The Witcher Vocabulary: Monsters, Professions and Everyday Words
The Witcher throws monster names, old-fashioned roles, magic-user labels, and perfectly normal everyday English into the same scene. If you study all of them equally, your vocabulary deck fills up fast—and half of it is useless outside the Continent.
Use a three-part loadout instead.
Bestiary: creature names you mainly need to recognize so you can follow the plot.
Guild: jobs, titles, and role labels that tell you who somebody is and what kind of social role they occupy.
Backpack: everyday English worth carrying out of the show and using in your own conversations.
Bestiary: make one recognition card: term → “creature/story term.” Do not memorize a fake encyclopedia entry.
Guild: add one short role note: real/historical role, fantasy magic role, or Witcher-specific role.
Backpack: make two original sentences plus one contrast. These phrases deserve active practice.
1. Bestiary: recognize the monster name, then keep watching
The creature vocabulary in this episode is useful because it helps you track what characters are discussing. It is usually a bad use of study time to memorize detailed lore unless your goal is specifically to discuss fantasy worlds.
How much coin for your kikimora, then?
Kikimora is a creature name in the story context. For language learning, the useful first step is recognition: when you hear the word, know that the conversation is about a creature. The evidence here does not establish a complete set of universal kikimora traits, so do not build one from this line.
For a graveir.
Graveir works the same way for this lesson: a named creature in The Witcher setting. Recognition is enough unless the surrounding scene makes its traits important.
[girl] Have you ever killed a succubus?
Succubus appears across folklore and fantasy, but depictions differ by tradition and story. Learn the broad category—supernatural/fantasy being—without assuming one fictional universe's rules apply everywhere.
A striga?
Striga is another fantasy/folklore creature term. Again, the smart learner move is recognition first, lore second.
Werewolf?
Werewolf is much more transferable across books, films, games, and general cultural discussion. It broadly refers to a legendary or fictional person who transforms into a wolf or wolf-like creature, while the exact rules vary by story.
Front: striga
Back: fantasy/folklore creature term; recognize in the story; check this specific story only if its traits matter.
That is enough. Your Anki deck does not need to become a monster taxonomy department. 🐺
2. Guild: separate real roles from fantasy roles
The episode also mixes historically real civic language with story-world professions and magic-user labels. Your job is to know which kind of word you are looking at.
We don't want your kind here, Witcher.
Witcher is a story-world role/title. Treat it as franchise-specific identity vocabulary, not as an ordinary English profession you could list next to accountant or electrician.
the alderman?
Alderman is different. It is a real civic-office word, especially associated with municipal government in historical or traditional usage. The fantasy setting is old-fashioned, but the word itself is not invented fantasy vocabulary.
our wizard.
Sorcerer.
According to the wise mage Eltibald,
Wizard, sorcerer, and mage are fantasy magic-user labels. Different fictional worlds may draw technical distinctions among them—or use them loosely. This episode evidence does not give us a universal hierarchy, so do not invent one.
| Word | Study as | Active use? |
|---|---|---|
| Witcher | Story-specific role/title | Mostly when discussing The Witcher |
| alderman | Real/historical civic role | Useful in historical/political context |
| wizard | Fantasy magic role; also figurative in wider English | Mostly recognition |
| sorcerer | Fantasy/folklore magic role | Mostly recognition |
| mage | Fantasy magic role | Mostly recognition |
3. Backpack: “I’ll be on my way” is real-life departure English
and I'll be on my way.
I’ll be on my way means you are about to leave or continue your journey. It is polite, neutral, and far more useful in ordinary life than most monster names.
Visit: “Thanks for the coffee. I’ll be on my way.”
Work: “Once I send this email, I’ll be on my way.”
Contrast: “I’m leaving” is more direct; “I’ll be on my way” can sound smoother as a social exit.
4. “Leave it alone” means stop interfering with it
- Can you not leave it alone for a moment?
Leave it alone means stop touching, discussing, provoking, interfering with, or bothering something or someone.
Object: “The settings are finally working. Leave them alone.”
Argument: “We’ve already discussed it. Can we leave it alone tonight?”
Register: it can sound firm or irritated. “Let’s leave it for now” is softer.
5. “Make a living” is work-and-money English
It's hard to make a living on main roads.
Make a living means earn enough money to support yourself. This belongs straight in your active vocabulary.
“She makes a living as a freelance designer.”
“It’s hard to make a living from music at first.”
Contrast: “make money” can mean earn any amount; “make a living” suggests earning enough for your livelihood.
6. “Odds and ends” = miscellaneous small things
He's willing to pay for odds and ends
Odds and ends are assorted small items that do not fit neatly into one category.
Home: “This drawer is full of cables, batteries, and other odds and ends.”
Work: “I have a few odds and ends to finish before the launch.”
Contrast: it usually suggests a mixed collection of small things, not one major task or item.
7. “Just saying” softens the delivery—not necessarily the point
Just saying.
Just saying roughly means “I’m only making the observation.” It often comes after a pointed opinion, suggestion, or criticism.
“You’ve checked the fridge three times. Just saying.”
“The cheaper option also has better reviews. Just saying.”
Register note: it can sound playful, defensive, or passive-aggressive depending on context. Adding it does not magically make a rude comment harmless.
8. “Now and then” means occasionally
Now and then.
Now and then means occasionally or from time to time.
“I still play that game now and then.”
“We work from the office now and then.”
Contrast: “now and then” is occasional; “now” means at the present moment.
9. “On the line” and “at stake” both mean something important is at risk
on the line, we had to act.
With the fate of the Continent at stake,
Both phrases describe risk, but their grammar differs.
On the line: “My reputation is on the line.”
At stake: “There’s a lot of money at stake.”
Work: “The contract is on the line, and several jobs are at stake.”
You can use these in negotiations, careers, relationships, sport, politics, and any situation with meaningful consequences.
10. “Pull a disappearing act” means vanish unexpectedly
He means to pull a disappearing act.
Pull a disappearing act is an informal, colorful way to say somebody suddenly disappears—often when they are expected to stay, explain themselves, or handle a responsibility.
“He helped for ten minutes, then pulled a disappearing act.”
“Don’t pull a disappearing act after promising to help us move.”
Contrast: simply “leave” is neutral; “pull a disappearing act” suggests the disappearance is noticeable, unexpected, or evasive.
11. “Under attack” works literally and figuratively
- Cintra is under attack.
Under attack literally means being attacked. In wider English it can also describe strong criticism or pressure.
Literal: “The town came under attack overnight.”
Figurative: “The policy came under attack from several groups.”
Contrast: do not use the dramatic figurative sense when a calmer word such as “criticized” is more accurate.
12. “I stand corrected” is a classy way to admit you were wrong
[Queen] I stand corrected.
I stand corrected means “The new information shows I was wrong, and I accept the correction.”
“I thought the meeting was Friday. I stand corrected—it’s Thursday.”
“I said that feature wasn’t available. I stand corrected.”
Contrast: it acknowledges correction more explicitly than a casual “Oh, okay.”
13. “Pass out” means lose consciousness
and passed out.
Pass out commonly means faint or become unconscious.
“He felt dizzy and passed out.”
“I almost passed out in the heat.”
Contrast: “pass out papers” has a different phrasal-verb sense: distribute them. Context decides.
14. “Pick sides” means choose whom to support
I don't pick sides.
Pick sides means choose one person, group, or position to support in a disagreement or conflict.
Family: “I’m not picking sides in your argument.”
Work: “The manager tried not to pick sides before hearing both explanations.”
Contrast: being neutral is not the same as believing both sides are equally right.
15. “For good” means permanently
For good.
For good means permanently, not just for a while.
“They moved abroad for good.”
“I deleted the old account for good.”
Contrast: “for now” is temporary; “for good” is permanent.
16. “Take the law into your own hands” is a legal/social idiom
- You took the law into your own hands.
Take the law into your own hands means personally enforce justice or punishment instead of using lawful authorities or procedures.
“However angry he was, he had no right to take the law into his own hands.”
“Report the theft; don’t take the law into your own hands.”
Register: this is a serious phrase, not a casual synonym for “solve the problem yourself.”
17. The fast study rule for any Witcher episode
| Compartment | Question | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Bestiary | Is this mainly a creature/lore name? | Recognize it. Add one short card only if it recurs or matters to the plot. |
| Guild | Does this tell me somebody’s role, title, job, or social position? | Note the role and whether it is real, historical, fantasy, or story-specific. |
| Backpack | Could I naturally use this outside fantasy? | Make two original sentences and one contrast. Save it for active review. |
18. Practice: pack these words correctly
Sort these items before revealing the answer.
A. mage
B. make a living
C. kikimora
D. alderman
E. I stand corrected
F. striga
G. pick sides
Show the loadout
A: Guild—fantasy magic role.
B: Backpack—high-transfer everyday English.
C: Bestiary—story creature; recognition first.
D: Guild—real/historical civic role.
E: Backpack—useful correction/acknowledgment phrase.
F: Bestiary—fantasy/folklore creature term; recognition first.
G: Backpack—useful conflict/relationship idiom.
19. Turn subtitles into a vocabulary filter
With FunFluen, hide the subtitle before a vocabulary-heavy line and predict which compartment the unknown item belongs to: Bestiary, Guild, or Backpack. Reveal the subtitle, check the meaning, then decide whether the phrase deserves active study.
Save the high-transfer Backpack phrases you actually want to reuse. For a one-off creature name, recognition may be enough. The point is to stop treating every unfamiliar word as equally important.
The rule to remember
Fantasy vocabulary is not automatically valuable vocabulary.
Know the monsters well enough to follow the story. Know the roles well enough to understand who is who. Spend your real study time on the English you can carry into work, travel, relationships, disagreement, and everyday conversation.
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