Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“I’ve had it all. I’ve had it in spades. It’s been an incredible career.”
- Actress Angela Lansbury on her success as an actress. (Entertainment Weekly)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
many; in the extreme
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
Do you the different suits of playing cards? There are clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. In a lot of games, spades is the best one.
So when you say you have something in spades, it means that you have it than other people. It can be a quality or an object and it can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what the thing is. For instance, to say “Nick and Charlie both have intelligence in spades,” means they’re both really smart. But to say “Michelle’s house has rats in spades” means that she has a problem.
Angela Lansbury has been an actress for over 50 years. She’s starred in everything from the Disney classic Bedknobs and Broomsticks to the detective TV show Murder She Wrote. She’s played all kinds of roles and been good in all of them. She’s had experiences and success in spades.
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“I think she’s perfect for the job. We need someone with ambition and charm and she’s got those things in spades.”
“You need tires? You’re lucky. I’ve got tires in spades. What size do you need?”
“We knew this was a bad neighborhood, but we’ve had problems in spades since we moved here.”
Winners
1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.
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