American Slang and Idiomatic Expressions: Between the Insiders and Everyone Else

Have you ever wondered what a group of people was talking about? The words did not seem to fit their literal meaning. "What's up, man?" ,"Sorry, Charlie!" ,  "Bless your heart", "Table it!", and "Mash it" are all examples.

Idioms and slang are ways we distinguish between linguistic insiders and outsiders of a group. For those on the outside,  and that can be people new to English, new to a community, or new to a small work group, there are such things as idiom dictionaries, which are free and online. Although not all slang is included, it's worth checking to see if a particular expression is included. One we recommend is http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/. Note, though, that this covers slang from the UK as well as the USA; be sure to check the location where a given expression is used.

Sometimes the meaning of the expression varies depending on the person's tone of voice, as in the expression "Bless your heart". In that case, it can mean a sarcastic "you poor thing" (with the sarcasm showing the person means the opposite of that) or "you did something wonderful".

Sometimes the expressions are regional or even local, with outsiders left to wonder the true meaning.

Business Speech Improvement provides intensive coaching in American English Pronunciation Improvement for Non-native Professionals, and includes coaching in the use of idioms if requested.