in other words

Idiom: in other words; used as an adverb

First Example:

Movie Review: The dialogue sounds so fake, and the acting is so unrealistic, the audience laughed when they were supposed to cry.  Meanwhile, the story itself is pretty uninteresting, and the second half is so boring, the person sitting in front of me fell asleep and starting snoring.  I couldn't wait for the movie to end, and I almost walked out in the middle.  In other words, you should not see this movie. 

Meaning: "In other words" means to "put it another, shorter way."  This expression is usually used after a list, giving a quick summary.  In the example above, the movie critic states a number of negative things about the film and then follows up with the summary statement "you should not see this movie."  This idiom is often put at the beginning of a sentence. Look at another example.

  Second Example (click on video to hear the example below)

Job Advertisement: Do you work well both alone and with others?  Do other people usually care about your opinion, and they often do what you suggest?  Are you dependable and reliable, but also willing to take risks? In other words, are you a leader?

Here, the person writing this job advertisement asks about a number of qualities that the job seeker might have.  Then, he or she asks if the job seeker is a leader.  This means that whoever wrote this job advertisement believes that these qualities together make up a leader.

This idiom is from LSI's book "Speaking Transitions," which is used in the Level 4 Listening/Speaking classes. For more information, please visit http://www.languagesystems.com/