Better Words for Bad: Expand Your English Vocabulary

Bad' is one of the first adjectives English learners learn, but using it for everything makes your English sound repetitive. In this funny video, one speaker keeps saying 'bad' while the other gets more and more frustrated and offers better words. Let's look at them. Toast that has been cooked too long is 'burnt'. A phone screen with cracks is 'broken'. Rainy, cold, unpleasant weather is 'awful'. Food that has gone off and is no longer safe to eat is 'spoiled'. And a film or movie scene with poor acting or a boring story is 'terrible'. Each word gives the listener much more information than 'bad'. When you say 'the milk is spoiled', everyone understands exactly what the problem is. This is the key to sounding more fluent: choosing specific words for specific situations. Try this exercise: think of five things you would normally call 'bad' today, then find a more precise word for each one. You can also use intensifiers like 'really awful' or 'completely broken'. Watch the video, enjoy the humour, and repeat each word. Soon you will reach for these better adjectives automatically instead of 'bad'.