Summary

Feifei’s dead tired this morning which has got Rob dead worried! Watch this episode and find out what Feifei means when she says ‘dead’ tired.

Transcript  

Neil
Hello and welcome to The English We Speak – I’m Neil and this is Feifei. Feifei? Feifei!

Feifei
Huh? Oh sorry, Neil! I had a really late night last night so I’m dead tired today!

Neil
You’re dead tired, Feifei? Are you dying? That’s awful! What have you got? Is it contagious?

Feifei
Oh, Neil, don’t be silly! I’m not sick or contagious or dying! I’m just really tired!

Neil
That’s a relief! But, you said you were ‘dead’ tired. But you’re not dying?

Feifei
Oh really, Neil – I think you’re more tired than I am! I said ‘dead’ tired because I’m really tired.

Neil
So we can use ‘dead’ to mean ‘really’ or ‘very’?

Feifei
That’s right – if you want to emphasise an adjective, you can use dead to make it stronger.

Neil
Well that’s dead confusing – perhaps we should take a look at some examples.

Examples
Is it lunch time yet? I’m dead hungry!

The man sat next to me on the train this morning kept falling asleep on my shoulder – it was dead annoying!

I was dead happy when I passed my driving test!

Feifei
This is The English We Speak from BBC Learning English and we’re talking about a different use of the word ‘dead’. Normally it means the opposite of the adjective ‘alive’ but native English-speakers, particularly people in the north of England, often use it before an adjective to emphasise what they are saying. Could you tell us a time when you were dead happy, Neil?

Neil
Well, when I woke up this morning and found I had another hour until my alarm went off! I was dead thrilled!

Feifei
Not quite, Neil! You were dead happy, but not dead thrilled! You can’t use ‘dead’ with extreme adjectives.

Neil
Oh OK, so you can say ‘dead cold’ but not ‘dead freezing’ Or ‘dead good’ but not ‘dead fantastic’.

Feifei
That was a dead good explanation, Neil! I see you have woken up a bit now, but I’m still dead tired.

Neil
Well how about you make us both a coffee while I finish the programme – it’s your turn to make the coffees!

Feifei
Err, no, Neil – I always make the coffee! I’ll go make a coffee for me, not you, while you finish the programme!

Neil
Uh oh. I’d best go and make the coffees - she’s dead sensitive when she hasn’t had enough sleep! Well, bye everyone, see you next time!