wannabe
a person who "wants to be" someone else
TRANSLATION
wannabe = der Möchtegern-… --- GOOGLE INDEX wannabe: approximately 44,500,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
If X Factor WANNABES are still under the illusion that winning will make you a millionaire, they're in for a surprise when they realise how record deals really work…
(The Guardian)
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The new Kindle Fire may be an iPad WANNABE, but Amazon may sell 5m units in the fourth quarter of this year alone...
(newsedge.com)
(The Guardian)
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The new Kindle Fire may be an iPad WANNABE, but Amazon may sell 5m units in the fourth quarter of this year alone...
(newsedge.com)
Did you
know?
wannabe
noun, slang (usually negative)
- a person who wants or aspires to be someone or something else or who tries to look or act like someone else
- something (as a company, city, or product) intended to rival another of its kind that has been successful; especially: one for which hopes have failed or are likely to fail
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Depending on your point of view, expressions like "wannabe" are either a natural development in a language or they are a measure of how lazy we can be when it comes to speech. Wannabe is actually a contraction that represents how the phrase "want to be" sounds when spoken fast and a little slurred. Communication experts call it "reducing or linking."
Although words and phrases spoken in this manner upset language purists, it's nevertheless how English is commonly spoken in many parts of the world. While challenging, non native English speakers must "tune" their ears to such nuances.
Apart from "want to be/wannabe," be alert for similar phrases such as:
- wanna = want to (I wanna try the chocolate cake. It looks fabulous!)
- gonna = going to (I'm gonna drive to the supermarket)
- cuda/cuduv = could have (I cuda had a great football career, but I injured my knee)
- wuda/wuduv = would have (I wuda told you what he said about you, but I didn't wanna upset you)
- shuda/shuduv = should have (I shuduv taken the earlier train)
- zere = is there? (Zere someone who can help me clean up the conference room?)
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SYNONYMS
aspirant, hopeful, striver
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SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"You'll get a speeding ticket if you keep driving like a wannabe Formula 1 driver."
noun, slang (usually negative)
- a person who wants or aspires to be someone or something else or who tries to look or act like someone else
- something (as a company, city, or product) intended to rival another of its kind that has been successful; especially: one for which hopes have failed or are likely to fail
---
Depending on your point of view, expressions like "wannabe" are either a natural development in a language or they are a measure of how lazy we can be when it comes to speech. Wannabe is actually a contraction that represents how the phrase "want to be" sounds when spoken fast and a little slurred. Communication experts call it "reducing or linking."
Although words and phrases spoken in this manner upset language purists, it's nevertheless how English is commonly spoken in many parts of the world. While challenging, non native English speakers must "tune" their ears to such nuances.
Apart from "want to be/wannabe," be alert for similar phrases such as:
- wanna = want to (I wanna try the chocolate cake. It looks fabulous!)
- gonna = going to (I'm gonna drive to the supermarket)
- cuda/cuduv = could have (I cuda had a great football career, but I injured my knee)
- wuda/wuduv = would have (I wuda told you what he said about you, but I didn't wanna upset you)
- shuda/shuduv = should have (I shuduv taken the earlier train)
- zere = is there? (Zere someone who can help me clean up the conference room?)
---
SYNONYMS
aspirant, hopeful, striver
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"You'll get a speeding ticket if you keep driving like a wannabe Formula 1 driver."
