Image by Trang Pham from Pixabay
New Word #119
roast: cook (food, especially meat) by prolonged exposure to heat in an oven or over a fire. However this word has extended to mean to criticize or reprimand severely. And then the word has stretched its meaning again mainly in the U.S. to mean a banquet at which the guest of honor is subjected to good-natured ridicule.
grill: It means cook (something) using a grill, which is a frame or screen of metal bars or wires to be put on top of a fire. It also means to subject (someone) to intense questioning or interrogation.
boil down to something: to have something as a main or basic part.
brimming: Brim means the edge or rim of a container or a hat. However when it is a verb, it means to fill up with something. This word is very suitable for non-native speakers like us who want to sound like we are more familiar with the language than we really are. So instead of using the word “filled”, we can use “brimming”. For example, she felt her eyes brimming with tears.
cook the book: alter facts or figures dishonestly or illegally.
spill the beans: reveal secret information unintentionally or indiscreetly.
count the beans: make financial decisions (unwisely or only considering the bottom line).
immersion: Originally it means food being soaked in a sauce or any kind of liquid. Then it extends the meaning to a method of teaching a foreign language by the exclusive use of that language, usually at a special school.
in a pickle: stuck in a difficult situation.
melting pot: A melting pot means a pot with different food and ingredients mixed together. Then it is used to refer to New York City where a variety of peoples, cultures, or individuals assimilate into a cohesive whole. I am not sure how cohesive NYC is, but I am often surprised how much people love it despite its astronomical rent, perpetually congested streets, gun violence, homeless problem, ridiculous public school system…
out of the frying pan into the fire: from a bad situation to one that is worse. Actually this word can often be used to describe people who survive one narcissistic relationship, only to be thrown into another relationship that’s even worse. Many children of narcissistic parents grow up to have terrible time with relationship issues–they often end up living alternately between a frying pan and a fire.
cry over spilled milk: to express regret about something that has already happened or cannot be changed
seethe: (of a liquid) bubble up as a result of being boiled. However this word is more often used to express a person being angry or a society being unstable…
churn: It means to agitate or turn (milk or cream) in a machine in order to produce butter. However this word extends its meaning to financial industry where brokerages may churn clients’ investment portfolios not to benefit their clients but to generate commission for themselves.
mash up: The phrase means to crush food or another substance into a soft mass. However it extends its meaning to mix up two different things.
mixer: It is a blender to mix food. It also means (in North America) a social gathering where people can make new acquaintances.
phishing: It sounds like fishing but it is not really fishing. Phishing means the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
mageirocophobia: fear of cooking
Haoyan Do 
Posts like this make me realize how silly some of our english sayings are!
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Haha, English is quite whimsical, especially to non-native speakers.
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“Let Russ Cook” was a popular phrase with Seattle Seahawk fans who wanted their quarterback to pass and run the ball more often than coaches who more conservatively wanted him to hand off the ball to his running backs.
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What a nice phrase. I mean who would have thought that one can think of food when watching a football game. Cooking is a much more interesting word than running.
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You mean I could use Roast instead of Cooking for my website? Roast seems fabulous :((
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LOL. Roasting sounds very interesting, doesn’t it? I agree–it is fabulous.
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Loved these words since I love food lol. Can’t believe mageirocophobia is a real thing. I think a lot of people I know who don’t like cooking would love to learn this word lol.
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I hate cooking and probably suffer from mageirocophobia, but I guess cooking is a necessary evil for our life.
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Out of the frying pan into the fire sounds great as an expression but terrible experience! And I didn’t know there is a fear of cooking. Wonder how therapists manage that.
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You are so right. I can list two relatives right on my fingertips who hated cooking but had to do it every day. I mean it will be a pleasure for people who love cooking, but for people who hate it, it’s really very unpleasant. I wish women have the choice.
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Really nice ones. Who could think that food and cooking could lend their meaning to ‘not so good’ situations. 🙂
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I mean cooking is never really cooking. Cooking is related with love, wars, emotional problems and a lot of other things as well.
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These are great. I truly hope you will publish this as a welcome to US slang type of a book. It is so comprehensive. Have a blessed weekend. 🦋❤️
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Thank you, I am glad you like it.
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It is brilliant and it is similar to writing an acronym book. I worked for the government for a while and there were so many abbreviations that were technical in four sets of governing manuals, I decided to co-author an acronym book. People that work there, approximately 6000 workers, found it to be very helpful. I think your book would be an extremely helpful “must have“ book for other cultures trying to learn and understand all the slang used to by Americans. you are very very clever and have had words that I didn’t even know what they meant. I wasn’t at all surprised to see that. Have a wonderful week my friend. Big hugs and love Joni
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What a great idea. It is true that there are so many acronyms and abbreviations that I am often confused what they are whenever I see them. So true. There are so many slang that people use every day that sometimes I wonder why non-native speakers like us bother to learn standard English. LOL.
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You make a very good point. I wrote a piece that was published and it was about a terrible accident that happened at a rapper concert. I had to study for two hours to learn enough of the slang to do the piece Justice. You can’t control what people do if they knock a fence over, etc. I think you have a great publication on your hands. Some of the words you use I have to look up because I am not familiar with them. Lots of hugs my dear friend. 🌺🌸🌷💕
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Thank you for the encouragement. I tried to organize the varied words into certain kind of form, but often I can’t come up with any interesting angle and it seems the words are all over the place. Well… Live and Learn.
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