Advanced everyday english: Advanced vocabulary, phrasal verbs, idioms and expressions - Collins Steven 2011

Lesson Two. To get one’s comeuppance
Chapter Four

Examples:

✵ Take my word for if one day he’s going to get his comeuppance, and it will serve him right!

✵ He treated everyone like dogsbodies but he soon got his comeuppance. His new boss didn't take to his behaviour at all and gave him the sack.

Past it (Too old to do the things young people do) Colloquial

Examples:

✵ just because I’m getting on a bit, it doesn’t mean I’m past it. The tennis coaching I had as a youngster has stood me in good stead later on in life, and I’m very excited about taking you on...so don’t get too complacent.

✵ My dad gets a real kick out of disco dancing. I thought he was past it and that watching him on the dance floor was going to make me cringe, but as it turned out, it was a real eye-opener to see what he was capable of getting up to.

To play up

i. (To be naughty)

Examples:

✵ He’s quite a cocky little boy who tends to play up when his parents have a lot on their plate.

✵ I usually get all flustered when other people’s kids start to play me up.

ii. (Not to work properly and therefore cause a problem—very often used for a part of the body) Colloquial

Examples:

✵ My hip does play me up from time to time, but I don’t let it disrupt my day. Yesterday, however, I nearly passed out from the pain it was giving me.

✵ A: The car is playing up again.

 B: You know, I think it’s past it. Would it be such a hardship to go without a holiday this year and invest in a new one?

iii. (To exaggerate, emphasise)

Examples:

✵ There’s no point trying to play up your symptoms to the doctor. Bear in mind that he sees patients like you all day long, and will see through exactly what you’re up to.

✵ A: / don’t really know how to go about dealing with the problem, but I have to avoid being tactless.

 B: Something which doesn’t come easily to you. You’ll have to play up the sensitive side to your nature.

To dwell on (To think or speak about something for a long time)

Examples:

✵ I know you’ve been through a bad patch, but there’s no point dwelling on it. We may never get to the bottom of what happened, but it will all blow over in good time. You’ll see.

✵ I don’t want to dwell on this subject but I’m not sure that the message has got through to you. So let me tell you one more time: you’re past it!

To go astray (To go missing)

Examples:

✵ I was prepared to let my cleaning lady off when I lost my watch, but now two necklaces have gone astray. It’s the final straw; she has to go.

✵ When he told me my letter must have gone astray, I took his word for it. But on reflection, I wouldn’t put it past him to have hidden it somewhere.

✵ I do feel uneasy about letting my elderly dad live on his own.

I worry he might go astray when out shopping and not find his way home.

Stranded (Left without the means to get home or to get around, to be stuck somewhere without means of escape)

Examples:

✵ One hour went by before we saw the first car; until then we were stranded in the middle of the countryside.

✵ I was very put out by your behaviour at that party. You left us stranded in the middle of a bunch of pompous businessmen. We were outnumbered!

To relish (To enjoy/take pleasure in something, to look forward to something—note that we cannot always use “to relish” instead of“ to enjoy”. We could not, for example, say “I relished the party”. It is usually used with “the thought”, “prospect”, “idea” or “challenge” of doing something)

Examples:

✵ I don’t really relish the thought of having to get through this backlog of paperwork.

✵ What came through most of all was how he relishes the challenge of competition.

✵ A: She didn’t particularly relish the idea of being his dogsbody for the next twenty years, so she gave in her notice.

 B: But how is she going to make ends meet without a job?

“I know you’ve been through a bad patch, but there’s no point dwelling on it.

We may never get to the bottom of what happened, but it will all blow over in good time. You’ll see.”

(see page 56)

To lose track of (To forget that it is getting late, not to know where something or someone is, to lose the thread of a story or argument)

Examples:

✵ A: Sorry to butt in, but we’d better be off. It’s getting on for eleven o’cIock.

B: So it is. I do lose track of time when I’m woffling on.

✵ We didn’t fall out with each other; I just lost track of them when they moved to Manchester. John must be in his element living up there near his beloved football team.

✵ A: You’ll have to fill me in on what has been going on in this TV series. I lost track of the story when I went on holiday last month.

 B: Sorry I didn’t keep you posted, but you didn’t miss out on much.

To get one’s head round something (To understand something complicated/a difficult situation—often used with “can’t/couldn’t”) Colloquial

Examples:

✵ These figures from the accountant are baffling me; I cannot get my head round them at all.

✵ I couldn’t get my head round what had happened and why she was feeling so distraught, but I think it may be better not to dwell on these things for too long.

To give someone the benefit of the doubt (To accept someone’s version of events...even though in reality one is not so sure that they are telling the truth)

Examples:

✵ We’ve decided to give you the benefit of the doubt and let you off.. .but next time don’t try to make someone else the scapegoat.

✵ The gist of what they were saying was that, as his whole career was at stake, this time they would give him the benefit of the doubt.