To be stoked

Context #1: Marco and Cindy are siblings (brother and sister).

Marco: We have only 5 days left before our three month summer vacation.

Cindy: I know! I can't wait for us to go to Hawaii and surf all summer.

Marco: Me too! I'm so stoked about it.

Cindy: So are mom and dad. They are counting the days.

Marco: So are we!!

Cindy: Hahaha! That's true!

Context #2: Rafael and Juan are classmates

Juan: I'm so worried about the third class!!

Rafael: Why?

Juan: What do you mean "Why?" We have a test on 5 chapters!

Rafael: No, we don't.

Juan: Huh?

Rafael: Weren't you in class yesterday?

Juan: No, why?

Rafael: Professor Smith said that he won't test us until Monday, so we have the weekend to study for it.

Juan: Oh man! I'm so stoked about that. I was freaking out.

Meaning - To be very excited about something

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To be a Debbie Downer

Context #1: 

Cameron and Dave are friends. They are talking about a party.

Cameron: I'm so excited about our high school party!

Dave: Really? Why?

Cameron: I asked Julie out and she said that she'd be my date.

Dave: Hmm.. that's cool!

Cameron: What?

Dave: Nothing.

Cameron: I don't even see the point of you guys going out together. It's not like you are going to stay together or anything. You are going to two different colleges in two different states.

Dave: Man! Sometimes you are such a Debbie Downer.

Cameron: I'm just being realistic.

Dave: Actually, you are just being negative.

Context #2

Melanie and Valerie and are co-workers 

Melanie: I've worked at the flower shop for 5 years.

Valerie: Do you like it?

Melanie: It's okay.

Valerie: Just okay? We have such amazing benefits and our boss is so nice.

Melanie: Yeah, but sometimes the AC doesn't work and we don't have a place to park our cars.

Valerie: Well don't be a Debbie Downer and stop looking at just the negatives. Think of all the amazing positive things about the job!

Meaning - Someone who says something negative and ruins a positive environment. This idiom comes from Rachel Dratch's character, Debbie Downer, on Saturday Night Live.

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Pass the buck

Context #1:

Bob (Manager): Hi, Frank! I'll be leaving in about 15 minutes, but here is a list of things I need you to do on your shift. Please make sure all employees are on task. If they are not, you need to have a training meeting with them and do all the documentation for that. Also, Jackie needs to be fired, so please take care of that. Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow!

Frank (assistant manager): Uh, Ok Bob. I'll take care of that tonight.

Frank (on the phone with his wife): Honey, I need to find a new job. Bob, the manager has done it again. The company needs to fire an employee and he just passed the buck to me, like he does every time. He is the manager and he always requires me to do the difficult or unpleasant things. I've had to fire 2 people in the last year, and he's had to do it himself. 

Context #2

Teachers talking together during lunch

Teacher 1: I received a warning notice from the Principal this morning.

Teacher 2: What? Why?

Teacher 1: It seems that the parents of one of my students called to complain about me. They claimed that their son Billy isn't getting good scores on his weekly spelling tests because I am not reviewing or teaching him well enough. 

Teacher 2: That's ridiculous! I did my training with you and I know for a fact that you work hard to teach your students everything they need to know! I really wish parents would stop passing the buck to teachers and start spending more time helping their own children. 

Explanation:

To pass the buck is to pass the blame or responsibility of something negative to someone else. It is most often something negative. 

Use the preposition to to indicate who now has blame/responsibility. 

Ex: Bob passed the buck to Frank; Parents tend to pass the buck to teachers.

In context #1, an employee needs to be fired. Firing an employee is generally a negative and difficult thing to do. Bob did not want to do this, so he assigned this task to Frank even though Bob is the manager.

In context #2, a student's parents are not satisfied with their child's test scores and say it's the teacher's fault. NOT the student's fault and NOT the parent's fault. 

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Technicolor Yawn

Context:

Jackson and I were having a wonderful time at the LA County fair a couple of weeks ago. It's such a fun place to experience many different things about American culture. One of the most famous parts of the fair is the food. They have deep-fried everything! Deep-fried Oreo cookies, deep-fried butter, deep-fried nachos, it's incredible! I didn't want to miss my chance at this unique experience, so Jackson and I tried many different things. I even ate a fresh and colorful salad to try and balance out my meal. Near the end of the night, we were riding roller coasters, and lots of spinning rides. All the fried foods were making my stomach ill. I was very nervous walking back to the car at the end of the night because my stomach was so sick. Right before we reached our car, I sprayed some poor stranger's car with my technicolor yawn. It was quite disgusting and Jackson was really shocked. I was so embarrassed, but I felt so much better after that. 

Explanation: Technicolor yawn = vomit noun

In the example, the speaker had eaten too much foods that upset his stomach. He says he sprayed his technicolor yawn on someone's car. Which means he sprayed vomit on someone's car.

Technicolor yawn should be used as a noun and most often accompanied by a possessive adjective: my technicolor yawn; her technicolor yawn; his technicolor yawn; someone's technicolor yawn

Choose a verb to show an action: 

ex: He threw his technicolor yawn all over the street; 

She left her technicolor yawn in the toilet and forgot to flush;

The dog ate Mark's technicolor yawn before we could clean it up.

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To drive someone up the wall

Context #1

Bob: I really hate it when people throw their dirty cigarette butts on the ground. 

Joe: I know! It drives me up the wall too.

Context #2

Sarah: My boyfriend is always late. If he says he'll pick me up at 2, that means 2:30 or even later sometimes. 

Becky: That would drive me up the wall!

Meaning: To drive someone up the wall is an expression used to express that someone feels really frustrated, annoyed or even angry.

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To get knocked up

Idiom: to get knocked up – to get (someone) pregnant

Context #1 – At a party with friends

James: I can’t figure out what do bring for my brother’s bachelor party next week.

Candy: Your brother is getting married? I didn’t know.

James: Yeah, he knocked up his girlfriend and they decided to get married.

Candy: Didn’t they date for seven years now. So it’s not really a big deal. They’ve been living together for such a long time anyway.

James: Yeah, we’re all pretty happy about it anyway.

Context #2 – Two friends having lunch

David:  How are you feeling these days?

Julie: Well, after I got knocked up I’m feeling pretty strange.

David: Why is that? I’m pretty sure your husband is happy though.

Julie: Oh, we really wanted a child, but my body is having some changes and I’m feeling strange.

Meaning: “(get) knocked up” means to get pregnant. People typically use this as slang and with close friends, family or acquaintances.You would never usually use this term in formal situation, for example with your boss. 

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Rug Rat

Idiom: Rug rat – a small child

 

Context #1 – Kindergarten

Barry: My group of rug rats has too much energy today.

Donnie: Perhaps they had too much sugar to eat this morning.  Maybe give them a couple of extra minutes of recess to burn the energy out.

Barry: That’s not a bad idea.

Donnie: Yeah, otherwise the rug rats will tire your patience out.

Context #2 – Two friends talking about their new kids

Henry: My new baby cries all night.

Marie: Yeah, they’ll do that. They just need mom and dad’s attention to feel comfortable. 

Henry: I’m sure that in five months, these little rug rats will have different needs. Marie: Yeah, rug rats always need something new.

Meaning: “Rug rats” means a child.  People have rugs at home and as children begin to crawl, they resemble a small animal crawling on the rug. It’s just a “cute” slang name to describe a small child.

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