Dear Cafetalk Community,

I hope you had a wonderful New Year and wishing you all the best in 2018! If you took a lesson from me before, I extend my personal greetings for a fantastic New Year, and I'm looking forward to working with you in 2018. Perhaps you are still celebrating and relaxing on this important and reverent holiday! I wish you nothing but joy, happiness, prosperity, good health, and good fortune in the New Year! (The Year of the Dog).

The chart above shows some common and frequently used "American English Slang Words." It's like an abbreviation and mashup of two words together. I think you may recognize these mashup words often in songs (American and British). For example, "I wanna' hold your hand" by the Beatles. As another example, "I'm never gonna' let you go" by Rick Astley.

I know many English-learners are very careful and committed to using the proper, correct, and accurate grammar at all times. That's great! I think that should be a "rule of thumb" (~ American Idiom) that it is best to utilize the most accurate grammar. I agree with that.

However, there are some slang words that put two words together and is probably not grammatically correct. At the same time, it may be helpful for you to know how to sound more fluent like a native speaker at certain times. It is my belief that these words originated when you speak a language so well and all the time, the words sometimes blur and blends together most likely based on a lazy tongue from saying it so much. I'm sure there are Japanese words like that too.

So, my point is to say that don't be afraid to try and incorporate some of these slang words into your regular casual conversation. These slang words and expressions differ depending on the person's specific location of the United States, socioeconomic level, and education.

As a result, it's important to point out that the slang words shown above are pretty common and it's safe to say there is no harm in learning and incorporating them in your vocabulary. I would also like to point out that some of the words on the chart are mentioned in the online regular dictionary and most of them are not. I guess it depends on how far the slang has been inculcated in the English language and vocabulary.

In order to check if the slang word is in the dictionary, here is a weblink to one of the oldest and most reliable standard English dictionaries: "Merriam-Webster Dictionary" website:

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gimme

Another cool dictionary you should know about is the "Urban Dictionary" website. This dictionary is only for slang and urban talk.

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=gimme

In conclusion, I hope you discovered another online resource to check American Idioms, most recent Slangs, and expressions not found in the standard American Dictionary.

I'd like to end asking you whether you've ever heard of the latest expression, "My bad" = When something is your mistake or something you did was wrong. You can look up the definition of "My bad" on the website below on the "Urban Dictionary" website: 

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=My+bad

I think you would get a lot out of the dictionary if you want to keep up with the latest slang, so you can speak like a native English-speaker. I hope the above information helped. I learned all these different kind of dictionaries when I was getting my Master's degree in Library and Information Science. Happy New Year again! Please "Request a Lesson" and we will celebrate the New Year again and talk about our goal for 2018!

PS: Regarding my Holiday photo below, I make more animal friends than people at parties! Kotoshimo yoroshiku-onegai-shimasu

Warmest regards,

Lady Ayame