ESL Podcast 822 - Having a Frightening Experience

hair-raising - frightening; scary; making one feel alarmed and worried

Lyle drives too fast. Being his passenger is a hair-raising experience!

haunted - inhabited or visited by ghosts or spirits of people who died a long time ago

People say this building is haunted because a lot of strange things have happened here.

a lark - a joke; an entertaining and funny or humorous experience

That movie is a lark! We laughed through the whole thing.

supernatural - not explained by science; seemingly impossible events or actions that require extra powers

During an emergency, people sometimes appear to have supernatural powers, like when a woman is able to lift a car to pull her child out from under it.

ghost - the spirit of a person who has died, sometimes seen as a cloudy or unclear white figure

James never believed in ghosts until he saw one late at night after his grandmother had died.

goosebump - one of many small areas of raised skin, caused by being very cold or frightened

I have goosebumps! Could you please turn up the heat?

to play it off - to pretend that something is not important, especially to show that one is very brave and calm and not frightened or intimidated

When Warren lost his job, he tried to play it off, but we all knew he was worried.

scared - frightened; feeling anxious and worried about what is happening

We were really scared when we heard Maggie had been in an accident, but fortunately she wasn't hurt badly.

to jump out of (one's) skin - to be very frightened, scared and alarmed

A loud noise woke me up last night and I nearly jumped out of my skin!

wuss - coward; a person who is not brave; a person who is very scared and reluctant to try new things

I invited Shane to go skydiving with us, but he's too much of a wuss.

to quake in (one's) boots - to be very frightened and scared, not wanting to do something

During the bombing, they were all quaking in their boots.

drafty - with a lot of air moving through a building; with air movement caused by holes in walls and around windows and doors

This is a beautiful old home, but it is drafty and we need to seal the holes around the windows.

to send (someone) over the edge - to make someone lose control of emotions, thoughts, or actions, especially when one is very frightened or angry

Little kids do a lot of things to make their parents angry, but when Benny played with and then lost his mother's wedding ring, it sent her over the edge.

a prank - a trick; something that is done to make another person look silly or foolish and to make other people laugh

When we were kids, we played a prank by calling people and saying, "Is your refrigerator running? If so, you'd better go catch it!"

scared stiff - very frightened and scared, unable to do anything

When the company announced that it would close the office, all the employees were scared stiff about losing their job.

petrified - very frightened and scared, unable to move

I would be petrified to see a great white shark while swimming in the ocean!

wild horses couldn't drag me - a phrase emphasizing that something will not happen under any circumstances and that nothing anyone says or does could make one do something

Wild horses couldn't drag me to see that movie. I heard that it's terrible!