I've come quite far in my studies of the English language; ask me what "eleemosynary," "perspicacious" or "rambunctious" means and I'll give you an instant definition. But I'm still not on a native level, because there are certain words and expressions that slip past the radars of vocabulary lists. Right now, I'm reading Mark Twain, and he might use expressions such as:
"Well, I lay that if get hold of you--" which is a very mysterious way of using "lay" that I don't fully understand.
"Look at your hands. And look at your mouth. What is that truck?" Truck, in this case supposedly means some worthless rubbish. Never heard it before.
Most of the words I'm annoyed by are either very short, unconventional usages of common words or phrasal verbs. Where can I learn this part of the English language? How did Mark Twain learn it? Is it just a matter of reading a lot and attempting to infer it from the context?