Describing Things

Words for people, situations, and quality

简介

英国人有一种天赋——总能找到最精准的形容词来描述事物。东西不只是“坏”或“可疑”，而是“dodgy”——一个超级好用的词，不需要你说清楚到底哪里不对，就能传达出“不太靠谱”的感觉。

这些描述性词汇往往在随意的外表下包含着道德或实际的判断。说某个东西“dodgy”比说它“corrupt（腐败的）”要委婉得多，但意思大家都懂。这种不直说却能传达判断的方式，太英国了。

这一章我们来学习描述人、情境和事物所需的词汇，掌握英式英语特有的微妙和含蓄。你会学到如何用最少的话表达最多的意思。

主题

本章全部英语俚语（84）

• Dodgy Suspicious, unreliable, or of poor quality
• Grotty Dirty, unpleasant, or of poor quality
• Minging Extremely ugly, smelly, or disgusting
• Rank Disgusting, foul
• Rubbish Bad, worthless, nonsense (British)
• Wicked Excellent, cool
• Dope Excellent, cool
• Lit Exciting, excellent, intoxicated
• Grim Unpleasant, harsh, depressing
• Grand Fine, okay, good (Irish)
• Cheeky Impudent in an endearing way; playfully rude
• Legit Legitimate, real, genuine
• Mental Crazy, wild, extreme
• Well Very, really (British intensifier)
• Dead Very, really (Liverpool intensifier)
• Buff Attractive, muscular (British slang)
• Random Strange, unexpected, out of place
• Sketchy Suspicious, questionable, untrustworthy
• Sus Suspicious, not trustworthy, questionable
• Basic Unoriginal, mainstream, lacking individuality
• Extra Over the top, dramatic, excessive
• Savage Brutal, cutting, impressively ruthless
• Low-key Subtly, kind of, secretly
• Bang On Exactly right, precisely correct
• Rough Unwell, difficult, or shabby
• Handy Useful, convenient, skilled with hands
• Shocking Terrible, appalling, very bad
• Class Excellent, top quality
• Deadly Excellent, brilliant, amazing
• Ripper Excellent, fantastic, great
• Beaut Excellent, beautiful, wonderful
• Fair Dinkum Genuine, real, honest, true
• Chronic Terrible, awful, very bad
• Half-decent Reasonably good, acceptable
• Not Half Bad Actually quite good
• Two-bit Cheap, worthless, inferior
• Janky Poor quality, broken, unreliable
• Boujee Pretentiously upscale, fancy, high-class
• Wonky Crooked, unstable, not quite right
• naff unfashionable or tacky
• bog standard completely ordinary
• Run of the mill Ordinary, average, nothing special.
• Jammy Lucky, especially undeservedly so
• Mingy Mean, stingy, or inadequately small
• Manky Dirty, unpleasant, or of poor quality
• Dicey Risky, uncertain, potentially dangerous
• Potty Slightly crazy or obsessed
• Ace Excellent, fantastic
• Cushy Easy and comfortable, requiring little effort
• Lush Gorgeous, lovely, or luxurious
• Shattered Extremely tired, exhausted
• Minted Very rich, wealthy
• Bog-standard Basic, ordinary, with no special features
• Bonkers Crazy, mad, insane
• Shambolic Completely disorganized, chaotic
• Doddle Something very easy to do
• Shoddy Of poor quality, badly made
• Tatty Worn, shabby, or in poor condition
• Cracking Excellent, very good
• Dishy Very attractive, especially of a man
• Nippy Unpleasantly cold; also quick and agile
• Twee Excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental
• Grubby Dirty, grimy, or unpleasant
• Dinky Small and cute; in US, disappointingly small
• Gammy Bad, injured, or not working properly (of a limb)
• Swish Impressively stylish, smart, or luxurious
• Poky Small and cramped (of a room or space)
• Gobby Loud-mouthed, talking too much
• Rough Around the Edges Unpolished but fundamentally good
• Diamond in the Rough Hidden potential beneath unpolished exterior
• Down to Earth Practical, sensible, unpretentious
• Straight Shooter Honest, direct person
• No-Nonsense Practical and serious
• Happy-Go-Lucky Carefree and cheerful
• Wet Blanket Killjoy, spoils others' fun
• Old Hand Experienced and skilled person
• High Maintenance Requires lots of attention
• Shrinking Violet Excessively shy person
• Tough Cookie Resilient, determined person
• Loose Cannon Unpredictable person who may cause damage
• Jack of All Trades Skilled in many different tasks
• People Person Good at interacting with others
• Go-Getter Ambitious, energetic person
• Stick in the Mud Resists change or new ideas