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Hey, everyone. I'm Alex. Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on talking about
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fear. So today, we're going to look at different ways you can talk about being scared. You
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can use this to talk about scary movies, scary books, scary experiences you've had in your
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life, or things that just make you feel uncomfortable or really shocked and afraid.
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So No. 1, I have a lot of different synonyms for the word "scared". So you could say, "I'm
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scared" or, "I'm afraid"; "I'm frightened"; "I am terrified"; "I am horrified." And just
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make sure you use the most common preposition for these words, and that is "of". So, "You
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are scared of spiders", for example, or "scared of heights", which are high places.
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And here, the second one we have is, "He is scared to death of flying." So this is a complete
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expression, "to be scared to death of something". And again, you need the verb "to be" in this
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as well. So, "He is scared to death"; "I am scared to death"; "she is scared to death";
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"they are scared to death." So they are scared so much that they want to die in the presence
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of this thing or whatever it is. So, "He's scared to death of flying", he is incredibly
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afraid, very afraid.
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Next, "He gives me the creeps." Now, before I explain this, you will notice that No. 3,
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No. 4, and No. 5 all have similar words. And we have "creeps", "creeping", "creepy", this
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whole family of words. So I'm going to go with "creepy" first. So, "That's really creepy."
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If something is "creepy", it makes you feel uncomfortable, like, uncomfortable in your
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skin. It sends shivers down your spine. And I'll explain that in a little bit. So if you
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feel uncomfortable, that means that something is "creepy". Okay?
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So, "He gives me the creeps." So someone can "give you the creeps", meaning they can make
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you feel a little uncomfortable, unsure of that person. And, "Stop it! You're creeping
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me out." So if someone is "creeping you out" -- to "creep someone out" means to make someone
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feel uncomfortable and scared or frightened, but more of an uncomfortable fear. Okay? So
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think of, like, people making you uncomfortable and scaring you in a creepy, unsettling kind
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of way. So a person can "give you the creeps". A person can "creep you out". Or a person
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can just "be creepy", and this is an adjective, so you have to use the verb "to be". "That
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is really creepy"; "he is really creepy"; "they are creepy", etc.
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And the next two, you'll notice -- "freaky" and "freaked me out". They have a similar
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-- what's the word I'm looking for? -- connection with "creepy". But instead of meaning something
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makes you uncomfortable, if something "freaks you out" or if some "is freaky", it's scary
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in a shocking way. So if I say, "Whoa, that's freaky", that's really frightening and scary,
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not in, like, an uncomfortable way, but in a shocking kind of way. Okay? So think of
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"creepy" as uncomfortable. Think of "freaky" as, "Whoa. Shock." So that's "freaky". Or,
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"The movie freaked me out", like, shocked me, made me scared. Okay?
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Now, what you'll notice is we can say, "He gives me the creeps", but you cannot say,
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"He gives me the freaks", or, "That gives me the freaks." So "gives me the creeps" is
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the only expression you can use. Otherwise, you can say, "freaky" or "freak me out".
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And finally, "It sent shivers down my spine." So your spine is, you know, the part of your
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back that runs up and down to your brain. And if something sends "shivers" -- like a
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cold feeling, like your body shakes -- it makes you uncomfortable. Again, so if something
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"sends shivers down your spine", it makes you afraid or scared.
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All right. So to review, you can be scared of something, afraid of something, frightened
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of something, horrified of something, terrified of something. You can be scared to death of
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something. Someone or something can give you the creeps. They can creep you out, be creepy,
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be freaky, freak you out, or send shivers down your spine.
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Now, if you want to test your understanding of this material, as always, you can check
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out the quiz on www.engvid.com. And don't forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
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Thanks, everyone. I'll see you next time.