Vocabulary Building

1. FUN
* pleasure ▪ (a) good time ▪ enjoyment ▪ (a) great time
These are all words for the feeling of enjoying yourself, or activities or time that you
enjoy.
- fun (rather informal) the feeling of enjoying yourself; activities that you enjoy:
EX:
We had a lot of fun at Sarah’s party.
Sailing is good/​great fun.
- pleasure (rather formal) the feeling of enjoying yourself or being satisfied:
EX:
Reading for pleasure and reading for study are not the same.
(a) good time (rather informal) a time that you spend enjoying yourself:
EX:
We had a good time in Spain.
- enjoyment (rather formal) the feeling of enjoying yourself:
EX:
I get a lot of enjoyment from music.
We had a really great time together.
 Patterns
to do something for fun/​pleasure/​enjoyment
great fun/​pleasure/​enjoyment
to have fun/​a good time/​a great time
to get pleasure/​enjoyment from something
to spoil the fun/​somebody’s pleasure/​somebody’s enjoyment

2. HONEST

* frank ▪ direct ▪ open ▪ outspoken ▪ straight ▪ blunt
These words all describe people saying exactly what they mean without trying to hide
feelings, opinions or facts.
- honest not hiding the truth about something:
EX:
Thank you for being so honest with me.
frank honest in what you say, sometimes in a way that other people might not like:
EX:
To be frank with you, I think your son has little chance of passing the exam.
direct saying exactly what you mean in a way that nobody can pretend not to understand:
EX:
You’ll have to get used to his direct manner.
He was quite open about his reasons for leaving.
- outspoken saying exactly what you think, even if this shocks or offends people:
She was outspoken in her criticism of the plan.
- straight honest and direct:
EX:
I don’t think you’re being straight with me.
- blunt saying exactly what you think without trying to be polite:
She has a reputation for blunt speaking.
 Patterns
honest/​frank/​direct/​open/​outspoken/​straight about something
honest/​frank/​direct/​open/​straight/​blunt with somebody
a(n) honest/​direct/​straight/​blunt answer
a frank/​direct/​blunt manner