POSITIVE VOCABULARY

Being positive is not always easy in a world that gives us plenty of reasons not to be!

Here´s a list to inspire you

Absolutely	Absorbing	Abundance	Ace
Active	Admirable	Adore	Agree
Alert	A1	Alive	Amazing
Appealing	Approval	Aroma	Attraction
Award	Bargain	Beaming	Beats
Beautiful	Best	Better	Bits
Boost	Bounce	Breakthrough	Breezy
Brief	Bright	Brilliant	Brimming
Buy	Care	Certain	Charming
Chic	Choice	Clean	Clear
Colorful	Comfy	Compliment	Confidence
Connoisseur	Cool	Courteous	Coy
Creamy	Crisp	Cuddly	Dazzling
Debonair	Delicate	Delicious	Delightful
Deluxe	Dependable	Desire	Diamond
Difference	Dimple	Discerning	Distinctive
Divine	Dreamy	Drool	Dynamic
Easy	Economy	Ecstatic	Effervescent
Efficient	Endless	Energy	Enhance
Enjoy	Enormous	Ensure	Enticing
Essence	Essential	Exactly	Excellent
Exceptional	Exciting	Exclusive	Exhilaration
Exotic	Expert	Exquisite	Extol
Extra	Eye-catching	Fabled	Fair
Famous	Fantastic	Fashionable	Fascinating
Fab	Fast	Favorite	Fetching
Finest	Finesse	First	Fizz
Flair	Flattering	Flip	Flourishing
Foolproof	Forever	Fragrance	Free
Freshness	Friendly	Full	Fun
Galore	Generous	Genius	Gentle
Giggle	Glamorous	Glitter	Glorious
Glowing	Go-ahead	Golden	Goodness
Gorgeous	Graceful	Grand	Great
Guaranteed	Happy	Healthy	Heartwarming
Heavenly	Ideal	Immaculate	Impressive
Incredible	Inspire	Instant	Interesting
Invigorating	Invincible	Inviting	Irresistible
Jewel	Joy	Juicy	Keenest
Kind	Kissable	K.O.	Know-how
Leads	Legend	Leisure	Light
Lingering	Logical	Longest	Lovely
Lucky	Luscious	Luxurious	Magic
Matchless	Magnifies it	Maxi	Memorable
Mighty	Miracle	Modern	More
Mouthwatering	Multi	Munchy	Natural
Need	New	Nice	Nutritious
O.K.	Opulent	Outlasts	Outrageous
Outstanding	Palate	Palatial	Paradise
Pamper	Passionate	Peak	Pearl
Perfect	Pick-me-up	Pleasure	Pleases
Plenty	Plum	Plump	Plus
Popular	Positive	Power	Precious
Prefer	Prestige	Priceless	Pride
Prime	Prize	Protection	Proud
Pure	Quality	Quantity	Quenching
Quick	Quiet	Radiant	Ravishing
Real	Reap	Recommendation	Refined
Refreshing	Relax	Reliable	Renowned
Reputation	Rest	Rewarding	Rich
Right	Rosy	Royal	Safety
Save	Satisfaction	Scores	Seductive
Select	Sensitive	Sensational	Serene
Service	Sexy	Shapely	Share
Sheer	Shy	Silent	Silver
Simple	Singular	Sizzling	Skilful
Slick	Smashing	Smiles	Solar
Smooth	Soft	Sound	Sparkling
Special	Spectacular	Speed	Spicy
Splendid	Spice	Spotless	Spruce
Star	Strong	Stunning	Stylish
Subtle	Success	Succulent	Sun
Superb	Superlative	Supersonic	Supreme
Sure	Sweet	Swell	Symphony
Tan	Tangy	Tasty	Tempting
Terrific	Thoroughbred	Thrilling	Thriving
Timeless	Tingle	Tiny	Top
Totally	Traditional	Transformation	Treat
Treasure	Trendy	True	Trust
Ultimate	Ultra	Unbeatable	Unblemished
Undeniably	Undoubtedly	U	Unique
Unquestionably	Unrivaled	Unsurpassed	Valued
Valuable	Vanish	Varied	Versatile
Victor	Vigorous	Vintage	V.I.P.
Vital	Vivacious	Warm	Wealth
Wee	Whiz	Whole	Whopper
Winner	Wise	Wonderful	Worthy
Wow!	Youthful	Yule	Young
Zap	Zeal	Zest	Zip
Zoom	101	1990s	20th Century
Mmmm	Sshhhh!	Top of the Pops/ Crops /Hops	It refreshes the… other…. cannnot reach
SOS	A step ahead	A racing start	Growing demand
Take the biscuit	On the right foot	Softly, softly	Making an impression
So-so	Maximum protection	Get up and glow	Stands supreme
The ultimate	Hi!	Star in its own right	An eye for bargains
Heaven sent	A shining example	The bare necessities	Make the penny drop
Shoulder to cry on	Get it together	Really cool	The one
King of the	Goodness only knows	Easy as 1 2 3 (ABC)	Nothing to declare
Brightens up	Adds distinction	Goes without saying	The
No 1	Child’s play	Sounds good	Take pride
Take some beating	Set the pace	Sky high	Second to none
Save a packet	Rest easy	Run for my money	It’s ‘in’
Pole position	Perfect combination	On my wavelength	Just like that
All systems	Mint condition	Make dreams come true	Make my day
Knock spots off	5 star	Extend your scope	Down to a fine art
Does the trick	Draws me back	Think ahead

ACRONYMS

An acronym was originally a pronounceable word made from the initial letters of other words. For example, NATO for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
As acronyms have invaded our lives more and more we have started to coin other shorthand versions such as TV for Television, USA for United States of America, IOU for I Owe You (a debt), MD for Medical Doctor, or CEO for Chief Executive Officer which are not acronyms in the original sense of being a ‘new pronounceable word’ made up of the first letters but which we still pull into our bulging bag of acronyms.

But where acronyms have really exploded and become a sub-language of their own is through text messaging, the Internet and email where the ‘need for speed’ has led to the creation of hundreds of new acronyms that are used globally by millions of people. Your example, LOL for ‘Laugh Out Loud’ is one of the most used of these Internet acronyms. Here is a list of some of the other common Internet acronyms used in emails, SMS and text messaging. Hope it helps, CU!
Common Acronyms Used in SMS, Text and Internet Chat:

A
AFAIK	As far as I know
AFK	Away from keyboard
AKA	Also known as
AOL	America Online
ASAP	As soon as possible
ASL	Age, sex, location
ATM	At the moment
B
B/C	Because
B4	Before
BBIAB	Be back in a bit
BBL	Be back later
BCC	Blind carbon copy
BF	Boyfriend
BFF	Best friends forever
BFN	Bye for now
BOT	Back on topic
BRB	Be right back
BTW	By the way
C
CC	Carbon copy
CTN	Can’t talk now
CU	See you
CUL	See you later
CYA	See ya
CYE	Check your e-mail
D
DIY	Do it yourself
DL	Download
DW	Don’t worry
E
EG	Exempli gratia (Latin: For example)
EOD	End of discussion
ETA	Estimated time of arrival
F
F	Female
FAQ	Frequently Asked Questions
FOFL	Falling on the floor laughing
FUBAR	Fouled up beyond all recognition
FWIW	For what it’s worth
FYI	For your information
G
G2G	Gotta go
GB	Goodbye
GF	Girlfriend
GG	Good game
GJ	Good job
GL	Good luck
GM	Good match
GR8	Great
H
H/O	Hold on
HH	Ha-ha
HOAS	Hold on a second
HTH	Hope this helps
I
IAC	In any case
IC	I see
IDK	I don’t know
IE	Id est (Latin: That is)
IIRC	If I remember correctly
IK	I know
IM	Instant Message
IMHO	In my humble opinion
IMO	In my opinion
IOW	In other words
IRT	In reply to
J
J/K	Just kidding
JC	Just curious
JK	Just kidding
K
K	OK
KIT	Keep in touch
KWIM	Know what I mean
L
L8	Late
L8R	Later
LMAO	Laughing my a** off
LOL	Laugh out loud
M
M	Male
MMA	Meet me at
MMB	Message me back
MSG	Message
MYOB	Mind your own business
N
N/A	Not Available
NC	No comment
NE1	Anyone
NM	Not much
NP	No problem
NRN	No reply necessary
NW	No way
O
OMG	Oh my gosh
OT	Off topic
OTOH	On the other hand
P
PDA	Public display of affection
PHAT	Pretty hot and tempting
PIR	People in room
PK	Player Killing
PLZ	Please
POS	Parent over shoulder
PPL	People
Q
QT	Cutie
R
RE	Regarding
ROFL	Rolling on the floor laughing
ROTFL	Rolling on the floor laughing
RPG	Role Playing Game
RT	Real-time
RTFM	Read the flippin’ manual
S
SMH	Shaking my head
SOS	Someone over shoulder
SOSO	Same old, same old
SP?	Spelling?
STR8	Straight
SUP	What’s up
T
TBC	To be continued
TBH	To be honest
TC	Take care
TGIF	Thank goodness it’s Friday
THX	Thanks
TIA	Thanks in advance
TIC	Tongue in cheek
TISNF	That is so not fair
TLC	Tender love and care
TMI	Too much information
TOH	Typing one-handed
TTFN	Ta-ta for now
TTYL	Talk to you later
TY	Thank you
U
U2	You too
UR	You are
V
VBG	Very big grin
W
W/	With
W/E	Whatever
W/O	Without
W8	Wait
WB	Write back (e-mail)
WOOT	Way out of topic
WTG	Way to go
X
XOXO	Hugs and kisses
Y
Y	Why
YRG	You are good
YW	You’re welcome
Z
ZZZ	Sleeping

HEAR vs LISTEN

Listen is used to talk about or describe sounds that are being made around you and which you are making an active effort to focus on. For example:

• Did you listen to the news last night on television?
• She was listening to music on her iPod when I walked in.
• Mike listened to his teacher and then repeated what she had said.
• ‘Just listen to yourself! You talk such rubbish!’, she said angrily.

Note that ‘listen‘ is nearly always followed by ‘to‘ - you listen to some sound.
Just to repeat an important point; listening is active - that is you are making an active effort to listen to the sound.
Hear is used for sounds that come to our ears, but we do not, unlike listen, need to be actively engaged in trying to listen to the sound - it can just come to your ears! For example:

• Mike heard a bang in the night which woke him up.
• She heard someone screaming and called the police.
• I heard a loud explosion and then the building collapsed.

Note that ‘hear’ is not followed by ‘to’. But, to make it a little more complicated let’s look at this conversation:

• ‘Did you hear what I said’, asked John’s father.
• ‘No, I wasn’t listening‘, replied John.
• ‘Well, if you don’t listen you will never hear what I am telling you!’.

Now, that last sentence seems a little confused but also shows cleary how the two verbs are used - in this case, if John does not make an active effort to listen he will not hear his father’s advice (even if he may have heard sounds his father was making!)
Where hear and listen may seem very close is when you hear something like:

• Did you hear about Jane? She got married!
• I heard about the accident but I didn’t see it.

This is when information is passed to you from another source without you necessarily seeking it - in this case note that ‘hear’ is followed by ‘about’ - ‘to hear about’ something, someone or some action or event.
So, you can hear something without wanting to, but you can only listen to something intentionally.

BRITISH vs AMERICAN

American readers of British writing are well aware of the spelling differences that exist between the two varieties of English. For example: labor/labour, enthral/enthrall, tire/tyre, or center/centre—to name just a few. There are also many cases in which American and British English use different terms to describe the same thing. Here’s a list of various British words and expressions together with their American equivalents. 

British English	American English
accommodation	accommodations
action replay	instant replay
aerofoil	airfoil
aeroplane	airplane
agony aunt	advice columnist
Allen key	Allen wrench
aluminium	aluminum
aniseed	anise
anticlockwise	counterclockwise
articulated lorry	tractor-trailer
asymmetric bars	uneven bars
aubergine	eggplant
baking tray	cookie sheet
bank holiday	legal holiday
beetroot	beet(s)
bill	check
biscuit	cookie; cracker
black economy	underground economy
blanket bath	sponge bath
blind	(window) shade
block of flats	apartment building
boiler suit	coveralls
bonnet (of a car)	hood
boob tube	tube top
boot (of a car)	trunk
bottom drawer	hope chest
bowls	lawn bowling
braces	suspenders
brawn (the food)	headcheese
breakdown van	tow truck
breeze block	cinder block
bridging loan	bridge loan
bumbag	fanny pack
candyfloss	cotton candy
car park	parking lot
casualty	emergency room
catapult	slingshot
central reservation	median strip
chemist	drugstore
chips	French fries
cinema	movie theater; the movies
cling film	plastic wrap
common seal	harbor seal
consumer durables	durable goods
cornflour	cornstarch
cos (lettuce)	Romaine
cot	crib
cot death	crib death
cotton bud	cotton swab
cotton wool	absorbent cotton
council estate	(housing) project
courgette	zucchini
court card	face card
crash barrier	guardrail
crisps	chips; potato chips
crocodile clip	alligator clip
cross-ply	bias-ply
crotchet (music)	quarter note
current account	checking account
danger money	hazard pay
demister (in a car)	defroster
dialling tone	dial tone
diamante	rhinestone
double cream	heavy cream
draughts (game)	checkers
drawing pin	thumbtack
dressing gown	robe; bathrobe
drink-driving	drunk driving
drinks cupboard	liquor cabinet
drinks party	cocktail party
driving licence	driver’s license
dual carriageway	divided highway
dummy	pacifier
dust sheet	drop cloth
dustbin	garbage can
earth (electrical)	ground
engaged (of a phone)	busy
estate agent	real estate agent, realtor (trademark)
estate car	station wagon
ex-directory	unlisted
faith school	parochial school
financial year	fiscal year
fire brigade/service	fire company/department
first floor	second floor
fish finger	fish stick
fitted carpet	wall-to-wall carpeting
flannel	washcloth
flat	apartment
flexitime	flextime
flick knife	switchblade
flyover	overpass
football	soccer
footway	sidewalk
fringe (hair)	bangs
full board (in hotels)	American plan
full stop (punctuation)	period
garden	yard; lawn
gearing (finance)	leverage
gear lever	gearshift
goods train	freight train
greaseproof paper	wax paper/waxed paper
green fingers	green thumb
grill (noun)	broiler
grill (verb)	broil
ground floor	first floor
groundsman	groundskeeper
hairslide	barrette
hatstand	hatrack
hen night	bachelorette party
hire purchase	installment plan
hoarding	billboard
hob	stovetop
holdall	carryall
holiday	vacation
holidaymaker	vacationer
homely	homey
hosepipe	(garden) hose
in hospital	in the hospital
hot flush	hot flash
housing estate	housing development
hundreds and thousands	sprinkles (for ice cream)
ice lolly	Popsicle (trademark)
icing sugar	confectioners’ sugar
indicator (on a car)	turn signal
inside leg	inseam
jelly babies	jelly beans
Joe Bloggs	Joe Blow
Joe Public	John Q. Public
jumble sale	rummage sale
jump lead	jumper cable
jumper	sweater
junior school	elementary school
kennel	doghouse
ladybird	ladybug
a lettuce	a head of lettuce
level crossing	grade crossing
lift	elevator
lolly	Popsicle (trademark)
lollipop lady (or man)	crossing guard
loo (toilet)	john
loose cover	slipcover
lorry	truck
loudhailer	bullhorn
low loader	flatbed truck
lucky dip	grab bag
luggage van	baggage car
maize	corn
mangetout	snow pea
market garden	truck farm
marshalling yard	railroad yard
maths	math
metalled road	paved road
milometer	odometer
minim  (music)	half note
mobile phone	cell phone
monkey tricks	monkeyshines
motorway	expressway; highway
mum/mummy	mom/mommy
nappy	diaper
needlecord	pinwale
newsreader	newscaster
noughts and crosses	tic-tac-toe
number plate	license plate
off-licence	liquor store; package store
opencast mining	open-pit mining
ordinary share	common stock
oven glove	oven mitt
paddling pool	wading pool
paracetamol	acetaminophen
parting (in hair)	part
patience	solitaire
pavement	sidewalk
pay packet	pay envelope
pedestrian crossing	crosswalk
peg	clothespin
pelmet	valance
petrol	gas; gasoline
physiotherapy	physical therapy
pinafore dress	jumper
plain chocolate	dark chocolate
plain flour	all-purpose flour
polo neck	turtleneck
positive discrimination	reverse discrimination
postal vote	absentee ballot
postbox	mailbox
postcode	zip code
potato crisp	potato chip
power point	electrical outlet
pram	baby carriage; stroller
press stud	snap
press-up	pushup
private soldier	GI
public school	private school
public transport	public transportation
punchbag	punching bag
pushchair	stroller
pylon	utility pole
quantity surveyor	estimator
quaver (music)	eighth note
queue	line
racing car	race car
railway	railroad
real tennis	court tennis
recorded delivery	certified mail
registration plate	license plate
remould (tyre)	retread
reverse the charges	call collect
reversing lights	back-up lights
right-angled triangle	right triangle
ring road	beltway
room only	European plan
roundabout (at a fair)	carousel
roundabout (in road)	traffic circle
rowing boat	rowboat
sailing boat	sailboat
saloon (car)	sedan
sandpit	sandbox
sandwich cake	layer cake
sanitary towel	sanitary napkin
self-raising flour	self-rising flour
semibreve (music)	whole note
semitone (music)	half step
share option	stock option
shopping trolley	shopping cart
show house/home	model home
silencer (on a car)	muffler
silverside	rump roast
singlet (undershirt)	wife-beater
skeleton in the cupboard	skeleton in the closet
skimmed milk	skim milk
skipping rope	jump rope
skirting board	baseboard
sledge	sled
sleeper	railroad tie
sleeping partner	silent partner
slowcoach	slowpoke
snakes and ladders	chutes and ladders
solicitor	lawyer
soya/soya bean	soy/soybean
splashback	backsplash
spring onion	green onion
stag night	bachelor party
Stanley knife	utility knife
starter	appetizer
state school	public school
storm in a teacup	tempest in a teapot
surtitle	supertitle
swede	rutabaga
sweet(s)	candy
takeaway (food)	takeout; to go
taxi rank	taxi stand
tea towel	dish towel
terrace house	row house
tick	check mark
ticket tout	scalper
tights	pantyhose
timber	lumber
titbit	tidbit
toffee apple	candy apple
touch wood	knock on wood
trade union	labor union
trading estate	industrial park
trainers	sneakers
tram	streetcar; cable car
transport cafe	truck stop
trolley	shopping cart
twelve-bore	twelve-gauge
unalike	unlike
underground	subway
vacuum flask	thermos bottle
verge (of a road)	shoulder
vest	undershirt
veterinary surgeon	veterinarian
wagon (on a train)	car
waistcoat	vest
walking frame	walker
wardrobe	closet
water ice	Italian ice
weatherboard	clapboard
white coffee	coffee with cream
white spirit	mineral spirits
wholemeal bread	wholewheat bread
windcheater	windbreaker
windscreen	windshield
wing (of a car)	fender
worktop	countertop
Yale lock	cylinder lock
zebra crossing	crosswalk
zed (letter Z)	zee
zip	zipper