Have you been by
Edith's new house? It's, like, way out in the sticks.
the country or in the wilderness, we use the word "out":
She lives out in the country.
You can also use
"out" to describe being in another city that's far away toward the
east or west:
Mirabel just moved out to L.A. a few weeks ago.
When somewhere is especially
far, use "way out":
The nearest one I know of is way out in Burlington.
English speakers use the word
"like" for many reasons. One way that we use "like" is to
show hesitation. You hesitate when:
·
you are unsure of something
· you're afraid that your words will make other people
upset
· you can't think of the right word to complete your
thought
Here are some examples:
You have to fill out a lot of, like, forms and
paperwork.
I know that you're upset, but, like, maybe you should
calm down.
This is a habit that English
speakers (especially young people) have in spoken English. We don't usually use
"like" this way in writing.
You can say this when you go
somewhere, usually for a short time.
It’s always closed when I go by.
I went by her office earlier to check on her.
Notice that this phrase is
often used in the past tense.
Another meaning of “go by”
means that you don’t stop at all. For example, while driving, you might “go by”
an interesting sign on the road.
We went by a car dealership a few minutes ago.
Some guy went by blasting music on his bike.
For a very quick visit, you
can also say “stop by,” which is similar.
I’ll stop by around four, if that works for you.
This phrase describes a place
that’s far away from the town or city center, and takes a long time to drive
to. It’s usually in a rural area. "The sticks" sounds negative. It
sounds like a place that is difficult to get to, and doesn’t have anything interesting
around it.
The only decent burger place is out in the sticks.
He picked it up out in the sticks somewhere.