English Vocabulary in Use Advanced » Unit 83: Give or take: more vague expressions

Word List
  • approximately
  • a bit (of a)
  • dash
  • dollop
  • give or take
  • in excess of
  • more or less
  • or so
  • or something
  • or whatever
  • or words to that effect
  • quite a few
  • smattering
  • smidgen
  • something along those lines
  • somewhere in the region of
  • stacks
  • that kind of thing
  • things like that
Exercises

83.1 ‣ Make the numbers in these sentences less precise, using expressions from A opposite. Follow the instructions in brackets.

  1. The company will invest £10.3 million in new technology over the next five years. (formal, meaning ‘more than’)
    _____
  2. It will cost you £10,000 to have the whole house redecorated. (less formal, approximately)
    _____
  3. It could take six, seven or eight hours to drive to Aberdeen, depending on the traffic. (an informal and a more formal version)
    _____
  4. Twenty-seven students failed the exam. I was rather surprised and disappointed. (a surprisingly large number)
    _____

83.2 ‣ Fill the gaps in these sentences with suitable words from A opposite.

  1. I had a large slice of chocolate gateau with _____ of cream.
  2. Just a _____ of milk in my coffee, please. I like it quite dark.
  3. He put _____ of hair gel on before going out to the party.
  4. Most of the people in the class were Spanish, with just a _____ of other nationalities.
  5. She put a _____ of mayonnaise on her salad and mixed it all up.

83.3 ‣ Put an appropriate adjective or noun in the gap. There will usually be more than one possible answer.

  1. It’s a bit _____ that she hasn’t rung. I hope she’s not ill.
  2. The computer keeps crashing; it’s a bit of a _____.
  3. It was a bit _____; I couldn’t remember his name. I’ll apologise next time I see him.
  4. If you don’t want a big meal, you could have a _____ or something.
  5. Make yourself at home. There are some magazines there, or you can just _____ or whatever.
  6. It’s a sort of craft shop; they sell _____ and things like that.
  7. When you go on business trips, do you have time to go _____ and that?
  8. There were six of us working, so we’d more or less _____ by 5 pm.

38.4 ‣

Over to you

Which expressions from the opposite page could you use to talk about:

  1. the amount of rent you pay for your accommodation or the amount you spend on food each week?
  2. how long it takes you to get from home to your workplace or place of study?
  3. any favourite items you like to add to your food, e.g. salt, cream, milk, ketchup?
Answer Key

The words and phrases in this unit are mostly for informal conversation, except where indicated, and may sound inappropriate in more formal contexts.

A ‣ Vague expressions for numbers and quantities

He left a sum in excess of $1 million when he died. [more than; used in more formal contexts]

It’ll cost you somewhere in the region of £900 a month to rent a flat. [less formal = around/about £900]

It’ll take five hours, give or take half an hour, to drive there. [could take 4.5 or 5.5 hours; informal]

The second meeting is approximately two and a half months after the first one. [could be between 9 and 11 weeks.; rather formal]

It’ll take a week or so to get the computer repaired. [more than a week, but unclear how much more; informal]

Quite a few students hadn’t registered. [a surprisingly or undesirably large number]

There was only a smattering of women authors among the prize winners. [small proportion]

Would you like a dash/smidgen of chilli sauce with your kebab? [very small quantity]

I’d like a dollop of ice cream with my fruit salad. [usually a small amount; however, we can also say a large dollop]

I used to have stacks of CDs with my files on, but now I have them all on one memory stick. [a large number or quantity of; informal]

B ‣ Making things less precise in informal conversation

More or less is often used with verbs and adverbs to make things more vague:

I think we’ve more or less solved the problem with the computer now.

My English is more or less the same level as the other students in the class.

A bit and a bit of a are used with adjectives and nouns to soften the meaning:

I’m a bit fed up with all the complaints I’m getting.

We were in a bit of a panic when we heard there was a strike at the airport.

Or whatever, or something, things like that and that kind of thing are useful expressions for referring vaguely to things and actions:

You could work on Saturday, then spend Sunday going to museums or galleries or whatever. [or similar activities]

If you don’t want tea, have a lemonade or something. [any other kind of drink you want]

In the evenings we played board games and things like that / and that kind of thing. [different kinds of entertaining activities]

We need a big container made of plastic; a dustbin or something along those lines would do. [something fitting that description]

He said he was fed up with all the attacks and criticisms, or words to that effect. [or similar words expressing the same meaning]

Common mistakes

We do not usually use more or less with people’s ages: He’s about 35 (NOT He’s more or less 35).

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