ENGLISH VOCABULARY

1. RUNNING LATE Meaning: saying you are late for something. Examples: A. The traffic is really bad, so Im running late. B. I am running a bit late, so please start the meeting without me. C. Mary is running late; she will be here in 10 minutes. 2. I GOT TIED UP Meaning: you got busy with something, which you cant avoid. Examples: A. I got tied up in traffic on the way here. B. I was tied up on the phone all afternoon and didnt get any work done. C. Sorry Im late honey, I got tied up at the office. 3. I RAN OVER TIME Meaning: Something went too far or for a long time than expected. Examples: A. John always forgets about the time and runs over the time limit for office presentations. B. My previous meeting ran over by more than 30 minutes. C. I always leave an extra 15 minutes in my schedule just in case meetings ran over a bit. 4. CALL IN SICK Meaning: To inform, that you cant come because you arent well. Examples: A. Our meeting was postponed because my client called in sick. B. If he calls in sick one more time boss will fire him for sure. C. If you want a day off, just call in sick, dont make stories. Stories are told by liars. 5. RUNNY NOSE Meaning: a lot of water coming out of your nose / nasal congestion. Examples: Call in sick A. How dirty? Johns weeping and wiping his runny nose on his sleeve. B. Ive been sick with it for about 2 weeks.. first week first yucky and runny nose but it got worse second week. C. Once she began this natural allergy treatment, her runny nose ceased (stopped). 6. PRE-OCCUPIED Meaning: Absorbed in some thought OR Excessively concerned with something. Examples: A. Rachna is really preoccupied, I think shes having some family problems. B. Oh! Were you talking to me honey? Im sorry; Im just preoccupied with work. C. John was so preoccupied with his deadline, that he forgot to attend his cousins wedding. 7. BLOWN AWAY Meaning: to be surprised OR amazed in a positive way. Examples: A. Peter blew me away with his knowledge of cars. B. I was blown away when I heard Ram and Rashmi had got married. They have known each other for less than a moth! C. My parents were blown off, when they found I had a tattoo on m hand.

8. STRENGTH TO STRENGTH Meaning: you are doing well OR you are going from good to better. Examples: A. Your English has improved so much, you are just going from strength to strength. B. The new office we opened in Delhi just goes to show our company is moving from strength to strength. C. John, you got the sales department off to a great start, and Im sure youll continue to move from strength to strength. 9. MAY I TAKE YOUR? Meaning: Asking in a polite or formal way. Examples: A. May I take your last name please? B. John isnt there at his desk, May I take your phone number and ask John to call you back later. C. My computer is under repair. May I use your computer until next moday? 10. A S A P Meaning: As soon as possible. Really very fast. Examples: A. We need to make a public announcement of our new products ASAP. B. Forward me the clients email ASAP. 11. NEVER MIND Meaning: dont worry about if OR forget it. Examples: A. Someone stole my wallet! Oh! Never mind. Here it is. B. Can you get some milk on your way home? Never mind. We still have some milk in the fridge. C. The paper is jammed in the printer, Never mind, Ill take my prints later. 12. BEAT AROUND THE BUSH Meaning: Not being direct in saying something OR not stating exactly what do you mean. Examples: A. Stop beating around the bush, and say you want votes from us B. Why dont you just come out & say what you want to say? Stop beating around the bush. C. She tried to beat around the bush but, her mother knew better and forced the truth from her. 13. WHIZ Meaning: Somebody is really good at something / strikingly excellent. Examples: A. David is a computer whiz, he is really good at networking solutions. B. Sheela always stands first in Maths, She is a Math whiz. C. Mr. Shah is good at market analysis. He is a Stock market whiz. 14. PRESTIGIOUS Meaning: Very respected or very well known. Someone having good reputation. Examples: A. Amitabh Bachaan is looked upon as the most prestigious, actor in the Bollywood. B. Barack Obama is very prestigious because he is the president of the USA, He also went to a very prestigious University. C. Mary studied at Cambridge, a prestigious university in the World.

15. RUN INTO Meaning: To start having some trouble, difficulty or problems Examples: A. John ran into some problems with his project he lost sponsors. B. If you are not careful now with, your eating habits, you can run into a lot of problems later. C. I ran into some problem with my Xbox play station. D. I ran in to some problems while installing updates for windows XP. 16. VACATION DAYS Meaning: No of personal leaves a company allows to go on a vacation. Examples: A. Im afraid I cannot join you on this trip. Ive used up all my vacation days. B. Ive taken two weeks off to take care of the baby. I dont have any vacation days left to attend my cousins wedding. C. I keep my vacation days reserved for the year end to visit my home town. 17. THE HASSEL Meaning: A situation that causes a problem for you OR a lot of trouble that annoys you. Examples: A. I hope taking care of my dog while Im away wont be too much of a hassel for you. B. Im going to save myself the hassel of going to court, instead just pay the fine and get away. C. My boss wants me to take over my co-workers responsibilities on top of my own, during her sick leave. Its going to be such a hassel! 18. RAISE Meaning: You want an increase in the salary OR you want more money. Examples: A. She was so happy when she got the raise that she didnt stop smiling for a week. B. Guess what! My boss just gave me a 30% raise! C. Do you think we can afford to give a raise to all of our employees in this recession? 19. TO GO HAYWIRE Meaning: to become things uncontrollable OR to stop working properly. Examples: A. My CD players goes haywire everytime my neighbor uses his cordless phone. B. He arrived at work early, hoping to get a lot done, but within minutes things went haywire. C. I was talking to Mary when suddenly the telephone went haywire. 20. PEP TALK Meaning: A short speech that is meant to help people do something faster, better, and with more enthusiasm. Examples: A. Before every basketball game, the coach always gives his players a pep talk to help them win the game. B. Todays meeting about employee benefit plan pepped us up. C. Rahul Gandhi gave a pep talk to new Congress youth activists and asked them to work hard for the uplift of the society. 21. T G I F Meaning: Thank God its Friday Examples: A. This week has been difficult, but this weekend should be a lot of fun/ TGIF! B. Its TGIF and everyone is going to the hot new disco. C. TGIF we live for the weekends, we can go and do what we really want to do.