Ahn Tran: Slang and Cultural Expressions

Approx. time Expression Explanation
1:27 vessel ship or boat
2:45 shelling shooting with artillery, cannon fire (shots larger than bullets)
2:57 fleeing running away, escaping in a hurry
3:00 poignant moving, touching, meaningful
5:29 intact all together, not separated or taken apart
6:14 capsized turned over in the water
7:05 ESL teacher teacher of English as a second language
10:10 withdrew (W) leaving a college class without a negative impact on one’s grade average (GPA); the official symbol in the course transcript is “W”
11:16 drawing short running out of time, getting close to the end
11:47 contract employees workers who are not direct employees but rather work on the basis of a contract for a single project
12:40 brought into the fold included with everyone else, invited to join from the outside
13:10 Vice President-Elect having been elected as Vice President without having officially started the job yet
13:47 heritage cultural background or history

Alan Headbloom

Alan advises Americans how to be global citizens and expats how to fit in to Michigan culture without annoying their native coworkers and clients. He also tweets and blogs at the intersection of language and culture. Over decades, he's traveled, studied, or lived on six continents, putting strange foods into his mouth and emitting strange sounds from it. His use of English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Swedish, Hausa, and Japanese all improve with alcohol use. He gives invited public presentations on culture and unsolicited private advice on English grammar and usage; the latter isn't always appreciated. Visit his website for information on consulting, coaching, or speaking engagements.