84
The way you say it A
Verbs denoting volume: from quiet to loud 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.
B
Verbs describing speech and styles of conversation 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]
C
174
Speech and articulation problems 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
English Vocabulary in Use Advanced
