Advanced everyday english: Advanced vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions - Collins Steven 2011
Lesson One. To play down
Chapter Three
Examples:
✵ The Prime Minister tried to play down the results of the public enquiry into pension frauds, shrugging off blame from journalists for having handled the matter incompetently.
✵ We shouldn’t let ourselves get carried away over the information which has just come to light. Let’s play it down for the time being.
“The Prime Minister tried to play down the results of the public enquiry into pension frauds, shrugging off blame from journalists for having handled the matter incompetently”
To budge (To move something/To be moved with difficulty from its position, to change one’s mind, to compromise—often used in the negative. Note also the colloquial expression “to budge up”, which is used to ask a person/people to make more space so that someone else can sit down)
Examples:
✵ She was the only one who managed to budge the fridge.
I never knew she had that sort of strength in her.
✵ I know you think I’m a wimp but I’m telling you, this piano won’t budge.You have a go!
✵ The leaders of these three European countries have told the press that they are not going to budge on their recent decision not to write off any of the Third World debt.
✵ You two kids are taking up three spaces. Budge up and let this lady have a seat... and stop sulking!
To take someone’s word for it (To accept/To rely on something someone says as being true or a fact, without verifying it for oneself)
Examples:
✵ She assured me that the accommodation was spotless and that my client would be missing out on something if he didn’t take it up. The biggest mistake I made was that I took her word for it. It was filthy!
✵ Don’t take my word for it. If you don’t think there’ll be enough to go around, order some more...but don’t go over the top.
Prudish (Very conservative, not open-minded in respect of sexual matters—note that a “prude” is a person who is embarrassed by sexual matters)
Examples:
✵ Husband to wife:
H: I don’t want to jump on the bandwagon but I think these documentaries about sex for the over 40s should be frowned upon.
W: Don’t be so prudish! We could do with more television like this.
✵ It’s true that my dad is a bit of a prude, but he hasn’t got it in him to stop my sister going out in a short skirt. He just sulks in the corner of the room not talking to my mum.
To enlighten (To reveal information to someone who is likely to find it interesting/ useful—note also the adjective “enlightening”, which means revealing/an eye-opener-see Practical Everyday English, page 186)
Examples:
✵ We got the gist of what he was on about, but perhaps you could enlighten us a little further on this matter.
✵ Once in a blue moon, when there’s nothing much at stake, he gives us some information which is quite enlightening.
✵ ’Enlightening’ would be an understatement to describe the stories that went round about her family.
To clutch at straws (To be desperate to achieve something when there is clearly little hope of success, to try to answer a question or deal with a problem, making it obvious that one has no idea what the answer is or how to deal with it)
Examples:
✵ A: How is your son coping with his redundancy?
B: Well, he’s trying to play it down at the moment but he has been going for high level jobs in the City, even though, deep down, he knows he is just clutching at straws.
✵ The Government haven’t got a clue as to how to go about sorting this mess out. It’s quite apparent to everyone that they’re clutching at straws.
To stick something out
i. (To continue doing something even though it is unpleasant—note also the expression “to stick out like a sore thumb”, which means to be noticed as being different from all the others-see also “the odd one out”, Practical Everyday English, page 75, note to meaning v) Examples:
✵ Take my word for it; if you weigh up all your options, you’ll see that you’d be better off sticking your course out until you’ve qualified.
✵ I stuck his lessons out, until he turned up one morning drunk. That was the final straw. I couldn’t cope with him after that
✵ He’s more cocky and outgoing than his brothers and sisters.
This is why he sticks out like a sore thumb at family gatherings.
ii. (To be showing/visible —often used for clothes which should be “tucked in”, e. g. shirt or label)
Examples:
✵ My mother-in-law wrote me off as a scruff when I first met her because not only did I have my shirt sticking out (which she tucked in for me), but my shoelaces were undone, and I had odd socks on.
✵ I don’t want to keep picking you up on your appearance, but did you realise the label of your pullover is sticking out?
To stick one’s neck out (Not to be afraid to say what one really thinks will happen, knowing that one may later be proved to be wrong or get into trouble for saying it)
Examples:
✵ A: I’ve bet £15 on Italy for the next World Cup. Who do you reckon’s going to win it?
B: It’ll all boil down to which team has the fewest injuries.
I’m going to stick my neck out and go for England.
A: Ha Ha! They might have a few stumbling blocks...
like the fact they aren’t very good.
✵ At the meeting I had with the Managing Director yesterday
I decided that, in the long run, I’d be better off sticking my neck out and being honest, rather than clutching at straws and coming out with something I don’t really believe in. So I told him that we’d have to lay off half the workforce if we wanted to break even next year.
To disrupt (To prevent someone from continuing with what they were doing, to spoil an occasion or event etc. by causing a disturbance-note also the adjective “disruptive”, which means causing a disturbance)
Examples:
✵ Sorry to disrupt you in your work, but I just wanted to tell you that I’ve pencilled you in for a meeting with James Reid for next Tuesday at 1.30pm. I know you have a lot on your plate, so please let me know if you can make it.
✵ He used to put up with his aunt’s odd behaviour, putting it down to eccentricity; but she really rubbed him up the wrong way when she disrupted his wedding celebrations, and that was the final straw.
✵ We really don’t know how to go about dealing with this child. Even though he is one of the brightest pupils in the class, he continues to be a disruptive influence on the other children.
To be lulled into a false sense of security (To be deceived into thinking or to take for granted that, due to recent success, everything is going to be fine, when it isn’t)
Examples:
✵ Manager of football team to his players:
Just because we’ve got through to the quarter finals without conceding a goal, I don’t want you all to be lulled into a false sense of security and write off all the other teams left in the competition.
✵ The soldiers had thought that it was a foregone conclusion that they would outnumber the enemy. However, it later became apparent that they had been lulled into a false sense of security.
To waffle (on) (To digress, to talk a lot without saying anything of significance—note the noun ’’waffle”, which means irrelevant, superficial language)
Examples:
✵ We got the gist of what he was getting at after just a couple of minutes, but then he waffled on, drawing out his speech for almost an hour.
✵ Teacher to students:
Most students who fail the exam do so because instead of sticking to the task in hand, they waffle (on), consequently bogging the examiner down with too much useless information.
✵ As usual, he came out with a lot of waffle about how the Government had come up against a few minor stumbling blocks, but that now economic recovery had got well under way.