Synonyms are especially important for people like you. You already know some English, and once you know a little, you know a lot.
You may not know the word ‘magnificent’ but I bet you know ‘good’. Magnificent is a fancy way to say good. Work with what you know, trust yourself. You can be your own dictionary.

In our synonym sets you will find at least one word that you or your friends are sure to know: tired, eat, big. From there you will learn other, subtler, ways to say the same thing. The synonym sets are just beginnings, we might look at 3 words for good, but if you keep looking you can find over 300 synonyms.

The words are organized by theme. Right now we have synonyms for talking about: Food, Travel, Joy, Routines, Movies, Memories, The Future, English.

As you look through the sets try to write a sentence for each word telling something about your life and what is interesting to you.
What words are missing? Tell us about them and why they are special to you.

FOOD
Consume- Eat- Drink Ways of eating
Taste- Sweet-Sour Different Flavors
Meal-Snack-Dinner Types of meals
Restaurant- Cafe- Diner Places to eat
Omnivore- Vegetarian- Vegan Varieties of diet
Food- Junk Food- Cuisine Kinds of food
Feast- Diet- Starve Amounts of food
Different- Unusual- Strange New food

Ways of Eating
CONSUME- EAT-DRINK

Consume is a big word. It can mean any and every way we get energy into our bodies. Eat is one way we do this, chewing and swallowing solid foods like apples and hamburgers. Drinking is another way, no chewing just swallowing liquids like orange juice and milk.
Consume is the kind of word a doctor would use. If you are having problems with weight and blood pressure, your doctor may ask you how many calories you are consuming in a day. The key word is consume. It stops me from cheating. If my doctor tells me not to eat donuts, I can say ok and then go buy a donut latte somewhere and drink my donuts. If I can’t consume donuts I can’t eat or drink them, or anything else. No donuts for me.
That would drive me bananas. Can you do donuts in a banana-mobile?

Americans consume 3,782 calories a day, the second highest in the world behind Ireland at 3,885. Like the Irish, Americans eat a lot of potatoes including about 14 kg of french fries a year. They also drink an average of 216 litres of soda a year. How does this compare to the diet in your country?

Sample Sentences
EAT: We eat food and drink water every day. 
DRINK: Some people drink coffee, tea, and alcoholic beverages in addition to water.
CONSUME: I consumed too much wine yesterday, I have a hang over today.

Different Flavors
TASTE- SWEET- SOUR
Taste is a big word covering many different tastes, or flavors. Taste is broken down into five basic qualities: sweet, salty, sour, bitter, and umami. You can already see there are way more than three synonyms. We’ll just nibble at the edges for now with taste, sweet and sour.

Taste is the biggest word. It tells you something has flavor without describing the taste. See what I did there? It is something dictionaries do too, using a synonym to define a word. Taste means flavor. Flavor means taste. If you don’t know either of these words we need to start finding lots of examples: candy is sweet, potato chips are salty, coffee is bitter. Then we say all of these things are flavor and taste.

Studies show that people think food tastes better if it is more expensive, an interesting psychological trick. Growing up with a particular taste can train your brain to think of the taste as normal and good. For example, umeboshi is so sour it is difficult for people to eat if they have not grown up with it. A different trick which is also surprising is that adding salt to sweet things can make them taste sweeter. Taste is a balance of the flavors in our mouths and the power of association in our minds.

Sample Sentences

TASTE: What kind of food tastes good to you? I like Indian food, it is very spicy.
SOUR: What does lemonade taste like? Sour. This lemonade is very sour.
SWEET: Did you eat this strawberry shortcake? Yes, the cake was very sweet.

Types of Meals
MEAL-SNACK-DINNER

A meal is food we eat. We have special words for the food we eat during the day. The first meal of the day is breakfast which we eat in the morning. I’m American so I have lunch around noon and then I use dinner and supper to mean the same thing, the meal I have in the evening at the end of the day. Some people use dinner for the main meal in the middle of their day, what I call lunch. Supper is the meal at the end of the day.
A snack is a little bit of food we eat in between meals. When I was in school I carried a granola bar in my pocket so I always had a snack ready if I got hungry.

How many meals a day do you eat? Many Buddhist monks only eat one meal a day. In the US it is normal to have three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This, of course, does not include snacks which people will have right after school and even late at night. The tricky question is which day is a midnight snack part of- today, tomorrow,or yesterday?

Sample Sentences
MEAL: My friend only eats two meals a day, breakfast and lunch.
DINNER: After work I am too tired to cook dinner, so I usually eat out.
SNACK: In addition to breakfast, lunch and dinner, I have a little snack around 3 o’clock every day.

Places to Eat
RESTAURANT-CAFE-DINER

One place we eat food is home. Home cooked meals are always delicious because they are made with love. Sometimes we are tired or want something different and go out to eat. Restaurants, cafes, and diners are some of the places we might go to. Restaurants tend to be more formal and serve full course meals. Diners are informal, usually meant to be quick and cheap. Cafes have better selections of drinks and sometimes a simple meal like soup or a sandwich.

Sample Sentences
CAFE: On our first date, we met at a cafe for coffee.
RESTAURANT: For our second date we went to a fancy restaurant.
DINER: After five years together we just go to diners if we are busy or cook at home to save money.

Varieties of Diet
OMNIVORE-VEGETARIAN-VEGAN

We all eat food. We do not all eat the same kinds of food. People follow different diets for different reasons. Religious beliefs, personal ethics, or allergies can limit the types of food present in our diet. Sometimes people diet to lose weight. Diet is one of those English words where the meaning changes with the part of speech. Diet the verb is changing your eating habits to lose weight, diet the noun is the kinds of food you choose to eat irrespective of how much or how little you eat.

People are omnivores. Omni means all. People can eat all kinds of food, animal or plant. We do not have to eat everything, many people don’t. Some people do not eat meat, they are vegetarians. Some people do not eat meat but will eat fish, pescatarians. Some people do not eat any food made from animal products, not only no meat but also no dairy products, milk and cheese. Those people are vegans.

How many restaurants do you know that have vegetarian or vegan options on the menu? The vast majority of people are omnivores, they will eat anything. A small percentage of people are vegetarians who will not or cannot eat meat. An even smaller group of people, vegans, chose not to eat any animal products at all, so no eggs, milk or cheese. The number of people who don’t eat meat is small, but their buying power is big and getting bigger.

Sample Sentences
OMNIVORE: I am an omnivore, I will eat anything.
VEGETARIAN: Vegetarians do not eat any kind of meat.
VEGAN: My vegan friend won’t eat anything made from animals; no meat, no eggs, no milk.

New Food
DIFFERENT-UNUSUAL-STRANGE

People don’t all eat the same things. The climate is different in different parts of the world, and so people eat different kinds of food depending on what thy can find around them. Different means that foods are not exactly the same. Bread, corn and rice are different. Differences can be difficult for people and they may think that some kinds of food are unusual or strange. Most people will be nervous about trying new foods because they are unusual or strange. Sushi used to be like that in America. But now Americans have learned that different can be very, very good and sushi is very, very popular.

How many different ways do you know to cook rice? (steam, boil, pilaf, risotto…)

Basashi, raw horse, may seem unusual to travellers to Japan, but it is actually common enough to be found in convenience stores.

Rocky Mountain oysters, bull testicles, are a part of American cuisine, but much too strange for me to try.

What’s the strangest food you have ever eaten? Even something as simple as rice can be cooked in unusual ways to make it into something different if not completely unrecognizable. Vietnamese banh mi sandwiches have become so popular that in 2022 banh mi was recognized as an English word. What most people don’t know yet is there is  banh mi xoi, a deep fried sticky rice sandwich. Kind of like putting an onigiri between two pieces of bread for breakfast. What do you think of that? Would you eat it?

Sample Sentences
DIFFERENT: One way Japanese food and Korean food are different is that Korean food is spicier.
UNUSUAL: Sushi is a familiar food, fish, prepared in an unusual way, so many people like to try it.
STRANGE: Natto is too strange for many Westerners, and they are afraid to try it.


Quality of Food
FOOD-JUNK FOOD-CUISINE
Food is the big word and means pretty much anything we can and should put in our mouths to eat. All food is equal, but some foods are more equal than others. Junk food is food that is not very good for our health, too much salt,sugar, oil. Cuisine is used to talk about the best cooking and the special ways food is prepared in different cultures. Sometimes cuisine will have too much salt,sugar, and oil too, just much better presentation than junk food.

We all need food to survive. The question is do you eat to live or live to eat? Cuisine is a fancy word for fancy food. Anything we want to call cuisine usually takes a lot of time to prepare and a lot of money to eat. But the live-to-eat people are willing to pay because they enjoy the experience.
Junk food is something everybody eats. Some people eat it because they have too, it is cheap and easy to prepare but not very good for you. Even the live-to-eat people will enjoy junk food because it is very satisfying. Afterwards they will have a fancy salad to cleanse themselves.

Sample Sentences
FOOD: Everybody must eat food to survive.
JUNK FOOD: Some people eat a lot of junk food, they survive but are not very healthy.
CUISINE: The cuisines of the world tell us a lot about what kinds of plants and animals live in different countries.

Amounts of Food
FEAST-DIET-STARVE

The amount of food available to people is not equal in the world. Some people have access to more food than they could ever eat and some people never have enough food to eat. Feast suggests great quantity and quality, starve emphasizes the lack of food and suggests equally poor quality. There are people who choose to eat a limited amount of food, to diet, to control their health and weight.

Sample Sentences
FEAST: Americans celebrate Thanksgiving by sharing a great feast with their family and friends.
STARVE: Charities ask for money to buy food for hungry people so they don’t starve. DIET: Many Americans try to diet by simply eating less food without realizing they need to exercise as well.

Food Trivia Sentences

That’s a lot about food and a lot of ways to talk about it. Here are a few more things to think about food using some of the words we have learned. What interesting thigns can you say about food in your life?

CONSUME: Americans consume 3,782 calories a day, the second highest amount in the world.  ( Japan, 2,705. 109)
EAT: The average American eats 30 pounds of french fries per year.  (J 33 potato total)
DRINK: In 2002 a typical American drank 216 litres of soda. (Japan 21)

TASTE: People think food tastes better if it is expensive.
SWEET: Salt makes sweet food taste sweeter.
SOUR: Because it is so sour, umeboshi is an acquired taste.

MEAL: Buddhist monks eat only one meal per day.
SNACK: When I was a kid, I had granola bars for my after-school snack.
DINNER: In Spain people eat dinner late usually around 22:00.


RESTAURANT: Tokyo has the most Michelin Star restaurants in the world, 212. ( Paris, 113. Kyoto, 110. Osaka, 96.)
CAFE: In Vietnam a cafe usually only serves drinks, no food or sweets.
DINER: Many diners in the US are open 24 hours.

OMNIVORE: Omnivore is made up of two Latin roots, omnis ‘all’ and vora ‘to eat’, and that’s what omnivores do; they eat everything.
VEGETARIAN: About 5% of Americans say they are vegetarian which means they don’t eat meat but will eat eggs, milk, and cheese.  (Japan, 9%)
VEGAN: Vegans believe we should not eat any animal products at all- meat, eggs, milk, cheese. In the US they are about 2% of the population. (Japan, 3%)

FOOD: Pizza is the most popular food in the world. (US,hamburger J/sushi)
JUNK FOOD: Junk food is the opposite of healthy, but cheap and tasty like pizza the most popular food in the world.
CUISINE: Pizza is part of Italian cuisine, but it probably wont be on the menu of fancy restaurants because they need to protect their image of being exclusive.

TRAVEL
Trip- Journey- Voyage Types of Trips
Flight- Cruise- Trek Types of Transportation
Tourist- Traveler- Foreigner Types of Travellers
Explore-Discover-Wander Reasons to Travel
Hotel- Inn- Homestay Places to Sleep

Many people learn English because they want to travel. Right now wherever you go in the world you can always find someone who speaks some English. Airports, hotels, and restaurants use English whenever they want to provide information for travellers who do not speak the local language. So let’s look at how we talk about taking trips.

Types of Trips
TRIP-JOURNEY-VOYAGE

A trip can be many things, including little things like walking five minutes to the store to buy milk. Travel is used for bigger trips. Trips that are not part of our regular day. Trips that take us far away. Words like journey and voyage add a sense of adventure to the trips we take.

How do you like to travel? And why? 

Whenever you go from point A to point B you are taking a trip. It might be a trip to the bathroom, the corner store, or a couple of days at the beach. Many people save up for the trip of a lifetime and plan out a journey to see places that are especially important to them; the Eiffel Tower in Pari, Mt. Fuji in Japan, or the Pyramids of Giza. Other people focus less on the destination and focus more on the journey itself by taking voyages across the ocean on luxurious cruise ships.

Sample Sentences
TRIP: Weekend trips to the beach are popular in America partly because 40% of the people live close to the shore. ( Japan, no one more than 120km to shore)
JOURNEY: A journey can take you to see new places in the world or new places in yourself.
VOYAGE: Allure of the Seas, the largest cruise shop in the world, can take up to 5,400 passengers on a voyage across the ocean.

Types of Transportation
FLIGHT-CRUISE-TREK

There are many ways to get from A to B; planes, trains, and automobiles are some of the most common ones. The world is a big place so many people will take a flight in an airplane to get from one place to another. Airplanes are very fast, a cruise on a ship is slower way to move around the world and get a better understanding of just how big it is. I like trekking, a fancy word for fancy but simple- and long- walks. Trekking takes you out into nature and time. Trekking slows everything down in the best possible way.

For many travellers the journey is more important than the destination. If you want to get somewhere fast an airplane flight is the obvious choice. Ocean cruises take much longer, but give you a chance to appreciate the vastness of our planet. A flight from Tokyo to Los Angeles only takes 10 hours while a cruise lasts at least 25 days. Some people like to go as slowly as possible and walk everywhere. You can’t walk between Tokyo and Los Angeles, but you can walk across the United States on The American Discovery Trail, an 8,000km trek from cost to coast.

Sample Sentences

FLIGHT: The longest flight in the world is a 19 hour journey on Singapore Airlines between Singapore and New York City.
CRUISE: The longest cruise in the world is a 274 day around the world voyage that begins and ends in Miami, Florida.
TREK: The Hokkaido Nature Trail at 4,585 km, about a  270 day trek, is the fifth longest hiking trail in the world.


Types of Travellers
TOURIST-TRAVELER-FOREIGNER

Tourists coming to Japan are lucky that they can see both very old things and very new things.  From Disney Sea to Fushimi Inari, there are many wonderful places to visit and the crowds to prove it. Travelers  try to avoid the tourists hotspots and discover the real Japan, perhaps a place like Iya Valley in Shikoku. Foreigners living in Japan often settle for the less exotic but just as satisfying Kura Sushi or Family Mart fried chicken. Foreigners who come to live in a new country have their sets of synonyms expat, immigrant, that-American-guy-next-door.

Sample Sentences

TOURIST: During Covid attendance at USJ dropped from 15 million people to 5 million people as there were no overseas visitors, only tourists from Japan.
TRAVELER: Travellers avoid places like USJ and try to get to off the beaten path places like Noboribetsu in Hokkaido.
FOREIGNER: Foreigners living in Japan feel like they are on vacation every day just going to the local izakaya for dinner.

Reasons to Travel
EXPLORE-DISCOVER-WANDER

The extensive train system in Tokyo makes it east to explore the city. You can just take a train out to any random station and begin wandering around the neighborhood. There are all sorts of interesting shops and cafes waiting to be discovered all over the city. Finding them by accident is perhaps the greatest pleasure of exploring Tokyo on foot.

Sample Sentences
EXPLORE: Back of the Bike food tours are a great way to explore Saigon.
DISCOVER: Lonely Planet guidebooks began as a way to help people discover off the beaten path parts of a country.
WANDER: Some people get lost on purpose and just wander through a new city.


Places to Sleep
HOTEL-INN-HOMESTAY

Hotels are such exciting places with giant breakfast buffets and swimming pools that some people enjoy staycations. They don’t travel anywhere, just spend a day or two in a local hotel, enjoying the atmosphere without the hassles of traveling far away. Inns don’t normally have swimming pools and the meals might be at a communal table, but that is part of their special appeal. Homestays let you live with a local family to really get to know local people and how they live.

Sample Sentences

HOTEL: Marriot International is the largest hotel chain in the world with hotels in 139 countries.
INN: Inns are much smaller than hotels and offer simpler but more personal service.
HOMESTAY: Homestays emerged as a way to bring travelers closer to the local community by allowing them to stay in people’s homes and take part in some of their daily life.

A journey through travel synonyms:

Last weekend we took a trip to the beach.
We’re on a journey to discover the best beaches in the country.
Next year we will go on a voyage to the bst beaches around the world.

The flight from Hanoi to Tokyo takes 6 hours.

There is a week long cruise around the islands of Indonesia.
The trek to Everest base camp is six days and all uphill.

All the tourists want to go to Paris and take a picture with the Eiffel Tower.
Travelers like to go off the beaten bath and discover unique places.
Many foreigners living in Japan work at English schools.

Walking is the best way to explore a new city.
I’ve lived in Kyoto all my life, but every day I discover a new cafe or park.
When I wander around Tokyo, I don’t use any maps or apps. I just go.

I like big hotel chains because I always know what the rooms will be like.
Inns usually have more local character.
For truly personal service homestays are the best, sharing meals wit the owners and other guests.

JOY
Party- Holiday- Festival Celebrations
Happy- Glad- Overjoyed Feelings
Laugh- Giggle- Smile Expressions of Joy
Wonderful- Amazing- Moving Effects of Joy
Sharing- Caring- Compassion Acts of Joy
Peace-Harmony-Balance States of Joy
Joy- Happiness- Pleasure Kinds of Joy

Celebrations
PARTY-HOLIDAY-FESTIVAL

Celebrations are times we express joy. A party can be for anything and is a very personal way of saying this is my day. Holidays are special days for everybody to celebrate a specific event, usually important days to a country or a religion. Holidays are often also vacation days. Festivals are something like community parties and often last several days.

Sample Sentences
PARTY: We are always ready for a party! Birthdays, a new job, even TGIF.
HOLIDAY: Independence Day is a national holiday, the schools and banks are closed.
FESTIVAL: Gion Matsuri is a festival that lasts many days and culminates in a big parade.

FEELINGS
HAPPY-GLAD-OVERJOYED
There are lots of ways to feel joy. Happy is a word you probably learned before joy. The words mean the same thing, joy has a little more depth too it. Serious but not too serious. Glad is happy but not too happy. Overjoyed is head over heels happy.

Sample Sentences
GLAD: Let’s meet for coffee again soon, I’m always glad to see you.
HAPPY: It makes me happy when people remember my birthday.
OVERJOYED: I was overjoyed when she said yes.

Effects of Joy
WONDERFUL-AMAZING-MOVING
Joy is a good thing and there a lot of ways to feel good. Wonderful is just that full of wonder. Wonder is amazement at how good something is. Something amazing. Something so good it is hard to understand how good it is. We can be moved, carried away by our feelings to another way of being. Joy and saddness can both be very powerful and moving.

Sample Sentences
WONDERFUL-AMAZING-MOVING
WONDERFUL: I heard the wonderful news! You’re getting married.
AMAZING: This place is famous for its amazing views of mountains and clouds.
MOVING: Your graduation speech was very moving and inspired me to try my best.


Acts of Joy
SHARING-CARING-COMPASSION

Sample Sentences
SHARING-CARING-COMPASSION
SHARING: Food always tastes better when sharing with friends.
CARING: Caring for  our parents is a way of showing love.
COMPASSION: Compassion and helping others in need is its own reward.

Kinds of Joy
JOY-HAPPINESS-PLEASURE

Sample Sentences
JOY-HAPPINESS-PLEASURE
JOY: My greatest joy is having you in my life.
HAPPINESS: Happiness is a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s day.
PLEASURE: It’s my pleasure to help you practice English.

States of Joy
PEACE-HARMONY-BALANCE

Expressions of Joy
LAUGH-GIGGLE-SMILE

Routines
Routines- Habits- Schedules Types of Routines
Sometimes- Often- Always Frequency of Routines
Grind- Way- Style Casual Routines
Customs- Traditions- Rules Formal Routines

Types of Routines
ROUTINES-HABITS-SCHEDULES

Sample Sentences
ROUTINES: I follow some simple daily routines to make sure I eat healthily and get enough excercise.
HABITS: I make it a habit to use the stairs instead of the esclators at train stations.
SCHEDULES: My work is very demanding, but I always schedule in time for a walk every day.

Frequency of Routines
SOMETIMES-OFTEN-ALWAYS

Sample Sentences
SOMETIMES-OFTEN-ALWAYS
SOMETIMES: I walk to work sometimes, if I get up early enough and it isn’t raining.
OFTEN: I often walk home from work because I’m not in a rush and can take my time.
ALWAYS: I always have a cup of coffee when I get home, it helps me relax and wind down from the day.

Casual Routines
GRIND-WAY-STYLE

Sample Sentences
GRIND-WAY-STYLE
GRIND: I couldn’t work a 9-5 job, the daily grind would wear me down.
WAY: The way I live now lets me set my own schedule and have variety in my life.
STYLE: My style of teaching doesn’t fit with regular schools, so I started my own private classes.

Formal Routines
CUSTOMS-TRADITIONS-RULES

Sample Sentences
CUSTOMS-TRADITIONS-RULES
CUSTOMS: It can be easier to live in Japan as a foreigner because there are many social customs we are not expected to follow.
TRADITIONS: Wearing something purple every day is a family tradition we started to honor grandma and her purple hair.
RULES: Setting your phone to silent is one of the rules we follow on the trians in Japan.

Movies
Movie- Film- Show Words for Movies
Hollywood- Indie-Avant Garde Kinds of Movies
Genre- Drama- Comedy Styles of Movies
Theater- Streaming- TV Watching Movies

Words for Movies
MOVIE-FILM-SHOW

Sample Sentences
MOVIE-FILM-SHOW
MOVIE: The new super hero movies are exciting, but they are all the same.
FILM: The greatest films are about people’s inner struggles.
SHOW: People want a show and not a lot of thinking, so super hero movies make all the money while indie films are quickly forgotten.

Styles of Movies
Hollywood movies are usually fast paced and full of action.
If there is a big star they can slow things down and make a serious drama.
Comedies are my favorite though, I always like a good laugh.

Movie theaters can be exciting, but they can also be very crowded.
Streaming a movie on my phone is convenient but the picture is so small.
I like watching movies at home on TV, I can relax and don’t have to worry about other people.

Hollywood movies have big budgets and famous stars.
I like indie movies, their low budgets means they rely on a very good story and not so much on fancy visual effects.

Avant-garde movies are always interesting to read about because the ideas are exciting, but difficult too watch because there is usually no clear plot.

Memories
Remember- Reminisce- Recall
History- Nostalgia- Memories
Childhood- Youth- School Days

I can’t remember where I put the keys. Do you see them anywhere?
My dad liked to reminisce about the days when people didn’t have cars or keys to lose.

There was a trick he taught me to keep track of my keys, but I can’t recall it.

History is full of wars and struggles for power.
Nostalgia for a simpler life in the past overlooks the conveniences of the present, like air conditioning.

All my memories of being a child are happy and sweet.

My childhood was spent playing outdoors, building sandcastles at the beach, jumping in piles of leaves, sledding down snowy hills.
I have lived life backwards; my youth was quiet and contemplative, now that I am older I am adventurous and carefree.
In my school days I was very involved in music as part the school jazz band and choir.

Future
Plan- Hope- Will
Wish- Aspire- Dream

I plan to take a trip to Japan next April.
I hope the cherry blossoms will be in bloom then.

No matter what, I will be happy just to be there.

I wish that one day I could live in a house with a swimming pool.
My son is working har in school and aspires to be a great artist.
People tell me I should try, but I will never eat fugu.

One thing on my bucket list is going parachuting.
Before I die I would like to write a book about the meaning of life.
I’m realistic and don’t have too many expectations of fame and riches.

English
School- Travel- Work
Study- Learn- Pick up
Movies- Music- Books
Shy- Funny- Happy
Difficult- Exciting- Liberating

Almost everywhere in the world children have to study English in school.
Sometimes they learn just enough English to help them when they travel.
If people need English for work, they usually have to go back to school all over again.

Most people do not learn very much when they study from books.
They learn more when they have to use English at work.
People pick up a lot of English while traveling and making friends ro mall over the world.

Many people want to watch Hollywood movies without subtitles.
English lyrics pop up in music all over the world.

Harry Potter books in the US have some of the vocabulary changed to make it easier for Americans to understand.

Do you feel shy about speaking English?
Many of our mistakes are funny, if we laugh with about them we can relax and enjoy speaking English.
English speakers are happy you can talk to them because usually they don’t know your language.

Students often want to give up because English is too difficult.
But when they get th chance to use English in real life, it can be very exciting.
Speaking in English can also be liberating, it lets you take on a new personality.