English Vocabulary in Use Advanced » Unit 84: The way you say it
| ACROSS | DOWN |
| 3. people often do this on the phone for hours _____ | 1. speak loudly _____ |
| 4. speak in a soft voice _____ | 2. another word for stutter _____ |
| 5. make a loud, deep sound like a lion _____ |
Mumble and mutter are both usually negative: Stop mumbling! I can’t hear what you’re saying.
He was muttering something under his breath – probably complaining, as usual.
Murmur can be more positive: They murmured their approval when he told them the plan.
The phrase without a murmur means without any protest, complaint or comment:
They accepted it all without a murmur. I was surprised; normally they argue about everything.
Raise your voice can be used in positive or negative contexts:
You’ll have to raise your voice a bit. She’s a little hard of hearing. [speak louder]
Don’t you raise your voice at me! [Do not speak in that loud, angry tone.]
Shout, yell, scream, roar and shriek are all followed by at: Don’t shout at me!
Yell often conveys urgency, anger, frustration; it is also used when there is much surrounding noise:
He yelled at the children to stop messing around with his computer.
‘Stay where you are!’ he yelled above the noise of the traffic.
Shriek means loud and very high-pitched. It can be used in positive and negative contexts:
‘Oh, wow! That’s fantastic!’ she shrieked.
Roar suggests very loud volume, but deeper-pitched, like a lion. It is used in positive and negative contexts:
The crowd roared as he kicked the ball into the back of the net.
‘How dare you come in here!’ he roared angrily.
Tom and Lily are always nagging (at) each other. [criticising faults or duties not done]
Stop bickering over who sits by the window, you two! [arguing in an irritated way usually about something petty; synonym = squabble]
They spent all evening slagging off their colleagues. [criticising in an insulting way; very informal]
Jessie is always whining and whingeing. [complaining in an annoying way; informal, negative]
He’s been chatting away on the phone all morning. [suggests light, non-serious talk; note how away is used to emphasise continuous/extended talk]
We always gossip about work when we go out together. [talk about people, rumours, etc.]
It took him a long time to realise they were winding him up. [/ˈwaɪndɪŋ/ teasing, fooling him; informal; noun = wind-up, often used in phrase, a complete wind-up]
I realised she was buttering me up. [saying nice things because she wanted something from me; negative]
Rick tends to exaggerate his problems, so don’t take him too literally. [make something seem greater than it really is; noun = exaggeration]
Meg is inclined to generalise on the basis of her very limited experience. [make general statements about something; noun = generalisation]
| example | meaning |
| She speaks with a lisp. She lisps: she says ‘thing’ instead of ‘sing’. | difficulty in making an ‘s’ sound and making a ‘th’ sound instead |
| He hates speaking in front of people because he’s got a really bad stammer. | speak with abnormal pauses and repetitions |
| ‘I want to t-t-t-tell you something,’ she stuttered nervously. | repeat sounds at the beginning of words |
| He was slurring his words because he had drunk far too much alcohol. | his words had a slow, lazy sound, difficult to understand |
| I want to tell her I love her, but I get tongue-tied. | cannot say what I want to say because of nerves, i.e. emotional rather than physical problem affecting speech |
The words you need to communicate with confidence. Vocabulary explanations and practice for elementary level (A2) learners of English. Perfect for both self-study and classroom activities. Quickly expand your vocabulary with 60 units of easy to understand explanations and practice exercises.
The words you need to communicate with confidence. Vocabulary explanations and practice for pre-intermediate and intermediate level (B1) learners of English. Perfect for both self-study and classroom activities. Quickly expand your vocabulary with 100 units of easy to understand explanations and practice exercises.
The words you need to communicate with confidence. Vocabulary explanations and practice for Upper-intermediate level (B2) learners of English. Perfect for both self-study and classroom activities. Quickly expand your vocabulary with over 100 units of easy to understand explanations and practice exercises.