Vocabulary practice · Episode 172

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.

B1–B2Everyday EnglishAbout 15 min + dynamic ads5 PDF versions available
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Vocabulary from the episode

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Expression 1

stuck in your head

Remaining in your thoughts repeatedly, even when you would prefer to think about something else.

Nuance: Informal. Often used for a tune or a line from a film. It describes persistence, not the moment a thought arrives. Use be or get stuck, not be sticking.

This tune is stuck in my head.

That line from the film has been stuck in my head all day.

Expression 2

catchy

Easy to remember, especially because a tune, phrase or slogan attracts your attention.

Nuance: Usually placed before a noun or after be. Catchy does not necessarily mean beautiful or enjoyable: you can remember a tune that you dislike.

The advertisement has a catchy little tune.

The slogan is catchy, but I do not like the product.

Expression 3

pop into your head

To appear in your thoughts suddenly, without deliberate effort.

Nuance: Informal. Used for ideas, names, memories and tunes. It describes a sudden arrival; stuck in your head describes something that stays. The past tense is popped.

The tune popped into my head while I was making coffee.

A useful idea popped into my head on the bus.

Expression 4

come clean

To admit the truth about something you have hidden.

Nuance: Informal; usually implies a mistake or secret. Use come clean about something; it is more specific than simply being honest.

I came clean about the wrong time on the poster.

She finally came clean about losing the keys.

Expression 5

take something at face value

To accept something as it appears without investigating or looking for a hidden meaning.

Nuance: This is about accepting the surface explanation, not merely reading words literally. The past tense is took.

I took your explanation at face value.

Do not take every online promise at face value.

Expression 6

get your facts straight

To check that your information is correct before explaining or claiming something.

Nuance: The direct command can sound sharp or accusatory. Let us check the details is often a softer alternative.

Let us get our facts straight before we order new posters.

I need to get my facts straight before I explain what happened.

Expression 7

pull the wool over someone's eyes

To deliberately deceive someone so that they do not see the truth.

Nuance: Informal and critical. It suggests intentional deception, not an innocent misunderstanding; change the possessive to match the person deceived.

The seller tried to pull the wool over our eyes about the damaged phone.

He blamed the printer to pull the wool over her eyes.

Expression 8

annoyed

Slightly angry or irritated because something bothers you.

Nuance: Usually less intense than furious. Use annoyed with a person and annoyed about a situation; context determines the actual feeling.

I was annoyed because someone kept talking during the film.

She was annoyed with me for leaving the kitchen untidy.

Expression 9

frustrated

Unhappy or irritated because you cannot achieve what you are trying to do.

Nuance: The key idea is blocked progress, not simply stronger anger. Use frustrated with something or frustrated by a problem.

You were frustrated with the ticket machine.

He felt frustrated because he could not find the words to reply.

Expression 10

furious

Extremely angry.

Nuance: Already a strong adjective. Absolutely furious is a natural combination; very furious is usually unnecessary. Use furious with someone for doing something.

She was furious when someone used her bank card without permission.

He was furious with his colleague for taking credit for his work.

Expression 11

miss a bus or event

To fail to catch a service, attend an event or experience something intended.

Nuance: Miss a bus often means arrive too late. Miss a meeting means not attend, but lateness is not the only possible reason.

I left home late and missed my train.

I was ill, so I missed the meeting.

Expression 12

miss someone or doing something

To feel the absence of a person, place or familiar experience and wish they were present again.

Nuance: Use a noun or an -ing form after miss, not to plus a verb. This meaning describes a feeling rather than failing to attend.

I miss my old neighbourhood.

She misses having lunch with her friends.

Expression 13

miss a target or the point

To fail to hit a target or, figuratively, fail to understand the main idea.

Nuance: A physical target and the main point are different kinds of aims. Miss the point is a figurative expression, not a claim that information was absent.

The player threw the ball and missed the target.

You noticed the price, but you missed the point.

Expression 14

leave something with someone

To put something in another person’s care for them to keep temporarily.

Nuance: With identifies the person responsible for it. By identifies a nearby location and does not imply that anyone is looking after it.

We left it with your neighbour at number eighteen.

You can leave your key with the receptionist.

Expression 15

pick something up

To collect something from a place or person.

Nuance: In this meaning the phrasal verb is separable. A pronoun must go in the middle: pick it up, not pick up it; people can also be collected.

Please pick up your parcel.

Could you pick me up after work?

Expression 16

before a time

Earlier than a specified time.

Nuance: It sets an upper time boundary: before eight means earlier than eight. Do not confuse it with after or assume that eight thirty is acceptable.

Please pick it up before eight this evening.

The laptop is ready; collect it before six today.

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