2024-05-20 Shook – The English We Speak

Introduction

A word to express surprise or shock. Learn more here.

Transcript

Beth
Welcome to The English We Speak with me, Beth…

Feifei
And me, Feifei.

Beth
We have a word that means ‘shocked’ or ‘surprised’. It can be when you’re excited or when you’re scared. The word is ‘shook’.

Feifei
OK, ‘shook’. Beth, how do we actually use it?

Beth
Well, it’s commonly seen in the phrase ‘I was shook’. Now, I know this sounds a bit strange because normally ‘shook’ is used as the past tense of ‘shake’. But here it’s being used as an adjective, similar to the use of ‘shaken’. And it’s used for unexpected situations.

Feifei
I see. So, the other day, I was in a shop, I turned around, and there was a man right behind me. I was shook. I thought I was alone.

Beth
That does sound scary. Something similar happened to me. I was here at work and I could feel that someone was standing right behind me and I turned around and it was a singer I absolutely love! I was like ‘I’m shook’.

Feifei
Crazy. So ‘shook’ can be used for scary and exciting things, but they’re always surprising.

Beth
That’s right. Let’s hear some more examples.

Examples

Look at this pie I made. Isn’t it good? I’m shook.

I was just falling asleep when I remembered I hadn’t done my homework. I was shook.

I gave my cat a new toy, and I’ve never seen her so excited. She was shook.

Feifei
You’re listening to The English We Speak from BBC Learning English, and we are learning the word ‘shook’, which is a word used to show your surprise or shock.

Beth
Now, here in the UK this word is most commonly said and written by young people, especially teenagers. And it’s very common to see it on social media. 

Feifei
Yes. For example, a video of someone doing a crazy stunt might have hashtag ‘shook’ with it.

Beth
I need to go and post something on social media actually and when you see it, you’ll be shook. Bye.

Feifei
Bye!