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  • Hey, everyone.

  • I'm Alex.

  • Thanks for clicking, and welcome to this lesson on ten words you are probably not using correctly.

  • So, just like the title says, I will look at ten words that most people think they know

  • the meanings of, but really you might not.

  • So, this video is intended for people whose first language is English or advanced speakers

  • who are studying the language.

  • Let's not waste any more time.

  • Here we go with number one.

  • "Bemused".

  • "Bemused" means: Perplexed, puzzled, bewildered.

  • Most people confuse it with the word "amused", so it does not mean amused.

  • Sentence example: "The plot left me feeling bemused."

  • If you watched a confusing movie, the plot was weird, strange, difficult to understand

  • - it puzzled you, it perplexed you, it left you feeling bemused.

  • Now, if you watch a comedy, that leaves you amused.

  • All right.

  • Let's continue to number two.

  • "Cliché".

  • This one usually comes down to pronunciation.

  • So, "cliché" is actually a noun; it is not an adjective.

  • The adjective version is "clichéd" with the little "d" at the end.

  • So, you can say: "Hollywood blockbusters are full of clichés" - noun.

  • But if you want to use the adjective: "His acceptance speech was so clichéd."

  • All right?

  • So, make sure: If you want to say something is or was clichéd, that you're using that

  • "d" at the end; and if you want to say something is full of clichés, you're using the noun

  • in that case.

  • Let's move on to number three.

  • "Disinterested".

  • This means unbiased or not influenced by selfish motivation.

  • It does not mean uninterested, as if you're not interested in something.

  • For example: "Professional referees need to be disinterested."

  • So, a hockey referee, a basketball referee, a football referee - they need to be disinterested;

  • unbiased.

  • Also think of a supreme court judge - they cannot have bias.

  • We need a disinterested judge or a disinterested party; a mediator.

  • And the use of "uninterested": "I'm uninterested in sports", if you're not interested in sports,

  • for example.

  • All right, here we go.

  • Number four.

  • "Enormity".

  • This means extreme evil; not enormousness.

  • Yes, "enormousness" is an actual word in the dictionary.

  • For example: "We cannot accept the enormity of child labour!"

  • The extreme evil of child labour.

  • And here we have "enormousness": "The enormousness of the pyramids must be seen to be believed",

  • not the "enormity".

  • All right?

  • The enormousness - the size.

  • Let's move on to number five.

  • "Fortuitous" - this means unplanned or coincidental.

  • It does not mean lucky or fortunate.

  • For example: "We ran into a fortuitous obstacle" - an unplanned problem; something you didn't

  • plan for, and that was a coincidence when you were doing your project.

  • And here we have "fortunate": "We were fortunate to qualify for the tax rebate."

  • So, we were lucky or fortunate.

  • Let's move on to number six.

  • "Noisome".

  • This means smelly.

  • It doesn't mean noisy.

  • For example: "The noisome fish market gave me a headache."

  • So, I'm walking in the fish market, the smells are so strong, so powerful that I start not

  • feeling well and I got a headache.

  • Now, it is possible to say: "The noisy fish market gave me a headache", but here, the

  • cause is the noise; the volume of the people talking, and selling, and buying in the fish

  • market.

  • So, remember: "noisome" - smell; "noisy" - hearing.

  • Let's move on to number seven.

  • "Nonplussed".

  • This means stunned or bewildered; shocked, if you will.

  • It does not mean unimpressed.

  • It sounds like it would.

  • "I am nonplussed" - not impressed.

  • But it means I am stunned.

  • Okay?

  • So, for example: "The witnesses were nonplussed by the accident."

  • They were stunned, bewildered by the accident.

  • Or: "She was unimpressed by the play."

  • So, if you're...

  • You can be nonplussed by a play as well if it's very shocking, like "12 Angry Men" - excellent.

  • You can feel nonplussed after that; there are some shocking, you know, revelations there.

  • But you can also be unimpressed by a play or a performance.

  • Whew, nonplussed.

  • Let's continue with number eight.

  • "Refute".

  • This means to prove something to be false.

  • It does not mean to allege or argue that something is false.

  • It means to prove it without the shadow of a doubt.

  • So: "The lawyer refuted the defendant's story."

  • The lawyer proved that the defendant's story was a lie.

  • Proved that it wasn't true.

  • So, next time you want to use the word "refute" in an argument or a conversation: "I refute

  • your point" - no, no, no.

  • You want to prove that it's false, that's when you use "refute"; if you want to argue,

  • you can say: "I'm going to argue against that point."

  • All right.

  • We're almost there.

  • Number nine.

  • "Hung".

  • This is the past of the verb "hang".

  • Now, "hung", in the past simply means something is suspended.

  • It does not mean that someone is suspended by the neck until dead.

  • This, you use "hanged".

  • There's a great Sherlock episode that makes this distinction; the BBC one.

  • So, for example: "I hung your picture on my bedroom wall."

  • That's an example.

  • And next: "The prisoner was hanged in the morning."

  • So, remember: "hung" - objects, paintings, pictures, notices; and "hanged" - by the neck

  • until dead, so criminals and prisoners.

  • Well, criminals because prisoners could be innocent, too, I guess, so...

  • Anyway, all right.

  • Number 10.

  • "Simplistic".

  • This means naively or overly simple; something that a child could do, or draw, or create.

  • It does not mean simple or pleasingly simple.

  • Here we have the examples: "I hated the plot!

  • It was too simplistic."

  • Like, a child could have made that story.

  • Think of a child's drawing of a person - that's a simplistic way to draw a human with stick

  • figures.

  • And "simple": "We liked the house's simple design."

  • It was pleasing to the eye, so it was a nice, simple design.

  • All right, everyone, so those are all ten words that you might not be using correctly;

  • but after this video, maybe that would change.

  • So, if you'd like to test your understanding, make sure you got everything - you can check

  • out the quiz on www.engvid.com.

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  • So, thank you very much, everybody.

  • Till next time-I don't know why I'm looking left and right-thanks for clicking.

Hey, everyone.

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