Careers, Jobs, and Shopping Vocabulary
Careers
Apply for the job:
- Claim benefits
- Do a course
- Do a degree
- Do an assignment
- Do business
- Do your homework
- Drop out (of the university)
- Get a job
- Get fired
- Get good/bad grades
- Get paid
- Get promoted
- Graduate from university
- Leave school
- Pass an exam
- Pass your driving test
- Start a business
- Start a career
- Start work
- Teach yourself
Compound Nouns: Jobs
- Bank clerk
- Bank manager
- Brain surgeon
- Company director
- Company owner
- Data analyst
- Driving instructor
- Film director
- Firefighter
- Football coach
- Football player
- Hotel owner
- School teacher
- Shop assistant
- Software designer
- Tattoo artist
- Train driver
- Truck driver
- Yoga instructor
Personal Qualities
Articulate, analytical, calm, cautious, critical, decisive, determined, efficient, enthusiastic, experienced, focused, hard-working, honest, imaginative, motivated, nervous, obedient, organized, perceptive, positive, punctual, qualified, rational, reliable, responsible, smart, sociable, talented, trustworthy, valuable.
Phrasal Verbs
- Get ahead: To make progress.
- Get by: To manage with what you have.
- Take on: To accept a task or responsibility.
- Take up: To start a new hobby or activity.
- Turn down: To reject or refuse something.
Shopping
Afford, auction, be bitten by the bug, be hooked on, be on a high, be up to your eyeballs in, biodegradable, boutique, brand, browse, cashier, changing room, charity shop, cheer up, compost, consume, consumer, consumption, cost an arm and a leg, customer, deliver, department store, disposable, dispose, dump, dumped, emission, emit, environmental, exchange, face up to, feel down, get a discount, get a refund, get out of hand, get through, go on, go on a spending spree, incinerate, label, landfill site, live from hand to mouth, make up for, manufacture, manufacturer, order, packaging, pay by credit card, pay in cash, personal shopper, pollutant, pollute, polluted, pollution, recyclable, recycle, recycled, recycling, retail therapy, rip off, sales, sales assistant, save up, second-hand, shop on a shoestring, shopping trip, sustain, sustainability, sustainable, sweatshop, take something back, tighten your belt, toxic, try something on, try something out, waste, wasteful, window-shopping.
Key Shopping Terms & Phrases
- Afford: To be able to pay for something.
- Auction: A public sale where goods are sold to the highest bidder.
- Be bitten by the bug: To become very enthusiastic about something.
- Be hooked on: To be addicted to something.
- Be on a high: To be very excited and happy.
- Be up to your eyeballs in: To be very busy with something.
- Biodegradable: Capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.
- Boutique: A small shop selling fashionable clothes or accessories.
- Brand: A type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name.
- Browse: To look at goods in a casual, relaxed way.
- Cashier: A person handling payments and receipts in a shop.
- Changing room: A room where people can try on clothes.
- Charity shop: A shop selling donated goods to raise money for a charity.
- Cheer up: To become happier.
- Compost: Decayed organic material used as a fertilizer.
- Consume: To use up a resource.
- Consumer: A person who purchases goods and services for personal use.
- Consumption: The action of using up a resource.
- Cost an arm and a leg: To be very expensive.
- Customer: A person who buys goods or services from a shop.
- Deliver: To bring goods to a customer’s address.
- Department store: A large shop stocking many varieties of goods in different departments.
- Disposable: Intended to be used once and then thrown away.
- Dispose: To throw away.
- Dump: To get rid of something unwanted, especially waste.
- Dumped: Discarded.
- Emission: The production and discharge of something, especially gas or radiation.
- Emit: To produce and discharge something.
- Environmental: Relating to the natural world and the impact of human activity on its condition.
- Exchange: To give something and receive something of the same kind in return.
- Face up to: To confront a problem or difficulty.
- Feel down: To feel sad.
- Get a discount: To receive a reduction in the usual price of something.
- Get a refund: To receive a repayment for a faulty product or unsatisfactory service.
- Get out of hand: To become difficult to control.
- Get through: To manage to deal with a difficult situation.
- Go on: Continue.
- Go on a spending spree: To buy many things in an extravagant way.
- Incinerate: To destroy something by burning.
- Label: A small piece of paper or other material attached to an object, giving information about it.
- Landfill site: A place where waste is buried under the ground.
- Live from hand to mouth: To have only just enough money to live on.
- Make up for: To compensate for something.
- Manufacture: To make something on a large scale using machinery.
- Manufacturer: A person or company that makes goods for sale.
- Order: To request something to be made or supplied.
- Packaging: Materials used to wrap or protect goods.
- Pay by credit card: To pay using a credit card.
- Pay in cash: To pay using physical money.
- Personal shopper: A person who helps others to shop, especially for clothes.
- Pollutant: A substance that pollutes something, especially water or the atmosphere.
- Pollute: To contaminate with harmful substances.
- Polluted: Contaminated.
- Pollution: The presence of harmful substances in the environment.
- Recyclable: Able to be recycled.
- Recycle: To convert waste into reusable material.
- Recycled: Converted into reusable material.
- Recycling: The action of converting waste into reusable material.
- Retail therapy: Shopping to make oneself feel better.
- Rip off: To cheat someone by charging too much money.
- Sales: A period during which goods are sold at reduced prices.
- Sales assistant: A person who serves customers in a shop.
- Save up: To accumulate money for a particular purpose.
- Second-hand: Not new; previously owned and used by someone else.
- Shop on a shoestring: To shop with a very small budget.
- Shopping trip: A journey to go shopping.
- Sustain: To maintain something.
- Sustainability: The ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level; avoidance of the depletion of natural resources.
- Sustainable: Able to be maintained; using resources in a way that does not deplete them.
- Sweatshop: A factory where workers are employed for long hours at low wages and in poor conditions.
- Take something back: To return an item to a shop.
- Tighten your belt: To spend less money than usual.
- Toxic: Poisonous.
- Try something on: To put on an item of clothing to see if it fits or looks good.
- Try something out: To test something to see if it works.
- Waste: Unwanted materials or substances.
- Wasteful: Using or expending something of value carelessly.
- Window-shopping: Looking at goods displayed in shop windows, especially without intending to buy anything.