Preview: Idioms & Slang
Our Daily Lesson blog is launching next week! Every day we will bring you one or two lessons from one of four categories: Grammar, Vocabulary, Idioms & Slang, and Pronunciation. As a special preview we’re giving you a bonus lesson for our Idioms & Slang section. Enjoy, and remember to come back next week for the official launch, or subscribe to our feed!
Alternatives to ‘Say’
Often when people are telling a story, they include quoted speech:
And then John said, ” I was late for work yesterday.”
Mary told me, “It’s raining in San Diego.”
However, when native English speakers are in a casual setting, we don’t usually use any forms of the words ‘say’ and ‘tell.’ Wait–’say’ and ‘tell’ ar the verbs that you’re supposed to use for quoted speech. How can you avoid using them?
In casual speech, English speakers are more likely to use ‘like,’ ‘all,’ and ‘go’ to introduce quoted speech. Here’s the sentence about John again, using each of these casual alternatives:
And then John (is/was) like, “I was late for work yesterday.”
And then John (is/was) all, “I was late for work yesterday.”
And then John (goes/went), “I was late for work yesterday.”
And here is the sentence about Mary, expressed in a more casual way:
Mary (is/was) like, “It’s raining in San Diego.”
Mary (is/was) all, “It’s raining in San Diego.”
Mary (goes/went), “It’s raining in San Diego.”
In the first two sentences, the pattern is to use some form of the verb ‘be’ (present or past tense) followed by ‘like’ or ‘all.’ For the third sentence, simply replace the verb ‘say’ with the verb ‘go.’ Just match the tense of ‘be’ or ‘go’ to the tense of the rest of your story. However, ‘go’ is most often used when stories are being told in the present tense.
Try using ‘like,’ ‘all,’ and ‘go’ next time you’re telling a story. Your friends will be impressed by how natural your English sounds. But remember–this is only for use in casual spoken English, so don’t use it in your next essay!
