Vernacular Expressions

field trip: going somewhere to learn something for school.
"We took a field trip to the Acer factory to learn how computers are made."

out of commission: broken or somehow unable to work/do anything.
"This flu has put me out of commission for the last two weeks."

in perpituity: forever
"If you take out this bank loan, you will owe money in perpituity."

road trip: a vacation in which you travel by car.
"We took a road trip from Los Angeles to Denver."

jive: nonsense
"Don't give me this jive about how you didn't know where my office was."

fossil: old
"Lee Tung-Hui? That guy's a fossil!"

funk: a bass and drums heavy form of rock and roll music; also, "coolness."
"Bootsy Collins proposed 'the Pinocchio theory': If you fake the funk (if you act cool when you aren't), your nose will grow."

This rocks: I enjoy whatever I am doing right now.
"This Taiwanese game show rocks!"

Don't stop rocking: Don't stop doing what you are doing.
"Your guitar playing is great! Don't stop rocking!"

Last ____ on Earth: an insult
"I wouldn't listen to Jay Chou if he was the last musicican on Earth."

"It's a scientific fact": Either a sarcastic or earnest assertion that your opinion is correct.
"Everyone knows Metallica is the best band ever. It's a scientific fact."

Rockin' out: having fun; dancing
"He's over there, rockin' out to his i-Pod."

"with it": Cool; makes friends easily; knowedgable
"He seems weird, but he's really with it when it comes to music."

get funky: An imperative to dance and enjoy yourself.
"Come on, it's a party to celebrate the end of the school year. Let's get funky!"

rock out: party, dance
"Nothing to do tonight; time to rock out."

Freak Show: a display of unusual looking people, or a metaphor for something strange.
"Have you ever been to Yuba City, California? That place is a Freak Show."

hate crime: an act of violence inspired only through the aggressor's irrational anger.
"He killed a man just because he was Mexican, so his murder charge carries hate crime stipulations"

"like shooting fish in a barrel": very easy
"Getting dad to loan me money is like shooting fish in a barrel."

pissed off: angry
"I worked all week on that paper, but Sean didn't mark it at all and gave me a bad grade. That pisses me off."

fatso: A fat man.
"Sean was a fatso when he started teaching. Now he's only kind of fat."

"make a difference": change things that have been bad for some time.
"I joined the environmental group because global warming is getting worse and I want to make a difference."

"stone groove": a desirable, cool thing.
"Getting a day off from school would be a stone groove."

"Don't fear the Reaper": Don't be afraid of death. Also, a famous song by Blue Oyster Cult.
"Why doesn't your car have seatbelts?"
"You know what they say: Don't fear the Reaper!"

"Appetite for Destruction": You enjoy destructive things. Also a famous rock album by Guns 'N Roses.
"He doesn't like the mundane work world, so he joined a gang to feed his appetite for destruction."

yellow-bellied: cowardly
"He a yellow-bellied fool who won't talk to someone who yells at him."

square: not cool
"He's so square. He's always talking about Jay Chou."

lame: stupid. The word shows disapproval of something.
"Did you see the new Stephen Chow movie? It was so lame."

wussed out: got scared and decided not to do something.
"He was going to smash a piece of cake into Sean's face for Sean's birthday, but he wussed out and just handed Sean the cake instead."