__________ short/shy of __________". 28 00:01:37,750 --> 00:01:41,950 A person is something short of something, or shy of something. 29 00:01:41,950 --> 00:01:44,479 Now, before I continue, "shy". 30 00:01:44,479 --> 00:01:47,710 Everybody knows "shy" means, you know, you get nervous when you talk to strangers or 31 00:01:47,710 --> 00:01:49,049 your face gets red. 32 00:01:49,049 --> 00:01:53,880 Shy, "to be shy of" means to have less than complete. Okay? 33 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:56,799 So there's a new meaning of the word "shy" for you. 34 00:01:56,799 --> 00:01:57,799 And if... 35 00:01:57,799 --> 00:02:01,650 Those of you taking an English test, this is a good word to use in your essay. 36 00:02:01,650 --> 00:02:02,970 Keep that in mind. 37 00:02:02,970 --> 00:02:04,450 So let's look at a few examples. 38 00:02:04,450 --> 00:02:08,009 "A few cards short of a full deck." So, a full deck of cards has-what?-I think 52 cards, so this person only has 45, so he's 39 00:02:13,590 --> 00:02:15,079 not playing a complete game. 40 00:02:15,079 --> 00:02:20,859 It means something a little bit missing, so either crazy or stupid-okay?-without actually 41 00:02:20,859 --> 00:02:23,459 saying those words, but everybody will understand. 42 00:02:23,459 --> 00:02:24,829 Now, this ex-... 43 00:02:24,829 --> 00:02:30,080 This structure you can use anything you want on either end, and people get very creative. 44 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:31,080 Some... 45 00:02:31,080 --> 00:02:33,939 "That person is a few sandwiches short of a picnic." You can't have a picnic if you don't have all the sandwiches there, so a little bit 46 00:02:37,169 --> 00:02:38,169 not 100%. 47 00:02:38,169 --> 00:02:39,169 Right? 48 00:02:39,169 --> 00:02:43,529 Oh, that's another expression, to say: "He is not 100%." It means something a little bit missing. 49 00:02:47,120 --> 00:02:53,189 "A few beers short of a 6-pack.", "A few French fries short of a Happy Meal." 50 00:02:53,189 --> 00:02:55,340 The list goes on and on and on and on. 51 00:02:55,340 --> 00:02:58,219 You can hear all kinds, just remember this part 52 00:02:58,245 --> 00:03:00,919 of it and you'll understand what's going on. 53 00:03:00,919 --> 00:03:04,260 Now, other expressions: "He's not playing with a full deck." So, basically the same meaning as this, but just a different construct. 54 00:03:07,680 --> 00:03:09,980 "Oh, that guy's not playing with a full deck. Be careful about him." 55 00:03:10,989 --> 00:03:14,349 Means he's a little bit crazy, he's not 100%. Another expression, and this is, again, we use it with these two: "sharpest" and "brightest". 56 00:03:20,189 --> 00:03:24,739 Now, "sharp" generally means smart, "bright" also means smart. 57 00:03:24,739 --> 00:03:28,290 So if somebody is bright, clever; somebody is sharp, clever. 58 00:03:28,290 --> 00:03:33,889 But if somebody is "not the sharpest knife in the drawer", it means he's not very sharp, 59 00:03:33,889 --> 00:03:36,480 he's actually quite blunt so he's a little bit stupid. If somebody is "not the brightest star in the sky", same meaning, not very smart, a 60 00:03:41,730 --> 00:03:42,829 little bit stupid. 61 00:03:42,829 --> 00:03:43,829 Okay? 62 00:03:43,829 --> 00:03:48,719 Other ways: "The lights are on, but nobody's home." 63 00:03:48,719 --> 00:03:53,809 So eyes are open, he's alive and seeing everything, but nobody's home, nothing's going on inside 64 00:03:53,809 --> 00:03:55,209 the brain. 65 00:03:55,209 --> 00:04:00,829 "A person is out to lunch", so the body is here but the brain is outside having lunch 66 00:04:00,829 --> 00:04:03,150 somewhere, so not present. 67 00:04:03,150 --> 00:04:12,510 You can also say the person "has a loose screw", or "has a few loose screws", means not everything's 68 00:04:12,510 --> 00:04:14,869 tight and working properly. 69 00:04:14,869 --> 00:04:18,630 "This person's cheese slid off his cracker". 70 00:04:18,630 --> 00:04:21,690 So, again, the list goes on and on and on. 71 00:04:21,690 --> 00:04:23,970 Make sure you understand them, make sure you know... 72 00:04:23,970 --> 00:04:26,540 You recognize them for what they mean. 73 00:04:26,540 --> 00:04:29,920 But if you're going to use them, be very, very careful. 74 00:04:29,920 --> 00:04:30,920 Because if... 75 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:36,210 Sometimes I've heard students mix up expressions, and the other person doesn't understand what they're saying and they can get in... 76 00:04:37,470 --> 00:04:41,629 Themselves into a little bit of trouble, so be careful about that. 77 00:04:41,629 --> 00:04:45,940 Let's look at a few expressions to talk about somebody being smart, or sharp, or on the 78 00:04:45,940 --> 00:04:47,580 ball, as we'll see. 79 00:04:47,580 --> 00:04:51,030 Okay, so now we're going to look at the other side of the coin. 80 00:04:51,030 --> 00:04:52,030 Okay? 81 00:04:52,030 --> 00:04:54,199 We're going to look at some ways to say good things about people. 82 00:04:54,199 --> 00:04:55,220 So, if say... 83 00:04:55,220 --> 00:05:00,110 If we say somebody is the "cream of the crop", it means he's the best of the best, or she's 84 00:05:00,110 --> 00:05:01,789 the best of the best. 85 00:05:01,789 --> 00:05:02,789 So if you're taking... 86 00:05:02,789 --> 00:05:05,770 If you're looking at a group of students, all of them are... 87 00:05:05,770 --> 00:05:06,770 Sorry. 88 00:05:06,770 --> 00:05:11,729 All of them are very smart, but this one in particular, he is the cream of the crop. 89 00:05:11,729 --> 00:05:13,039 He's the best of the best. 90 00:05:13,039 --> 00:05:16,069 He's the smartest, the most talented, etc. 91 00:05:16,069 --> 00:05:19,509 When we talk about smarts, there are two types of... 92 00:05:19,509 --> 00:05:23,990 Descriptions of smart, so there's "book smarts" means somebody who's studied a lot and knows 93 00:05:23,990 --> 00:05:28,080 everything in theory, and then there are "street smarts". 94 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:33,110 So if we say: "This guy, not so much book smarts, but his street smarts will get him 95 00:05:33,110 --> 00:05:34,139 very far." 96 00:05:34,139 --> 00:05:35,139 Okay? 97 00:05:35,139 --> 00:05:38,770 It means he knows how to handle himself, he knows how to deal with people. 98 00:05:38,770 --> 00:05:40,830 He knows how to get the things he wants. 99 00:05:40,830 --> 00:05:46,300 He might not know very much about books or what's in them, but he knows how to deal with 100 00:05:46,300 --> 00:05:48,699 the world he lives in or she lives in. 101 00:05:48,699 --> 00:05:53,770 Whereas book smarts, a person can graduate with a PhD, and then go out into the real world to work and not know what's going on because this person lacks street smarts. 102 00:05:58,349 --> 00:06:02,280 So it's good to have a combination of both if you can. 103 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:08,000 If somebody is "on the ball", "on the ball" means in control, aware of the situation, 104 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:10,039 ready to act in any circumstance. 105 00:06:10,039 --> 00:06:11,039 Okay? 106 00:06:11,039 --> 00:06:14,430 Very prepared, very ready. 107 00:06:14,430 --> 00:06:16,419 If somebody was "not born yesterday"... 108 00:06:16,419 --> 00:06:17,419 Not bo-... 109 00:06:17,419 --> 00:06:22,500 If I say: "I wasn't born yesterday", it doesn't mean I'm smart, but it means: "I'm not stupid. 110 00:06:22,500 --> 00:06:23,740 I wasn't born yesterday. 111 00:06:23,740 --> 00:06:26,879 I've been around long enough, I understand how things work." 112 00:06:26,879 --> 00:06:30,520 So: "not born yesterday", not stupid. Not necessarily smart, but not stupid. 113 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:34,960 If somebody "knows the score"... If you know the score it means you know what's going on. 114 00:06:37,969 --> 00:06:40,689 So, if we think about a base-... 115 00:06:40,689 --> 00:06:45,490 A basketball game or a hockey game, in the middle of the arena there's a big scoreboard. 116 00:06:45,490 --> 00:06:47,320 So everybody knows the score, it's right there. 117 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,879 So if somebody says: "I know the score", it means: "I know what's going on. 118 00:06:49,879 --> 00:06:52,499 I know the situation, I'm aware of what's happening. 119 00:06:52,499 --> 00:06:53,759 I can take care of it. 120 00:06:53,759 --> 00:06:56,719 I'm ready for whatever's coming." 121 00:06:56,719 --> 00:07:01,430 If somebody "doesn't miss a tick", it means that this person notices everything. 122 00:07:01,430 --> 00:07:07,069 So this person's very sharp, he or she always knows what's going on, sees everything that's 123 00:07:07,069 --> 00:07:13,229 happening, knows what everybody's doing, is very aware of the situation, very smart. Okay? 124 00:07:14,229 --> 00:07:16,999 If we say somebody's a "sharp cookie", it means smart. 125 00:07:16,999 --> 00:07:18,729 So: "She's a smart cookie. She knows exactly what he's trying to do", etc. 126 00:07:23,110 --> 00:07:24,610 Same thing: "sharp as a tack". 127 00:07:24,610 --> 00:07:30,120 A tack is a little piece of metal that you put on the wall to hold the paper or whatever 128 00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:32,510 picture you have, you just tack it to the wall. 129 00:07:32,510 --> 00:07:33,510 Right? 130 00:07:33,510 --> 00:07:34,510 It's very sharp. 131 00:07:34,510 --> 00:07:36,599 So if you're sharp as a tack, it means you're very smart. 132 00:07:36,599 --> 00:07:45,229 Now, if you're "_____-savvy", "s-a-v-v-y", "tech-savvy", "computer-savvy", "internet-savvy", 133 00:07:45,229 --> 00:07:49,610 whatever it is you're savvy with means you're very good at, you're very knowledgeable about, 134 00:07:49,610 --> 00:07:52,740 you're very aware of, you know how to use, etc. 135 00:07:52,740 --> 00:07:56,340 So the most common these days is "tech-savvy". So, children today are much more tech-savvy than their grandparents because the children 136 00:08:03,400 --> 00:08:08,361 are born to a digital world, whereas the grandparents are still writing in pen and paper, so they 137 00:08:08,361 --> 00:08:09,361 don't know. 138 00:08:09,361 --> 00:08:11,120 They're not tech-savvy. 139 00:08:11,120 --> 00:08:12,689 And you can say somebody is "quick". 140 00:08:12,689 --> 00:08:18,789 If somebody is quick, it means smart, very sharp, can process information very quickly. If somebody is a bit "slow", then a little bit dumb, not so smart. 141 00:08:23,690 --> 00:08:27,559 Not necessarily stupid, just not necessarily very smart either. 142 00:08:27,559 --> 00:08:30,690 But somebody who's quick is actually very smart. 143 00:08:30,690 --> 00:08:31,690 Okay? 144 00:08:31,690 --> 00:08:36,610 Now, again, very important to know how to use these and to know how to use them correctly. 145 00:08:36,610 --> 00:08:39,169 If you're not sure, don't use it. 146 00:08:39,169 --> 00:08:43,370 But when you watch movies, when you watch TV shows, when you speak to native speakers 147 00:08:43,370 --> 00:08:47,020 and you hear these expressions, at least you know what's going on. 148 00:08:47,020 --> 00:08:50,130 You can be on the ball, ready for whatever the conv-... 149 00:08:50,130 --> 00:08:52,410 Wherever the conversation leads. 150 00:08:52,410 --> 00:08:53,410 Okay? 151 00:08:53,410 --> 00:08:58,079 If you have any questions about any of these, please go to www.engvid.com and ask me on 152 00:08:58,079 --> 00:08:59,140 the forum there. 153 00:08:59,140 --> 00:09:04,880 There's also a quiz on the site where you can test your knowledge of these expressions. 154 00:09:04,880 --> 00:09:09,160 If you like the video, press "Like" on YouTube, and don't forget to subscribe to my channel. 155 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:16,585 And I'll see you again soon with some new videos and new things to learn. Bye-bye.