Accent Reduction Tips
Many of our clients at Accent Pros who come in for accent reduction sessions have advanced degrees and have excellent command of the English language. Given the constantly evolving state of the English language; however, they may not understand informal slang and the phrases that are regularly used in the workplace, conversations with friends, and on various popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Occasionally our clients will understand an idioms meaning but use it in an improper context or the wrong situation, which could potentially have embarrassing consequences. In our continuing efforts to feature only the most relevant and practical terms when helping you on your accent reduction journey, here are two euphemisms which express agreement and the desire to go beyond boundaries that have been set in place by others.
On the same wavelength 
Definition: This idiom is used is business settings in order to illustrate that two people or companies have reached some form of an agreement. Also that the two parties share a common ideology that will lead somewhere productive.
Example sentence: My best friend understands me so well. We’re on the same wavelength.
Origin: The phrase was originally mentioned in a 1975 issue of The Economist» magazine. It was stated there, that President Ford’s administration and United States Congress were being on the same wavelength , meaning they were thinking similarly.
Tune in
Definition: Within a radio, TV and general entertainment context, this refers to the act of manually manipulating to TV or radio to lock onto a specific station. It can also be viewed as a variant of the phrase “tuned in”, reinforcing the idea that you understand a particular line of reasoning even though you may not agree with it.
Example sentence: I was able to totally tune in to today’s philosophy lecture on Descartes.
Origin: Before television radio was considered the main form of entertainment. People had to tune in to specific radio frequency to hear their favorite programs. It remains unknown as to what caused this phrase to transition over into the world of television, however there are many theories. Some experts believe the widespread use of the term was due to the popularity of the 1960’s Batman action/comedy series starring Adam West and Burt Ward. The show occasionally featured two part episodes, with the first part of the episode ending with the two heroes facing a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. At this point producer William Dozier would read off a couple of dire scenarios that could befall Batman and Robin before telling viewers to “Tune in tomorrow — same Bat-time, same Bat-channel!”
Push the envelope
Definition: pushing to the limits, testing the extremes of something.
Example: He has been training hard for the upcoming race and is trying to push the envelope with his workout routine.
Origin: The term was used since the World War II in aviation. The phrase was used for defining the limit of what was safe to fly (the power of the engine, altitude and wind speed for example). Those pilots, who were testing the planes were only able to find out the capabilities of the aircraft by «pushing the envelope». The «envelope» stands for a mathematical term, that described the performance data from test plane. The phrase was first used in 1978’s edition of Aviation week & Space Technology, where it was stated, that aircraft’s envelope must be expanded. And NASA pilots had to push the envelope up to ten thousand feet . Tom Wolfe’s novel The right Stuff and its subsequent movie, firmly placed the phrase into the poplar lexicon.
Accent Reduction: Idioms Series
Accent Pros has a continuing series on accent reduction tips, including common English phrases and American idioms. Be sure to check out other blog posts to find your favorites. Ready for a complimentary accent reduction tutorial or a free accent screening? Check out our on-line accent reduction courses available to students with accent reduction goals all over the world. For consistent access to our idioms series and other Accent reduction tips Like us on Facebook or Follow us on Twitter.
