#30- 21 Words for Feelings & Emotions

In this episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast, you'll learn 21 essential slang words, phrasal verbs, and idioms for expressing feelings and emotions, such as bottle up, snap out of it, mellow out, and green-eyed monster.
 
Throughout the episode, you'll hear these 21 words used in real life contexts and learn how to use them in real-life conversations. Tune in to expand your emotional vocabulary and improve your English communication skills!

To get the free Study Guide that will help you learn all of these words, click
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Transcript

[00:00:00] On today's episode of the Real Life English with Gabby podcast, I'll be teaching you slang words, phrasal verbs, and idioms about feelings and emotions. You'll be learning vocabulary like bottle up, snap out of it, mellow out, green-eyed monster, and more. Let's get to it.

Hey there, welcome to the Real Life English with Gabby podcast. I'm your host, Gabby, your fun and friendly English teacher from the one and only New York City. My goal is to teach you phrasal verbs, idioms, and slang that will help you speak English confidently and understand real American conversations.

Are you ready to improve your English skills? Let's jump right in.

Well, well, well. Long time no see, eh? Or should I say, long time no hear. It's been a while, [00:01:00] and I just want to apologize. I am so sorry for the delay.

I've been pretty absent on social media and on the podcast, and I'm so sorry. You see, back in August, I launched my new Real Life English course, and between creating lessons and keeping up with my course community, I had very little time for anything else.

Let me catch you up on what's been going on with me. Things have been pretty busy as usual, but they've also been pretty good. As I mentioned, I launched my new course and created an awesome new community of students. The course went so well that I'll be launching it three times per year, with the next time being in January. Hopefully, some of you will join me.

I also went on vacation to Florida with my family, and we had a very much-needed time of [00:02:00] fun and rest.

But anyways, I'll have some awesome news for you in a few weeks about other exciting stuff happening in 2025 with English with Gabby. But one fun sneak peek is that I'll be launching the video podcast portion of this audio podcast. That's right. Starting in 2025, you'll have the option to listen to me, or watch me, or both. More about this coming soon.

Alright, so let's talk about today's episode. In this episode, we're talking about expressing emotions in general. And in next week's episode, we'll be getting a little bit more specific and focusing on how to express and talk about happy and sad emotions. Emotions are such a central part of who we are and how we interact with each other [00:03:00] that I knew I needed to make some episodes about them. Learning how to express your emotions in English is vital to be able to communicate effectively and confidently.

Aside from emotions, there are a lot of cool episodes coming out in the next six weeks. Can you believe that we only have about six weeks left in 2024? Where has the time gone? Hopefully, we'll be ending this year strongly.

Okay. Now I'm going to tell you about the 21 new phrasal verbs, slang words, and idioms that you're going to be learning in today's episode: an emotional roller coaster, calm down, to let someone or something get to you, freak out, lose it, open up, bottle up, blow up, mellow [00:04:00] out, take it easy, when your stomach drops, to keep your cool, to be ticked off or pissed off, build up, snap out of it, go off, snap at, to be in a bad mood, the green-eyed monster (or green with envy), to be peeved, to let something get under your skin.

Before we get started with the story, I just wanted to remind you that there is a free study guide waiting for you.

It includes all 21 words and definitions, example sentences, the full story, the transcript, and practice exercises so that you can get extra practice.

My teaching method has always been to give students multiple points of exposure. Because science says that you need to see something or be exposed to [00:05:00] something six to seven times before actually remembering it, this is the approach that I've taken to teach English. So in each podcast episode, you hear the words being used in context in the story. Then you hear the definitions and examples. And then the study guide has four to five more points of exposure.

This gives you enough exposure to the word so that you can remember them in English. So between the podcast episode and the study guide, you have everything you need to remember these words and use them in your English.

To get the study guide, click on the link in the episode description. You'll then get access to the folder that has all the study guides from every episode so that you can download or save them and access them at any time.

Now it's time for the story. [00:06:00] In the story that I'm about to read to you, you're going to hear all 21 new vocabulary words and expressions in real-life context. So listen closely. After I read the story, I will explain all of the words that you just heard.

Let's get started.

The weather was beautiful on this Saturday afternoon, but Lily wasn't enjoying it. She was extremely tense. It was the busy season at work, and she'd been working nonstop for weeks. She loved being an accountant, but working at her company was an emotional roller coaster because of her terrible boss. She was rarely recognized for her hard work and wasn't often allowed to take vacations or time off. She [00:07:00] knew that she needed to do something to help her calm down. She was stressed out, and every little thing was getting to her and making her freak out. This is why she decided to spend the day out with her best friend, Anna. She just wanted to forget about work for one day.

Anna could see that something was bothering her.

"Lily, you seem like you're about to lose it. What's going on?" she asked, trying to get Lily to open up.

"I don't know," Lily answered. "I just feel like I've been bottling up all my frustration, and now it's all coming out at once. I'm about to blow up at any second."

Anna sat down beside her, offering some support.

"You really need to mellow out, Lily. [00:08:00] It's not good for your health to keep all of this inside. Maybe you should take it easy for a few days."

"I can't take it easy because of work," said Lily.

And just as she finished saying that, her phone rang. She looked down at her phone, and as soon as she saw who was calling her, her stomach dropped. It was her boss, and he was calling her on a Saturday.

She picked up the phone, trying to keep her cool.

"Hello?"

"Where's the report you promised me, Lily?" her boss demanded.

Lily could feel herself getting ticked off.

"I told you it would be done by Monday," she said, trying to stay calm.

But the more she heard her boss's tone, the more she felt the anger building up inside. She wanted to scream at [00:09:00] him, but she knew she had to snap out of it before she did something she'd regret.

"Don't let him go off on you like that," Anna whispered. She could hear her boss yelling through the phone. "You can't let people snap at you every time they're in a bad mood."

After a few minutes of arguing and going back and forth with her boss, she said goodbye and hung up the phone with frustration.

"I wish I could be more like you, Anna. Always so calm. I'm always so green with envy whenever I see how easily you handle life and stress."

Anna smiled.

"It's not always easy, but I try to remember: it's okay to get peeved once in a while, as long as you don't let it control you. I also take a lot of time off and get monthly massages. The [00:10:00] reason why I left my Wall Street job was because of how stressed out it made me. Maybe it's time for you to change jobs."

Lily nodded. Anna had a point.

She needed to either start insisting on getting time off, or she needed to look for a new job.

But she also promised herself that she would stop letting her boss get under her skin so easily.

The end.

[00:10:30]
"So, let's talk about these words and their definitions.

First up, we see her describe working at her company as an emotional rollercoaster. This is a situation or a time period where emotions often change between extreme highs and extreme lows. If you know what a rollercoaster is, it's a ride at an amusement park that goes up and [00:11:00] down. It twists and turns. So this means that her emotions change often—they get really, really good or really, really bad. For example, we could say, 'Planning my wedding was an emotional rollercoaster, but it was worth it in the end.'

Next up, we see that she wants to calm down. This is an extremely popular phrasal verb, and I'm sure you've heard it or learned it at some point. But just in case you haven't, it means to become less angry, less anxious, less upset. She took deep breaths to calm down after the argument.

Next, we have to let someone or something get to you. This is when you allow someone or something to upset you or affect you negatively. For example, 'Don't let her rude [00:12:00] comments get to you.' Don't allow them to upset you, bring you down, or affect you negatively.

Next, we have the phrasal verb freak out. Freak out is when you react with some kind of extreme emotion. It's often fear, anxiety, or panic. So imagine if you lost your phone while on vacation—you have extreme emotions: fear, panic, even a little bit of sadness. For example, 'I freaked out when I realized that I forgot my keys.'

Next up, we have the expression to lose it. This is to lose control of your emotions. Often, it's linked with being angry or upset, but you can also use it in a positive way. Like, if you're at a concert and the artist does a really good job, you could [00:13:00] say, 'It was so good that the audience lost it. They started screaming and shouting and clapping with joy.' But often, lose it is used for anger or being upset. For example, 'He completely lost it when he heard the bad news.'

Next up, we have the phrasal verb to open up. This is to share your feelings or thoughts, and oftentimes, it's something personal. So in the story, Anna was hoping that Lily would open up and share the feelings and thoughts that she was keeping or hiding inside. For example, 'My sister finally opened up about her struggles with anxiety.'

Next up, we have the expression to bottle up. This means to hide emotions instead of expressing them. A higher-level word that we use to describe bottle [00:14:00] up is to suppress or keep something down. I want you to imagine that you have a soda bottle, and you shake it. When you open it, it kind of explodes a little bit and spills everywhere. That's the context of what bottled up means here. For example, 'He tends to bottle up his feelings, which makes everything worse.'

Next, we have the phrasal verb blow up. Now, blow up is the word that we use when a bomb explodes. So in the context of emotions, it means to suddenly become extremely angry. 'He blew up when he found out that they lied to him.' It's like an explosion of anger.

Next up, we have the phrasal verb to mellow out. This is a pretty high-level phrasal verb, so most of you have probably never heard this before. To be mellow is to be calm [00:15:00] and relaxed. So to mellow out is to relax or become calmer. 'I need to mellow out with some music after this stressful day.'

Next up, we have the popular expression take it easy. Take it easy means to relax and not stress. 'Take it easy this weekend and focus on yourself.' We often tell people, 'Take it easy, don't get upset,' or, 'Why don't you go take it easy? Why don't you go relax?'"

Next up, we have the expression "when your stomach drops." This is a sudden feeling of fear, anxiety, or shock. Often, it's physically felt in your stomach. So, in the story, Lily looked at her phone, and as soon as she saw that it was her boss calling, she felt fear, anger, and anxiety in her [00:16:00] stomach. For example, "My stomach dropped when I saw that someone had hit my parked car."

Next up, we have the expression "keep your cool." This means to stay calm in a stressful or difficult situation. We have an old idiom that people don't really use anymore, and that is "as cool as a cucumber." Maybe you've seen it in some outdated books about English idioms.

So, "as cool as a cucumber" is what used to be used in the past, but now people say "keep your cool" to mean stay calm in a stressful situation. This is different than when someone says "stay cool" or saying someone is "really cool." This is when someone is very admired because of their style, personality, or just who they are.

Next up, we have two phrasal verbs that mean the same thing: "to be ticked off" or "pissed off." Both of these mean to be annoyed or [00:17:00] angry.

For example, "I was really ticked off when they canceled the meeting without telling me."

Next up, we have the expression "build up." The phrasal verb "build up" is when something accumulates or increases over time. In the context of emotions, it's similar to "bottled up," where you feel all these emotions, but you don't release them. You don't get rid of them. So, the pile of emotions gets bigger and bigger and bigger.

For example, "The stress from work has been building up all week."

Next up, we have the three-word phrasal verb "snap out of" something, or "snap out of it." If you're feeling sad, upset, distracted, or angry, snapping out of it means to quickly stop feeling those things and become focused, positive, or happy again.

For example, "You need to snap out of it [00:18:00] and start working on your presentation."

This is something that a good friend will tell you in order to help you be more positive and focused. So, if you broke up with your girlfriend or boyfriend and you've been sad and depressed for two months, your friend might say, "Hey, snap out of it already. Come on, you've got to get your life back."

Next, we have "to go off" or "to go off on someone." This is to suddenly express anger or frustration, usually through yelling.

For example, "He went off on his waiter because of how late the food was."

Next up, we have "snap at." Now, snapping is when you put your two fingers together to make this sound. But, as a phrasal verb, "snap at" has a different definition. It means to speak to someone in a short or angry way.

For example, "I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just really tired."

Next up, we have the expression "to be in a bad [00:19:00] mood." This is to feel annoyed, upset, or irritated for no reason. Sometimes, people just wake up in a bad mood, and they just wake up that way.

We actually say "wake up on the wrong side of the bed," which you learned in the sleep episode. This is similar to that.

For example, "She's in a bad mood because she didn't get enough sleep."

Next up, we have "the green-eyed monster" or "green with envy." In English, we associate a lot of emotions with colors. For example, anger is associated with the color red, and sadness is associated with the color blue. If you've ever seen the Disney movie Inside Out, you'll notice that the colors are pretty on theme, right?

But green in English is usually associated with envy or jealousy. So, "the green-eyed [00:20:00] monster" is jealousy, and to be "green with envy" means to feel jealous or, we say, envious.

For example, "The green-eyed monster came out when she saw her friend's new car."

Next up, we have the expression "to be peeved." This is a high-level word, a little bit more formal, and it means to be annoyed or irritated. Earlier, you learned "pissed off" or "ticked off." That's like the everyday word. "Peeved" is the more proper word, because "pissed off" and "ticked off" can maybe be a little harsh.

And lastly, we have the expression "to let something get under your skin." This means to allow something to bother you or annoy you. This is similar to letting something get to you.

For example, "Don't let her comments get under your skin. She's just trying to make you upset."

So, how do you like [00:21:00] these 21 new words and expressions that you just learned? My advice to you is to go download the study guide and then practice as often as you can. But even more than that, you should try to use a few of these words this week. You can write them in a journal, you can write them on an index card, you can talk to a friend who's also studying English, or you can even create a sentence or a story and then record yourself in an audio message so that you can hear yourself speak.

Remember that the more you use these words, the more likely you are to remember them and use them confidently in your English.

Well, that's a wrap for today's episode of The Real Life English with Gabby podcast. Be sure to download today's study guide so that you can learn how to use this [00:22:00] vocabulary confidently. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to subscribe for more weekly adventures in English learning. Also, I'd love to hear from you, so please leave me a review.

Thanks so much for tuning in.