How to Describe Strong Feelings in Natural English [576]

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In this episode, you’ll learn natural English expressions that describe strong emotional reactions.

We look at everyday phrases people use when something:

• annoys you
• makes you nervous
• frightens you
• shocks you
• or leaves you speechless

I explain what each phrase really means, when to use it, and how it sounds in natural spoken English.

This episode is ideal for intermediate and upper-intermediate learners who want to express emotions more clearly and sound more natural in conversation.

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Transcript

0:09

Hi there, this is Harry and welcome back to Advanced English Lessons with Harry where I try to help you to get a better understanding of the English language. So this particular lesson, it's an advanced English lesson and it's all to do with vocabulary and expressions that you can use when somebody is annoying you or when you're angry or annoyed with or about with somebody or about something that has happened. So I've given you in total 12 expressions and phrases that you can use. And as always, if you want to get some more information, if you need some more examples, then you can write to me www.englishlessonviaskype.com and I'll gladly help you. So number one, to get on your nerves. Well, when somebody gets on your nerves, they really annoy you. It could be because of some habit they have. You know, there's always something about somebody that we don't like. Nobody is 100% perfect, not even me. So when somebody does something, for example, they click their teeth like that, or they drum their fingers on the table when they're thinking, or they scratch their head, or whatever they do, they have habits, and often those habits we can find to be quite annoying. So we can say, oh, you know, that habit he has. Oh, it gets on my nerves. I really must tell him not to do it. So people who have habits that annoy us, they get on our nerves. Number two, to get under your skin. Well, when somebody gets under your skin, it's like it's really annoying. Okay, so, oh, that guy, as soon as he talks to me or he even touches me, oh, it makes me sick. He just gets under my skin. But it usually means that somebody doesn't have to try very hard to annoy you because they just happen to do it. Often when we work in teams in our office, we get on well with most people, but occasionally there happens to be one guy or one girl in the office. For some reason, whatever it is, they just get under your skin. You can take criticism from everybody and anybody, but if this person opens their mouth, you don't like it and it really gets under your skin, it really annoys you. Okay. Number three, rattle your cage. Now, we use this expression like a lion or an animal is in a cage. And if somebody rattles a cage, they get really angry. So if you suddenly explode or get very angry, somebody is likely to say to you, wow, who rattled your cage? Meaning, who upset you? Oh, don't talk to me. The boss, I mean, really, at the last minute on a Friday, when I want to get home, what does he do? He drops this pile of, you know, what, on my email or in my email box. And I'm going to have to spend a couple of hours over the weekend doing it. It really, really annoys me. So yeah, if you want to know who rattled my cage, you don't have to look too far. It's the boss. Okay, so when somebody says who rattled your cage, it means somebody has done something to upset you, something to annoy you, given you some extra work to do, said something that you didn't really like, or some insult that you've taken up, or something you've taken as an insult. They've really rattled your cage. So they've got you very, very angry, like the wild lion. Yeah, rattled your cage. Number four, somebody might get up your nose or something might get up your nose. You know, if you feel there's something up your nose and you're, oh, there's something there. So if somebody annoys you, oh, that really gets up my nose. That really, really bothers me. Yeah, that's, I wish he wouldn't do that. I wish when he's, for example, eating, that he would eat with his mouth closed because I really don't like seeing his mouth open when he's chewing and he's he makes a terrible noise. It really gets up my nose. Sitting, watching or listening, I really have to go out of the canteen when he comes in because it really bothers me. Okay, so when somebody gets up your nose, they do something that obviously upsets you and gets you annoyed. Okay. And for those of you and your friends or family who want one-to-one lessons, well, you know what to do. Just get in touch, www.englishlessonviaskype.com and you can apply for a free trial lesson and we'll be very happy to hear from you and very happy to help you. Something that will make your skin itch or crawl. So to itch or crawl, oh, you know, and something, oh, you feel dirty or you feel in some way that you have to scratch it. So some people just irritate us, yeah? It's nothing they say or nothing they do, but we just don't like their character. There's something about them. Maybe they're a little bit creepy. Maybe they're a little bit dirty. Maybe they whisper. Maybe they are a little bit, I don't know, lecherous in some way that the way they look at you. So it makes your skin crawl or it makes your skin itch like you feel a thousand spiders climbing over your skin. You know that feeling. Yeah, oh, it's terrible. So yeah, he really annoys me or she really annoys me. Sitting beside them, it makes my skin itch. Oh, I just can't think about it. You know, if we have an office meeting, I always make sure that I sit well away from that person. I don't want to be near them. So something that makes us somebody who makes your skin itch or crawl. Someone gives you goosebumps. Now, these can be in a nice way or a scary way, but when you get goosebumps, your skin gets all these little spots on it. You know, when you've, if you're like sitting in a cold room, you feel, oh, a little bit cold, you have goosebumps. So if somebody says something, they could say it in a flattering way, or they could say it in a sexy way, or they could say it in a way where they're giving you a compliment. Oh, it gives you goosebumps. So it's a pleasant feeling that you have. But in another way, you might be a little bit scared. So somebody's recounting a story or horror movie, and that would really give you goosebumps because you're not so keen on the horror movies. And that just makes you feel a little bit unsure, a little bit unsettled, and a little bit annoyed. Someone makes your blood boil. Well, we use this expression when somebody really annoys us. Oh, he just has to open his mouth and he makes my blood boil. Every time he asks me for something, he leaves it to the very last minute. I think he does it on purpose. I think he knows when I'm going to get ready to go home. I think he knows and he comes out and he gives me something to do. It really makes my blood boil. So when your blood boils, you can feel your face getting a little hot. Perhaps you get a little bit red in the cheeks. You go, ooh, ooh, he makes my blood boil. Not literally, of course, but it just raises your temperature, raises your anger levels a little bit, and you just need to calm down. Deep breaths and everything will be okay. But somebody and lots of people can make our blood boil. Someone gets on your goat. Well, this is a very, very old expression. Someone who gets on your goat just means they just annoy you. Yeah. Oh, he's always getting on my goat. I mean, I just, I don't, maybe it's me. I just don't like the guy. Whatever he says, he wants to join in. He wants to come and play football with us. He wants to do that. Ah, no, thanks. I don't like him. He just gets on my goat. There's just something about him. I think he's a little bit arrogant. I think he thinks he's better than everybody else. I just really don't like the guy. He gets on my goat. There's no real explanation of it because a goat is a farm animal, but we use it to describe somebody that annoys us, somebody who upsets us, and somebody we would rather not spend time with. Ah, he just gets on my goat. The neighbor, for example, he never cuts his grass. He never fixes a fence. He always leaves it to me. He always leaves rubbish in his garden. He just gets on my goat because when the wind blows, it blows into my garden and I have to spend my time tidying it up. I've spoken to him several times. Really, he never does anything about it. He really gets on my goat. Number nine, to bring you out in a cold sweat. Well, this is not a very nice feeling. Perhaps it's the feeling just before you're going to make a presentation or when the boss in the middle of a meeting says, okay, well, Catherine, what's your view in this? And you weren't expecting it at all. And you break out in a cold sweat because everybody's looking at you and everybody's expecting some answer and you give a little bit of a cough. Oh, well, I've nothing really prepared. Can I come back to you on that? Oh, yeah, yeah, no problem. You break out in a cold sweat. So it's not a healthy feeling. It's not a good feeling. And it's just something that's very, very uncomfortable. Or you're sitting there waiting in the exam to get your results. Or you're sitting waiting to get called into the exam for the oral exam, perhaps if you're doing IELTS or something like that. And you break out in a cold sweat when they call your name because this is it. It's now or never type of time. You've got to go in. You've got to answer the questions. So you just got to relax, but you can break out in a cold sweat when it's something that you weren't expecting. Or even if you were expecting it, you just didn't want it to happen. Okay, so to break out in a cold sweat. Number 10 is about making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. So when you get a fright, it's as if the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. You go, oh my God, what was that? So you go to the cinema with your friend and you're watching a movie. You didn't expect it to be a horror movie or as shocking as it was. And something happens, somebody lunges at somebody in the movie or there's a sudden loud bang and suddenly you get the hairs on the back of your neck stand up because it was sudden and it was unexpected. And then you're able to breathe again and realize it's just a movie. Or you could be sitting up in bed reading a book and you hear a very loud bang and a noise of something and the hairs on the back of your neck stand up because you're not quite sure what it is. Or indeed, if somebody you don't like, you dislike them intensely and they say something at a party or they say something in the office or they say something when you're with other friends, it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up because you get a little bit angry. Oh, yeah, him again. Just, I just don't want to talk to him. I just don't like him. And when he says something, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It gives you that strange, creepy feeling. Okay. Number 11, and this is when, and doesn't happen to me very often, lust for words. Okay. When somebody is lost for words, they just literally cannot find anything to say. Now, this could be at a time of excitement, at a time of a surprise, or indeed a time of a shock. So perhaps you're being presented with something for a special birthday, your 30th, your 40th, your 50th. First of all, you didn't think anybody would remember. Secondly, if they did remember, you weren't expecting anything so wonderful. But when you see the present that they've bought you, you just look at it and your mouth opens and you're lost for words. You can't say anything. Usually the first thing somebody comes out with is, oh my God, I'm speechless. I'm lost for words. I don't know what to say. All I can say is thank you. And of course, you find some words of gratitude to thank people. But yeah, you're not so fluent because you are lost for words. Or somebody might say, okay, it's your turn, David. What do you think? And David stumbles, well, it's not like you to be lost for words. Usually you've got some comment. Come on, let's have your opinion. So to be lost for words might take you a little while to think of something to say because perhaps you're not properly prepared to be lost for words. And then finally, which happens when people start making long, long speeches, and I'm sure you're glad now that this particular lesson is almost over, your eyes glaze over. When your eyes glaze over, you're usually feeling bored or tired or both. So you're sitting in a hot room, somebody's talking and talking and talking, and at some stage, your eyes glaze over and you feel just like putting your head down and falling to sleep. Now you have to be very careful that the boss or somebody else doesn't notice it. But when our eyes glaze over, we've lost interest, we've lost contact, we've lost connection with whoever is talking and our eyes glaze over. We just sort of look as if we're on another planet. Okay, so there's 12 particular examples of situations and vocabulary that you can use when you're annoyed with somebody or when you're angry or somebody annoys you. Okay, so let me give them to you again. There's only 12 of them. To get on your nerves, to get under your skin, rattle your cage, to get up your nose, make your skin itch or crawl. Someone gives you or something gives you goosebumps. Somebody makes your blood boil. Someone gets on your goat. Brings you out in a cold sweat. That's number nine. Number 10, to make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Number 11, lost for words. As I said, not often for me. Lost for words. And finally, your eyes glaze over the, you're staring, but you don't really recognize or acknowledge anything or anybody. Okay, so there, those situations when you can use them. If you need some more examples, you need you know the drill by now, practice them and you can come back to me if you need any more help. So this is Harry, thanking you for watching and listening. And remember, join me for the next lesson.