Conversational Subtlety and Stance

C2 · 100 entries · Five themes

Conversational Subtlety and Stance

Created by , British English teacher.

Open a theme, then select a word or phrase for its meaning, example and pronunciation.

1. Softening and distancing (20 entries)
  1. as it were
  2. split hairs
  3. cryptic
  4. mince one's words
  5. curt
  6. prevaricate
  7. enigmatic
  8. speak in riddles
  9. allusive
  10. laconic
  11. talk in circles
  12. succinct
  13. cagey
  14. pithy
  15. brusque
  16. exert quiet pressure
  17. surreptitious
  18. far be it from me to
  19. interrogation
  20. mien
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2. Alignment and disaffiliation (20 entries)
  1. I part company with you there
  2. with all due deference
  3. be poles apart
  4. carry little conviction
  5. get short shrift
  6. dissension
  7. I wouldn't put it quite like that
  8. fall out of favour with
  9. drive a wedge between people
  10. go only so far
  11. ruffle feathers
  12. set people at odds
  13. veiled hostility
  14. give short shrift to
  15. add insult to injury
  16. under false pretences
  17. have it out with someone
  18. step on someone's toes
  19. concede
  20. fall on deaf ears
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3. Self-correction (20 entries)
  1. dodge the issue
  2. get to the nub of the matter
  3. make no bones about something
  4. fudge the distinction
  5. quibble over wording
  6. elliptical
  7. make a pointed remark
  8. speak out of turn
  9. speak one's piece
  10. hit a false note
  11. retract an imputation
  12. hold forth on
  13. give someone a piece of one's mind
  14. equivocate
  15. stand corrected
  16. to someone's face
  17. let something go unchallenged
  18. a backchannel response
  19. put it to someone that
  20. deflect close questioning
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4. Implicit evaluation (20 entries)
  1. conspicuous omission
  2. unequivocally
  3. unambiguously
  4. ostensibly
  5. uncharacteristically
  6. unreservedly
  7. a barbed compliment
  8. conceivably
  9. unjustifiably
  10. implicit
  11. implausibly
  12. unwittingly
  13. nominally
  14. justifiably
  15. inadvertently
  16. unaccountably
  17. demonstrably
  18. purportedly
  19. manifestly
  20. disproportionately
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5. Managing delicate exchanges (20 entries)
  1. strike a conciliatory note
  2. grasp the nettle
  3. take a hard line on
  4. bring someone to the table
  5. make a pointed dig at someone
  6. break a deadlock
  7. yield the floor
  8. speak through intermediaries
  9. make a discreet overture
  10. make a clean break
  11. open a Pandora's box
  12. stand one's ground
  13. hold one's nose and do something
  14. leave the door ajar
  15. bring the parties to terms
  16. be in a bind
  17. call in a favour
  18. keep one's powder dry
  19. be on the horns of a dilemma
  20. be between a rock and a hard place
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