Skirm ish
( a small fight/minor battle) Examples: • The rebels refused to back down over their demands for the Russian army to release some o f its prisoners.This resulted in countless skirm ish e s all over the capital. • It was a foregone conclusion that there would be a few skirm ish es between the parties during the run-up to the election.
To unnerve/unnerving
(To scare, to make one feel nervous, frightening/
worrying) Examples: • He tried to u n n erve me by building his brother up to be a real tough guy. But I knew all along that he was just a wimp. I must say, I find the upsurge in yobbish behaviour in modern society to be rather unnerving. The Government’s recent attempts to improve behaviour in schools are only skimming the surface.
Hype
(Intensive promotion) Examples: • The hype surrounding her latest CD was a bit over the top; it’s really nothing to write home about. • All the hype going around about his new book put me off buying it. I’m very choosy about what I read these days.
To string som eone along
(To mislead o r deceive someone by making them believe one thinks the same way, or has the same desires—note the phrase “to strin g a se n te n ce to g e th e r”, which means to be able to express oneself clearly. It is generally used in a negative sense to indicate that someone isn’t very intelligent) Examples: • She felt jaded by the whole affair and didn’t cotton on to the fact that he was just strin g in g h e r along until the end. • Don’t take her word for it; I reckon she’s simply strin gin g you along.You do need to get to the bottom o f this. Some o f these yobs can’t even strin g a sen ten ce to g e th e r. ‘Thick’ is an understatement to describe these people.
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