http://www.englishanyone.com/power-learning/ Learn to express yourself confidently in fluent English and sound like a native speaker with our FREE Power Learning video course! Learn English slang! Let’s continue with the letter K! First of all, because there are quite a few phrasal verbs (or verbs formed from groups of words) in this video, play close attention to the SPEED and INTONATION of my voice. Listen closely and you’ll understand how to use words that sound similar in very different ways. Let’s begin! Kickass/Kick Ass English speakers love ass! This word is used in so many ways and is combined with other words to make some great phrases. You’ve already learned badass and jackass in this series. We also taught you asshole, but forgot to teach you dumbass, which means stupid. Anyway, kickass means really fun, cool and/or exciting. It’s an adjective used to describe things like parties. Kick ass, is a verb, and means to do really well at something. Both kickass and kick ass have positive meanings, but the thing to listen for is how the pronunciations of the slang word and phrasal verb are slightly different. This is a kickass party! This party kicks ass! Did you hear how the adjective was faster and how the verb had a rising intonation? Kickass. Kick ass! We really kicked ass with our kickass plays at the football game! Knock To knock something means to criticize, or make fun of, it. “Don’t knock it till you try it,” is a phrase English speakers often use to tell people not to say bad things about something before doing it themselves. Don’t knock the kilt! The ladies love it. Knockoff/ Knock Off Listen carefully to the speed and intonation of my voice. A knockoff is a cheap fake or copy of something. You can buy a knockoff Rolex for only $10! Knock off is a phrasal verb with many uses. It can mean to stop working for the day, steal something, kill someone, stop doing something or reduce the price of something. The store knocked off the price of these knockoff jeans, so I got them for only $1! Knock Back We use knock back to describe drinking alcohol quickly. You can knock back a few beers, but you wouldn’t say that you knocked back a glass of milk. I went to my favorite bar after work and knocked back a few shots. Knockout/Knock Out A knockout is a really beautiful woman. The phrasal verb knock out, sometimes expressed as K.O., can mean to hit someone so hard that go unconscious, or to finish doing something very quickly. I need to knock out my work so I’ll be on time for my date at the park with this knockout I met. Knock Up To knock a woman up is to get her pregnant without intending to. Many couples end up getting married when the woman gets knocked up. Have fun on the camping trip, Bill! Just don’t knock anyone up! Kickback/Kick Back A kickback is a payment, often made by secret, illegal agreement, where someone gets a percentage of money back in return for organizing a transaction. As an example, a government official can get a kickback from a company by recommending that company get a government contract. The company gets the job and the government official that organized the deal gets a piece of the money secretly from the company. The phrasal verb kick back just means to relax and forget about your worries and responsibilities. Because of all the great kickbacks I receive, I can kick back and relax on the beach all day. Killer Something killer is amazing, outstanding or game-changing. A killer dress is a very sexy dress and a killer smartphone app is really helpful or very fun and addictive. A Facebook killer, with “killer” being used as a verb, means the next big software or service that will unseat Facebook as the NEW popular social networking website. We need a killer stunt to really WOW people at our next animal show! Kicks Kicks are shoes. This slang is often used to describe sneakers and other shoes used for running and sports. We don’t use this for dress shoes and we don’t use the word “kick” to describe one shoe. You won’t really hear this slang used in the regular conversations of people over the age of 25, but you’ll hear it regularly from young people and movies. I just picked up a shiny new pair of kicks and I’m ready to hit the basketball court! Klutz A klutz is a clumsy person who is physically uncoordinated and often makes physical mistakes like dropping dishes. I’m such a klutz! I opened a drink for a girl and got it all over her shirt! Knucklehead A knucklehead is a stubborn person. Knuckleheads don’t change their minds easily, learn lessons slowly and can be unresponsive even when yelled at. Tell that knucklehead kid of yours to stop cutting branches off my trees! Kook A kook is an odd, crazy or eccentric person. You can also describe someone who does weird, things like washing their car with their tongue, as kooky. That lady is a bit of a kook. She has tea parties with her 30 cats every Sunday.