AEE Episode 1199: What Gives? How to Express Frustration and Confusion at the Same Time

council

Word forms: plural councils

(countable noun) A council is a group of people who are elected to govern a local area such as a city or, in Britain, a county.
reports of local council meetings.
(adjective) Council houses or flats are owned by the local council, and people pay rent to live in them.
There is a shortage of council housing.
(countable noun) Council is used in the names of some organizations.
the National Council for Civil Liberties.
(countable noun) In some organizations, the council is the group of people that controls or governs it.
He was a member of the council of the Royal Northern College of Music.
(countable noun) A council is a specially organized, formal meeting that is attended by a particular group of people.
The President said he would call a grand council of all Afghans.

Word forms: comparative grander, superlative grandest, plural grands

(adjective) If you describe a building or a piece of scenery[风景] as grand, you mean that its size or appearance is very impressive.
The scenery of South Island is on a grand scale.
(adjective) Grand plans or actions are intended to achieve important results.
a passionate anti-slavery crusader with grand ideas for education.
(adjective) People who are grand think they are important or socially superior.
The Duke of Clarence will be there, and many of your grander friends.
(adjective) If you describe an activity or experience as grand, you mean that it is very pleasant and enjoyable.
The dinner was a grand success.
(adjective) You can describe someone or something as grand when you admire or approve of them very much.
He was a grand bloke[家伙].
(adjective) A grand total is one that is the final amount or the final result of a calculation.
It came to a grand total of £220,329.
(adjective) Grand is often used in the name of buildings such as hotels, especially when they are very large.
They stay at The Grand Hotel, Budapest.
(countable noun) A grand is a thousand dollars or a thousand pounds.
They are paying you ten grand now for those adaptions[改编] of old plays.
(countable noun) A grand is the same as a grand piano[大钢琴].

When a group of musicians tune up, they adjust their instruments so that they produce the right notes.
I could hear the sound of a band tuning up.

If you stumble on something or stumble across it, you find it or discover it unexpectedly.
And when I stumbled on your podcast, I was preparing for my IELTS exam.

If you say someone barking up the wrong tree, you mean that they are following the wrong course of action because their beliefs or ideas about something are incorrect.
Scientists in Switzerland realized that most other researchers had been barking up the wrong tree.

If you say something happens as soon as something else happens, you mean that it happens immediately after the other thing.
You'll never guess what happened as soon as I left my bedroom.

If you describe the way that someone behaves as confrontational, you are showing your disapproval of the fact that they are aggressive and likely to cause an argument and dispute.
So you feel you might be a little bit confrontational.

RSVP is an abbreviation for 'répondez s'il vous plaît', which means 'please reply'. It is written on the bottom of a card inviting you to a party or special occasion.

Word forms: plural abbreviations

(countable noun) An abbreviation is a short form of a word or phrase, made by leaving out some of the letters or by using only the first letter of each word.

It's a way to express frustration, when you say 'What Gives?', you mean you don't know why whatever happens, happened.
My computer crashed again, what gives?
The thing is this phrase is not actually a question, you don't need to answer it, and sometimes it can be a kind of confrontational sounding, but I think it's ok.

I think it's same as 'What Gives' to some extent, the difference is 'What Gives' might be a little bit confrontational, the other one is kind of a victim mentality.

Word forms: plural connotations

(countable noun)The connotation of a particular word or name are the ideas or the qualities which i it makes you think of.
It's just one of those words that got so many negative connotations.

Word forms: plural implications

(countable noun)The implications of something are things that are likely to happen as a result.
The Attorney General was aware of the political implications of his decision to prosecute.
(countable noun) The implication of a statement, event, or a situation is what it implies or suggests in the case.
The implication was obvious: vote for us or it will be very embarrassing for you.

Word forms: plural puddles

(countable noun) A puddle is a small, shallow pool of liquid that has spread on the ground.
My shoes got wet in a puddle and now my bag is soaking[打湿]