Vocabulary practice · Episode 161

Review the useful expressions from the episode

Study the episode’s central expressions with English definitions, nuance and examples, plus reviewed support-language versions where available.

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A short study session

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  1. Choose one expression. Read its definition, nuance and examples.
  2. Make it yours. Write one true sentence from your own life.
  3. Return to the episode. Listen for the expression in its original context.

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Vocabulary from the episode

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Expression 1

small talk

light, informal conversation about safe everyday subjects, especially between people who do not know each other well

Nuance: Small talk is not the same as an unimportant conversation. Its social purpose is to create comfort and test whether both people want to continue talking.

Small talk about the rain helped Juan speak to a stranger.

A little small talk before the meeting made everyone feel more relaxed.

Expression 2

an opening line

the first sentence used to begin a conversation, presentation or performance

Nuance: In conversation, opening line can sound planned or practised. A natural opener is often simple and connected to the shared situation rather than clever or impressive.

Juan believed he needed a clever opening line.

Her opening line about the delayed train led to a friendly conversation.

Expression 3

open doors

to create new possibilities, opportunities or useful relationships

Nuance: This is a figurative expression. The subject can be a skill, experience, person or small action that makes later progress possible.

The series explores the kind of small talk that opens doors.

Learning to network can open doors to jobs you never hear about online.

Expression 4

keep a conversation alive

to prevent a conversation from ending by continuing it naturally

Nuance: Alive is metaphorical here. Common strategies include asking a follow-up question, adding a related detail or reacting to what the other person has said.

The next episode will show Juan how to keep a conversation alive.

One sincere follow-up question was enough to keep the conversation alive.

Expression 5

the toll you pay to get to something

the small cost, effort or inconvenience that must be accepted before reaching something more valuable

Nuance: Toll literally means a charge for using a road or bridge. Here it is a metaphor for the brief social effort required before a deeper conversation becomes possible.

Small talk is the toll you pay to get to the real conversation.

Regular practice is the toll you pay to get to confident speaking.

Expression 6

a tag question

a short question added to the end of a statement to invite agreement or confirmation

Nuance: A positive statement normally takes a negative tag, and a negative statement takes a positive tag: It is cold, isn’t it? It isn’t late, is it? Spoken intonation can make the tag sound like a real question or a friendly invitation to agree.

Lovely day, isn’t it? is a safe tag question for starting small talk.

You have met before, haven’t you? asks the listener to confirm the speaker’s belief.

Expression 7

feel like doing something

to want or be in the mood to do something at a particular moment

Nuance: Feel like is followed by a noun or an ing-form, not an infinitive: I feel like talking, not I feel like to talk. In the negative, it can politely explain a temporary lack of desire.

The stranger may simply not feel like talking today.

Do you feel like going for a coffee after class?

Expression 8

ask for help

to tell someone that you need their assistance or information

Nuance: Ask for is followed by the thing requested: ask for help, advice or directions. Ask someone to do something uses a different pattern: ask her to help.

Asking for help gives Juan a natural reason to start speaking.

I asked for help when I could not find the correct platform.

Expression 9

your mind goes blank

you suddenly become unable to remember what you wanted to say or do

Nuance: The expression describes a temporary mental block, often caused by pressure, nerves or surprise. Blank refers metaphorically to an empty page or screen.

Juan’s mind goes blank after the other person answers.

My mind went blank when the interviewer asked for an example.

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