This month’s cartoon is based on the idiom, rub it in.
rub it in – if someone rubs it in, they keep talking about something or doing something that makes you upset or embarrassed.
“We all know she made a mistake, but you don’t have to rub it in.”
“I wanted to rub it in, so I said, “I’ll be thinking of you working while I’m on vacation.”"
“John failed hix exam, so to rub his nose in it, I put my certificate up on the wall.”
The phrasal verb give up can mean ‘to surrender’ i.e. to stop trying and admit defeat.
It can be used when we can’t answer a quiz/test question someone asks us.
Give up as ‘stop trying‘:
Example – “You’ll never guess the answer – do you give up?”
Example – “I can’t think of the answer; I give up.”
This month we take a closer look at two meanings of the expression put down:
Put down: Stop holding
“Slowly put down the gun and keep your hands where I can see them.”
“She finished reading the newspaper and put it down on the table.”
We use can’t put something down as an idiom to describe something we are reading that is so interesting that we don’t want to stop reading it.
“Have you read the new Harry Potter book? It’s impossible to put down.”
“The novel was so exciting that I couldn’t put it down. I read it all night.”
“Don’t start reading it until you have a lot of free time. You might not be able to put it down!”
This month we take a closer look at two meanings of the word fold:
Fold: (verb) to bend something, especially paper, so that one part of it lies on the other part, or to be able to be bent in this way.
“Here are simple instructions for folding an origami airplane.”
“Carefully fold the letter and put it in an envelope.”
Fold: (verb) used to describe a business that goes bankrupt or closes/fails.
“Restaurants often fold within the first year.”
“My father’s business folded because of the recession.”
This month we take a look at two meanings of the idiom, stand in the way:
Stand in the way: to stand in the pathway or movement of someone or something.
“There were some people standing in my way so I couldn’t get through the door.”
“You parked your car in the way of that truck. It can’t get past.”
“Several people stood right in my way – I couldn’t move.”
Stand in the way: to try to stop or prevent something from happening.
“You know I won’t stand in your way if you want to apply for a job abroad.”
“I’d never stand in the way of her plans.”
“You can’t stand in the way of progress.”
“She plans to become a doctor and no one had better stand in her way.”
