A “flamer” is a derogatory (very negative) term used to describe a gay man.  It is not used to describe a gay female.  There are lot’s of unkind slang words used to describe many different things.

The reason a gay man could be called a “flamer” has a very sad and terrible history actually.  In the past, certain cultures used to set gay men on fire.  They would burn them to death!  It sounds crazy but it’s the truth.  That’s what happened.  So when anything burns from fire, there are a lot of “flames”.  If something is “flaming” it means it’s burning.

So a flamer is a very negative, yet common, name for a gay man, and a “flaming homosexual” is another very negative way to describe a gay man.  You SHOULD NOT call gay men this, but we believe it’s important you know what ALL words and phrases mean.  We want you to learn everything and we aren’t afraid to teach whatever is useful for language.  That’s what this program is all about.  The good, the bad, just everything!  I hope you appreciate it and can at least understand why we take the risk.  We just want you to learn

Examples

1.  Our soccer team went all out yesterday.  We didn’t win, but the coach was still happy with us because of our effort.

2.  I am so tired because I went all out at the gym today.

3.  My foot is still hurting a little bit.  I will play basketball with you guys but I don’t think I’m going to be able to go all out.

4.  I went all out for Valentine’s day this year.  I bought my girlfriend nice flowers, took her to a fancy restaurant, and bought her diamond earrings.

The “context” in which you say something is the situation in which you say it.  Context is things like where, when, to whom, what were the other factors going on when you said it.

When you take what someone said “out of context“, you are just saying a part of the story, usually to make the person look bad.  It doesn’t give the full story.

For example, if I said, “I am from Canada.  I love Canada in the summer time but I don’t like the cold winters.  I’ve been travelling around the world for the last few years and I’ve been really having a great time.  Sometimes I even wonder if I want to go back to Canada at all.  In reality, however, my family and friends are living there and I do want to see them when I am finished travelling.”

Someone who didn’t hear me say that whole story could tell someone that I said, “Sometimes I even wonder if I want to go back to Canada at all.”  While it is totally true that I said that, if you tell someone ONLY that part, then it gives them the wrong feeling of the story.  That would be totally taking what I said out of context.  It makes it sound like I don’t want to go back to Canada.  That would be untrue.  The real point was that I was having a great time travelling.

Unfortunately, our newspapers and TV stations in every country do this all the time.  We show the good stuff in our own country and show bad stuff in the other parts of the world.  We mislead people by taking things out of context and showing only part of the story.

Today’s phrase is “straight laced“.  It’s a very useful slang phrase and it’s used to describe a person.

If someone is “straight laced” it means that they are really “traditional”.  Someone who is “straight laced” would NEVER get a tattoo for example.  They probably won’t drink much alcohol.  They probably don’t party much.  They probably don’t like “dirty jokes”.  They are just a bit traditional and old fashioned.

It’s not always a bad thing to be straight laced, and often it can be a good thing.  It just depends how and when it’s used.

It simply means to be very traditional and to not do things that many people would think are too “open”.  I am sure you can imagine this type of person.

Do you think a straight laced person would jump out of an airplane or date 2 women at the same time?  NO WAY!  They are too “straight laced“!

The next time some native speaking friend doesn’t want to party with you, just ask them “why are you so straight laced?”  They will definitely think it’s funny.  It’s a great phrase.  Now use it

Ok, Now for today’s lesson…..

If you “look the other way” it means that you “pretend that something didn’t happen” or you “pretend that you didn’t notice something”.  We often use this phrase with police officers or people who are in a position to get someone in trouble for something.  The following examples will certainly help!

1.  I know that policeman saw me driving WAY too fast.  He was nice enough to look the other way and not make me pay a fine.

2.  It’s illegal to drink alcohol if you are under 19 years old in certain countries.  Some countries are very strict about this, and some countries just tell their police officers to look the other way if they see it, just as long as the young person who is drinking is not causing any serious problems.

3.  My teacher definitely saw me cheating on my test, but he was too lazy to do anything about it so he just looked the other way so he didn’t have to make a big deal about it.  I’m a lucky guy

If a person weighs 250 kg, you could say that their weight is “off the charts“.  It’s “too big to measure” or “too big for a normal scale to measure”.

It doesn’t have to be ONLY about physical size either.  Anything that is FAR bigger or FAR smaller than normal is “off the charts“.

It can mean “great”, “terrible” or something else extreme.  The meaning is always obvious and it depends on the context of where it’s used.

Examples will certainly help give you a clear idea of how this is used in real spoken English.

1.  Her singing is amazing.  It’s off the charts.  (She is an unbelievably great singer)

2.  I can’t believe how stupid he is.  It’s just off the charts!  (He is very very stupid)

3.  His strength is off the charts.  He’s the strongest person I’ve ever seen.

My explanation on this term is below the video…..

Last lesson I spoke about the idea of “The point“.  I think this video will help you understand it more.  I just made a video explaining that word here:

Ok, so if you watched the video, I hope you can now fully understand “the point” of why I put it in this lesson…

Anyway, “Preaching to the choir” is one of my favourite slang phrases.

A “Choir” is a group of singers, often in a church.  ”Preaching” is what the church leaders do.  They try to explain their religion to the people in the audience.  If you are “preaching“, it is almost like you are giving a lecture and trying to make others believe what you are saying.  You are trying to “convince” them of something.

Well, in a church, the people in the choir probably already believe what the preacher is saying.  They don’t need to be convinced about the religion.  They already believe in it.

So… In spoken English, if someone says, “You are preaching to the choir” it means, “I already agree with what you are saying, you don’t need to try to convince me”.

This is a great phrase and I hope you use it the next time someone spends time and energy trying to convince you of something you ALREADY believe or agree with.  Just say to them, “I know.  I know.  You are preaching to the choir“.  This will make you absolutely sound like a true native speaker!  It’s a very useful and high level spoken English slang phrase.  Use it well!

If someone says there is “no point” in doing something, it means there is no good reason to do it, and it is in fact a terrible idea.

Here are some great examples:

What’s the point of telling your boss you think he is not smart?  You know he’s going to get angry and possibly fire you.

What’s the point of taking a flight to that city?  The plane tickets are expensive and it’s only a 2 hour drive from here to there.  Let’s just drive.  It won’t take much more time anyway.

There is no point in calling her now.  She’s obviously very angry with you and doesn’t want to talk.  Wait until she calms down and then call her.

By the way, I wanted to mention that over the next few days I’ll be making a free English video explaining ALL the uses of “Point”.  There are even more.  The video is going to be awesome.  You should check out this free site everyday for new awesome videos.  Free English Learning Videos

One last example is I could say, “It’s too bad he committed suicide.  I really don’t understand the point of doing such a thing”  If you would like to know the detailed meaning of that, watch this video and enjoy!  Subscribe here for all the best videos to learn real English.

Imagine if a child was very shy in school and didn’t to very well on tests for the first 15 years of his or her life, and then all of a sudden, that student started doing REALLY well on tests.  We could call that child a “late bloomer“.

Some professional athletes are the best later in their careers.  They are late bloomers too.  Also, if someone because very successful financially (after the age of 60) they would be a late bloomer.

Also, if someone actually grew late, they would be a late bloomer.  For example, a very tall man might not have been too tall when he was in high school.  He could say to his friends, “I was a late bloomer.  I started getting really tall after I got into university”.  You get the idea.

I have some great news.  For amazing and free video and written lessons, you need to check out this new site every day.  We will keep updating it so don’t forget!

Here is a GREAT FREE LESSON to give you an idea.

There is A LOT coming soon on learnenglish232.com so don’t forget about it!  You will love it!

It’s ABSOLUTELY a great idea to sign up to these FREE ENGLISH LEARNING VIDEOS.  Make sure you click the “subscribe” button to get new ones every day

Below is a good video explaining the uses of “turn on”.

The 2 basic meanings are to:

1.  Make something “on”.  Sometimes non native speakers make the mistake of saying “open”.  Like “open the light” or “open the TV”.  These are totally wrong.  You need to say “turn on the light” or “turn on the TV“.  It’s a MUST if you don’t want to sound foolish.  ”Open the light” is terrible English.

2.  A “sexual” turn on.  This is very interesting and I’ll let the video explain this one!  Basically, it just means to make someone “attracted” to you in a romantic way.  The video will help a lot.  Watch it and pay close attention.

Again, here is where all the videos will be.

Videos for Learning Spoken English