It’s ok Dwane, you don’t need Karen. You are a strong independent lion, and you will do just great on your own. So, how about the word “ignore”? Are there other ways to say that? This is English, of course there are hundreds of ways to say that! Let’s take a look at some synonyms for “ignore” in use:

·         Disregard – “If I disregard how fat I am getting, I can eat even more chocolate.”

·         Take no notice of – “You should take no notice of Bob’s angry face, he looks like that all the time.”

·         Brush aside – “I choose to brush the nasty smell of cheese aside, so that I can enjoy the taste”.

·         Snub – “Karen is snubbing Clive by yawning when he talks.”

·         Freeze out – “If my son does something mean, I freeze him out until he says he is sorry.”

·         Give the cold shoulder – “Karen will be getting the cold shoulder soon, as Clive stops paying attention to her.”

·         Overlook – “I will overlook how messy your room is today because it’s your Birthday.”

·         Exclude – “Sam felt really excluded in class when the other children didn’t talk to him.”

·         Shun – After Claire left the singing group, they shunned her. They walked past her in the street and pretended she was not there.”

It’s probably best not to shun or freeze people out, but sometimes ignoring the things that bother you a little and you can’t change is a good idea. I can’t change how much my cats fart at night, so I do my best to ignore it.