#78- 18 Words for Murder Mysteries and True Crime

Are you an English learner who loves talking about true crime, murder mysteries, and criminal investigations? Or maybe you just need to learn about this topic so that you can talk about current events with confidence? In this episode of The Real Life English with Gabby Podcast, you’ll learn 18 essential phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang expressions that native speakers use when talking about crime, investigations, and everyday drama.

In Part 1 of this two-part series, you’ll hear a suspenseful murder mystery story while learning vocabulary like:

• piece together
• look into
• sketchy
• the prime suspect
• an alibi

 …and more.

These expressions show up everywhere: in TV shows, news reports, documentaries, podcasts, and even everyday conversations. Even when we’re not talking about crime, native speakers use many of these phrases metaphorically.

If you want to:

• Understand American TV and true crime shows
• Improve your listening skills
• Learn real conversational English
• Sound more natural and confident

…this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen to the story, try to figure out the vocabulary from context, and then learn clear definitions and examples.

Don’t forget to download the episode study guide! It includes:

• All 18 vocabulary words with clear definitions
• Example sentences
• The full story from the episode
• Practice activities to help you remember and actually use the language

To get the Study Guide, click >> HERE <<

With the episode + study guide together, you’ll get multiple exposures to the vocabulary, which is exactly what you need to remember and actually use new English words confidently.

Press play and let’s solve the mystery while improving your English.

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Get the FREE Study Guide:

 >> CLICK HERE <<

Transcript

[00:00:00] On this episode of The Real Life English With Gabby podcast, you'll learn 18 phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang all about murder, mysteries, and true crime. In part one of this two-part series, you'll be learning vocabulary like piece together, sketchy, and alibi, the plot thickens, and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there. Welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Hey, hey, hey. Greetings from the one and only New York City. [00:01:00] Welcome to episode number 78. This is gonna be a fun one. I'm not sure about your culture, but in American culture, we love watching true crime documentaries, murder mysteries, shows about police, shows about crime. There are so many police shows, shows about criminal investigations. Seriously, it's really crazy how many shows we have about crime.

Why is this? Why is it that Americans are so obsessed with this? Because some of the top and most popular shows in American culture have been shows about solving crime. I honestly think that Americans are obsessed with this topic because, well, it's a country with a lot of crime. The [00:02:00] USA is a very violent culture.

We have the highest percentage of prisoners in the world. We have some of the strictest laws in the world, and here we come down really hard on crime. Criminals here are very low in society. When people go to prison here, it's not for rehabilitation, it's for punishment.

And if you didn't know, prisons in the United States are privately owned, so they are for profit. So many people benefit when prisons are full because prisoners, according to our constitution in the 13th Amendment, slavery is allowed once someone is convicted of a crime. So when you go to prison, you are a slave. You do labor for companies [00:03:00] and also in many states, if you have committed a violent crime, some kind of felony, then you lose the right to vote. That is starting to change in many states, but they have set these strict laws and they have been around for decades. So overall, you know, American culture, very violent. And so I think this is why we're obsessed with crime.

But also, being even more specific, we have the highest number of serial killers in the world. If you don't know what a serial killer is, it's someone who kills multiple people, generally kills them in very bad, disgusting ways, and we have the most by a very significant number. And to be honest, many people find these stories fascinating. [00:04:00] Stories about killers, stories about unsolved crimes. For me personally, I like police shows, but I do not like shows about killers and crime, like unsolved mysteries, because it scares me too much.

Now back to serial killers. Let's just pause here and take a look at this topic. Listen to these statistics. The top five countries with the most serial killers. Here we go. At number five, we have Italy, 97 serial killers. Next up, we have Canada with 106 serial killers. Then we have South Africa with 117 serial killers. Number two is England with 166 serial killers. And sitting at [00:05:00] number one, the United States of America. Are you ready for the number? 3,204.

By the way, do you notice the trend that four out of the five are English-speaking countries? Do you think that the English language is so difficult that it turns people into serial killers? That is kind of strange, though. Gotta admit. What is the deal with English-speaking countries, huh? Anyway, yeah, so we have had 3,204 serial killers, and these are just the ones that got caught. There are still so many cold cases with serial killers that have never been caught. And here is a crazy fact. They say that every American interacts with at least one serial killer in their lifetime. Guys, this country is crazy. Oh [00:06:00] my gosh.

So aside from all of the serial killer stuff, like I mentioned before, the USA is a very violent country. Murder happens all the time. Bad crime happens all the time, you know? This country, unfortunately, is obsessed with guns, with weapons, with enforcing the law, and that is reflected in our love for crime dramas, documentaries, podcasts, books, news reports. These are some of the most popular topics in the entertainment industry, and, you know, you watch these and they're filled with slang, idioms, and phrasal verbs that English learners don't usually learn in textbooks.

And so that's why I wanted to do this topic, because it's such a popular topic. You need to know it if you're going to be in [00:07:00] English-speaking environments. You'll hear this on the news all the time. So if you're really interested in the topic of crime, murder mysteries, unsolved mysteries, this is the episode for you.

But even if you're not interested in this topic, this episode is still for you because this vocabulary shows up everywhere. Like I mentioned before, you'll hear this vocabulary in TV shows and movies, in article headlines, newspaper headlines, in watching the news on the internet or on television, in conversations with friends, and even when people talk about everyday problems or people talk about current events or things happening in their neighborhood. And even if we're not talking about crime, we actually use many crime-related expressions in [00:08:00] everyday conversation. We use them in a metaphorical way.

Now back in episodes number two and three, when I first started the podcast, I actually did the topic of crime and political crime and scandals, but I wanted to do the topic again because it's such a popular topic, but also I wanted to do a slightly different focus and teach different vocabulary.

So this is actually part one of a two-part series. This is a murder mystery true crime series. In this episode, you'll hear about the crime and learn about the suspects. You'll start forming your own theories, and then in the next episode, you'll find out what happened with a new batch of awesome vocabulary.

So I hope you're ready for a different kind of [00:09:00] episode. Before we continue, I just wanna remind you that there's a study guide that goes along with this episode that will help you remember everything you learn. It has the story, the words, definitions, example sentences, and the transcript. But most importantly, there are practice activities that are like mini quizzes that will really help you get everything into your memory.

Between the episode and the study guide, you have six to seven times of exposure and interaction with the vocabulary, and this is exactly the scientific formula that you need to remember and use new vocabulary. If you wanna get that study guide, just click the link in the episode description.

Okay, so now let's talk about the vocabulary that you are gonna learn [00:10:00] in this episode.

At the scene of the crime, piece together, look into, sketchy, fishy, or shady. Three similar yet different words. Check out. The prime suspect, an alibi, add up or something doesn't add up. Figure out. Turn up. All signs point to. The plot thickens. Rule out. A web of lies, a dead giveaway, narrow down, hide in plain sight, and a cold case.

Now I'm going to read you a story that I created that has all of the vocabulary in real-life context. As I read the story, listen to the context and see if [00:11:00] you can figure out the meanings of the words.

Using context to figure out what a word means is one of the most important skills that you can have in English. So let's develop those skills. After the story, we'll take a look at the definitions and I'll give you some example sentences as well.

Here we go.

Detective Sam Lewis of the NYPD had been called to the scene of a murder and had just arrived at the scene of the crime. A famous art dealer had been murdered, and the police were trying to piece together what had happened. At first, nothing seemed unusual, but when Sam began to look into the victim's past, things started to seem a bit sketchy. He decided to check out the security footage. Only a few people had come and gone from the victim's house, including [00:12:00] one client, two employees, an ex-girlfriend, and the assistant. However, the one who last saw the victim alive was the assistant. They brought all of the suspects in for questioning, and afterwards, the victim's assistant became the prime suspect. Her story seemed a little too organized and neat. She seemed to have an alibi, but some things just didn't add up.

As Sam continued to try to figure out the timeline of the crime, new details began to turn up. For example, they discovered that a missing painting worth $1.5 million was stolen. They also discovered that the victim's cell phone was missing, and there was no murder weapon. All signs pointed to the [00:13:00] assistant at first, but the plot thickened as more evidence was discovered.

Detective Lewis tried to rule out other possibilities, but the case was slowly becoming a web of lies. It was almost as though the answer was hiding in plain sight, but he just couldn't figure it out. He wished that something would happen that would be a dead giveaway, but he waited and waited, and nothing happened.

By the end of the night, Detective Lewis managed to narrow down the suspect, but he couldn't shake the feeling that this case was connected to a cold case from years ago. To be continued.

Now, as I stated earlier, this is a two-part series, so we're going to hear the rest of the story in the next episode.

So now [00:14:00] let's take a look at the definitions and get some examples.

First up, we have the phrase, expression at the scene of the crime. At the scene of the crime means at the location where a crime happened or a crime was committed. In English, we say commit crime. We don't really say do a crime. We say commit crime.

So at the location where that crime is committed, we typically say, "Oh, where is he? He's at the scene of the crime." For example, the detectives arrived at the scene of the crime within minutes of the 9 1 1 call. In the USA, in order to call the police or the ambulance or the fire rescue, fire department, we dial 9 1 1. I know that in every country this is different, but in the USA, we call 9 1 1, and they dispatch, they send out whoever we need. [00:15:00] Fire department, police department, or something more serious.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb piece together. To piece together means to slowly combine different things together. When it comes to a crime or a story, it's to slowly combine different bits of information in order to understand the full story. So if the police are called and they're trying to figure out what happened, they'll say they're piecing together what happened. For example, the investigator tried to piece together what happened by reviewing security footage and phone records. By the way, the word footage, foot, FOOT, and then a GE, that really just means audio or video. So security footage could be anything that is [00:16:00] recorded.

Next up, we have another phrasal verb, look into. Look into is a very, very popular phrasal verb, but it has several different meanings. In this context, look into means investigate or examine something carefully. For example, the police decided to look into the victim's financial history. They were doing some research. They were examining, investigating very, very carefully.

Next, we have three slang words. They are adjectives. They are similar, which is why I combined them. So let's take a look. We have sketchy, fishy, and shady. These are all very, very popular slang words that we use when something just isn't right. So let's take a look. First up, we have [00:17:00] sketchy and fishy. So sketchy, it means suspicious or possibly unsafe. For example, that neighborhood is a bit sketchy at night. This means that it's a little bit unsafe. And then we have the word fishy. Now we've talked about fishy in past episodes. This means that something is not quite right. It could be also suspicious. For example, it seemed fishy that he left the party right before the crime happened.

So here you see it's a little suspicious. I'm thinking something's not right. Something is off, we say. Then we have shady. Now shady is a little bit different than fishy and sketchy. Shady means something is dishonest. [00:18:00] Shady more than likely is going to talk about a person, whereas fishy and sketchy typically describe actions or places. Shady really is to describe a person, and it's typically a person who is dishonest or involved in illegal activity. However, we typically pair it with the word business. I'm gonna give you two examples. First example, the detective believed that the suspect was involved in some shady business deals. Second example, she broke up with him because he was acting really shady and lying all the time.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb check out. Now here again is another phrasal verb that has multiple meanings. I mean, most phrasal verbs do. But in this context, check out means to examine or investigate something. For example, the officers went to [00:19:00] check out the abandoned warehouse. They're gonna go investigate. They're gonna go examine.

Next up, we have the prime suspect. This is a phrase, and it happens to be a noun phrase. The prime suspect is the person most likely believed to have committed the crime. So a suspect is anyone who is thought to have committed a crime. Prime is main or major. So this is like the person who is believed to have committed the crime more than all the others. For example, after reviewing the evidence, the victim's business partner became the prime suspect.

Next up, we have the noun an alibi. An alibi is proof or it's a statement that someone was somewhere else when a crime happened. So typically when there's a crime and there's a suspect, they say, okay, what's your [00:20:00] alibi? What is the statement that you're making that proves you were somewhere else when the crime happened? For example, the suspect claimed he had an alibi because he was at dinner with friends.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb, but we're gonna put it in an expression. So the phrasal verb is add up. Add up means to make sense, to make sense or be logical. So when we say something doesn't add up, this means that a situation doesn't make sense or doesn't seem consistent. For example, her timeline of events changed twice, and something doesn't add up.

Next up, we have another phrasal verb, figure out. This is one of the top, I'd say, 50 most common phrasal verbs in American English, and so I'm sure most of you have learned this before or maybe you even feel comfortable using it all the time. But it's great to review. Figure [00:21:00] out means to understand or solve. For example, the detective worked all night to figure out who had access to the money in the safe.

Next up, we have another phrasal verb, turn up. Turn up in this context means to appear unexpectedly or to be discovered. For example, new evidence began to turn up during the second week of the investigation. This means that as they searched, evidence just started to appear or be discovered, and it was unexpected.

Next up, we have the expression all signs point to.

So this means that all the evidence suggests a specific conclusion, a particular conclusion. So all signs here means all evidence. Point to means [00:22:00] suggest. And so you look at all the evidence, and this is what the conclusion is. For example, all signs point to someone inside the company committing the crime.

Next up, we have an expression, the plot thickens. So first, before we talk about the meaning, let's talk about what this means. So what is the plot? The plot is typically the story. Like if you're watching a movie, what's the plot? The plot is the main story. What's the main idea? What are the main things that are happening? Thicken means to get bigger, right? So if you're watching a movie and the movie seems boring, but then all of a sudden something happens, you might say, ooh, the plot thickens. But we typically don't use it literally like that. We use it metaphorically or symbolically, which is why this is an expression. And so this means that a situation becomes [00:23:00] more complicated or more interesting.

So, ooh, the plot thickens. We typically say this when there's drama. For example, when a second suspect... Hmm. The plot thickened after finding out that the victim was having an affair with her boss.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb rule out. To rule something out means to eliminate a possibility. So let's say you're taking a test and there are four choices. You know that two of the choices are wrong. So you rule those out. You eliminate them. That's what it means here. For example, the police ruled out two suspects last night. This means that they eliminated two suspects, and they are closer to finding the real criminal.

Next up, we have a phrase, a web of lies. [00:24:00] This is a very complex situation that involves many lies that connect, kind of like a spider web. I want you to think of a spider web, okay? When you look at a situation, it's like all of these lies are connecting, and it's a web of lies creating a huge story. For example, the suspect created a web of lies to protect himself.

Next up, we have another phrase, a dead giveaway. This is a slang phrase because it has nothing to do with the meaning of dead, like die. A dead giveaway is a clear sign that reveals the truth. I know this is so strange, but when something gives something away, sometimes that means that it's obvious. Like if my family's planning a surprise party, but all of my friends tell me that they're busy and they can't hang out with me on my birthday, I'd say, hmm, that was a giveaway, meaning that was an obvious sign.

A dead giveaway is something that is a clear sign that something is happening. It's a clear indication or sign of the truth. For example, his nervous behavior was a dead giveaway that he was hiding something.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb narrow down. Narrow means skinny or thin or small. So if we're narrowing something down, this means we are reducing the number of options or possibilities. So the number of options is becoming more narrow or thin or small. For example, investigators narrowed down the list of suspects to just three people.

Next up, we have the expression hiding in plain sight. Now let's break this down a little bit. So first of all, [00:26:00] sight is your vision, right? Sight is things that can be seen. We say visible. Now plain sometimes is something that's not decorated, like her walls are plain, meaning they have nothing on them. They're just white, no decorations or anything. But plain can also mean clear. We use a lot of expressions with the word plain when it means clear. For example, hiding in plain sight means that something remains unnoticed or undiscovered, even though it's clearly visible or even though it's easily seen.

So imagine that you're looking for something in a park and it's right in the middle, but no one sees it. Maybe because people are panicking, people are rushing, and then you see it and you're like, oh my gosh, this was hiding in plain sight. I'll give you an example. There was a terrorist attack here a few [00:27:00] years ago on the subway, and they found the suspect just sitting at a restaurant. And that's what we would say, hiding in plain sight. Like everybody was looking in basements and hidden areas, but he was just sitting at a restaurant, hoping that people wouldn't think that that was him. And so we would say, oh, he's hiding in plain sight. For example, the stolen documents were hidden in plain sight on the office desk.

And lastly, we have the phrase a cold case. A case is an investigation. So detectives are on this case. That means they're doing the investigation. And so a cold case is a criminal investigation that has not been solved for a long time. So it's basically an unsolved mystery. For example, the murder remained a cold case for over 10 years. Because of [00:28:00] DNA technology now, a lot of cold cases have recently been solved.

Well, there you have it. 18 phrasal verbs, slang verbs, and idioms that you can use to talk about true crime and murder mysteries. Remember that next week we're gonna be talking about part two, and you're gonna learn even more awesome vocabulary.

But now I'm gonna give you some homework. Step one is to go download the study guide if you haven't already. Once you review all of the vocabulary that you just learned, I want you to put it into practice and pick five to seven words or expressions that you learned and use them.

There are so many different ways that you can use the vocabulary. You can write them down in a journal. You can write an email to a friend. You can teach one of your friends or family members who wants to learn English. And lastly, [00:29:00] one of my favorite methods is to record an audio file on your phone of you using some of the vocabulary in sentences or even in a story. Challenge yourself to think of a story on the spot and just record yourself and see how you do. Because the more confident you feel, the more likely it is that you're going to use these words in everyday life. However you decide to practice, make sure you do it. I'll see you next week.

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning [00:30:00] in.