(to) face pressure: Common English Expressions in the News

Who doesn't know pressure?

We know the expression "to feel pressure" but today we explore another expressions dealing with pressure: (to) face pressure.

The (CDC) has faced pressure over the past week from outside medical experts to include a testing component in its new shortened isolation period.

What is the Center for Disease Control facing pressure about, or to do?

 --

Here's a different news story:

Battered by Trump, the C.D.C.’s Director Faces Pressure to Speak Out

Who is pressuring the CDC director? And what is he facing pressure to do? What is he facing pressure to speak out about? 

Understanding the pressures children and teenagers face

In the article above, we find the expression "to face pressure" not only in the headline but later on.

"Many children feel under pressure to fit in, and sometimes this means they do things they may not feel comfortable with or are unsure of."

Activities for You

Can you list some of the ways that teenagers where you live face pressure? Do boys and girls, males and females, face different types of pressure? We will begin this list and you complete it:

1. Teens face pressure from their parents to do well in school.
   
   
2. Teens face pressure from _______ to ______.
   
   
3. Teens...
   
   
4. Teenagers...
   
   
5. Young adults ...
   
   
6. ... 

 What are some pressures that adults face?

1. Adults face pressure from __________ to__________.
   
   
2. Fathers ...
   
   
3. Mothers ...
   

 What are some techniques that you use when you face pressure?

 

 

Image by Sasha Wolff from Grand Rapids - Can't Concentrate: 14/365, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11343038 

Different Meanings but Frequently Confused Verbs: (to) REMIND or (to) REMEMBER:

As similar as these two verbs are, their meanings are quite different. For non-native speakers of English, not knowing this distinction can identify you as such.

In some cases, you can be saying something you don't even mean to say.

It is not correct, for example, to say "Remember me to mail this letter." Why is this not correct?

What's the difference?

First, let's do a pre-test. Which verb - remember or remind - goes in each blank? The sentences and short paragraphs below were written by ESL students.

• Do I hate anyone?I have nothing to hate and nobody to hate. Hatred can only hurt me so I always ________  myself not to hate anyone or anything.

• The book The Light in the Forest, by Conrad Richter, told me a lot that I hadn't known about the lives of the indigenous people of North America. It also ________ me of my native China, the way it used to be, and the way I perceive it now. . .

• When the autumn came. The wind blew and picked her petals off and blew them away. The wind left only one petal for him to ________ her by, he held onto her image for a short time, but then winter came and pressed against his mind and buried his dream.
  
  

One way of looking at these two verbs is to know that the verb (to) recall is similar in meaning to the verb (to) remember. Both imply thinking about something that occurred in the past. People who have developed certain forms of dementia have difficulty REMEMBERING. That is, the cannot recall what has happened in the past. We talk about short-term memory and long-term memory: These two forms of memory describe rembering things that happened recently and things that happened a long time ago.

The concept of (to) remind implies necessarily looking to the future. REMIND has a direct object and an indirect object: Somebody is reminding somebody of something. In the first example, I always ________  myself not to hate anyone or anything the only verb that can fit here is "remind". The person wants to remind WHO? of WHAT? WHO is  the writer herself, and OF WHAT is NOT TO HATE ANYONE OR ANYTHING. This verb has a direct - myself - and an indirect - not to hate anyone or anything - object.

Hence, I always remind myself not to hate anyone or anything.

In the second example, It also ________ me of my native China, the way it used to be, and the way I perceive it now In the second example, the only verb that can fit here is "remind". The person wants to remind WHO? of WHAT? WHO is the writer and WHAT is "the way her native China used to be and the way she perceives it now. This verb has a direct - me - and an indirect - the way China used to be - object.

Hence, It also reminds me of my native China, the way it used to be, and the way I perceive it now. . 

 In the third example, The wind left only one petal for him to ________ her by, as only one object, her. The writer thinks about the past and recalls the past.

Hence, The wind left only one petal for him to remember her by

 Look at this news headline:

18 years later, Americans stop to remember the September 11 attacks

We also have this headline:

New HIV strain reminds us that innovation is urgent and fundamental

The opposite of "remember" is "forget," as in "I forgot to mail the letter."

The opposite of "to remind" is "not to remind," as in "Don't remind me!"

ALL ABOUT A DEMOCRACY: (to) SPEAK OUT

People no longer stand on a soap box to make public their thoughts on any issue or person. The world has changed and there are lots of other ways of doing this now, not only with newspapers and radio and television, but with the world wide web. The idea of making ones thoughts public for any, or for all, to hear, is here to stay. Take a look at this one headline:

Why ex-FBI lawyer targeted by Trump is speaking out

This two-word verb is intransitive, as you see in the headline above.

The following sentence from that news story shows how to express a more complete treatment:

Former FBI lawyer Lisa Page, whose anti-Trump text messages were released to Congress, became a target of President Trump's tweets. She spoke out to The Daily Beast about her decision to go public.

Also, unlike most of the other two-word verbs that we've been discussing, this one does not have a noun counterpart. It's used only as a verb.

Let's look at some other examples from the news that reflect issues of our times:

Most Americans say it’s OK for professional athletes to speak out publicly about politics

Of course the issue raised in the above article indicates that a person doesn't have to be vocally speaking in order to speak out, as the image below shows.

In reading the article, what are several recent events that sparked the public discussion about whether or not it's okay for professional athletes to speak out publicly about politics? You may have to follow the hyperlinks to be able to answer.  If you are familiar with any of those events, did you have an opinion about it at the time each occurred?

Were there times when you have spoken out publicly on an issue? Tell us what those were!


The last example we will provide may be familiar to some of you.

U of R Students Speak Out After Hong Kong, Taiwanese Flags Moved in Campus Hall

U of R Students Speak Out After Hong Kong, Taiwanese Flags Moved in Campus Hall

U of R Students Speak Out After Hong Kong, Taiwanese Flags Moved in Campus Hall

U of R Students Speak Out After Hong Kong, Taiwanese Flags Moved in Campus Hall

U of R Students Speak Out After Hong Kong, Taiwanese Flags Moved in Campus Hall

Betrayed by the Big Four: whistleblowers speak out

An FT investigation reveals a culture of fear at the world’s leading accounting firms

The news is full of incidences when people speak out about issues and events that affect them and others and overcome the fear that has previously caused them to be silent.

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: (to) COVER UP

 

Historical Marker Installed Outside Deep Throat Garage

"I don't do cover-ups" 

... said Donald Trump.

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi said:

Pelosi says Trump engaged in (a) ‘cover-up’ to hide Ukraine call records

This noun, (a) cover-up, is getting plenty of action these days. 

Sometimes the two words are used as one:

The Trump administration’s desperate census coverup continues

This is also a transitive verb. 

Whistleblower says White House tried to cover up Trump's abuse of power

And if you're wondering whether this is a separable or not separable two-word verb, see the following: 

"President Donald Trump abused his official powers "to solicit interference" from Ukraine in the upcoming 2020 election, and the White House took steps to cover it up."

Can you think of any other well-known coverups in American history? Can you think of any other well-known coverups in the history of your native country, or the country of your ancestry?

VOCABULARY: (to) INHERIT

Now if we're going to talk about words in the news, here's a big one.

Example ONE:

"As you know, our administration inherited many problems across government and across the economy. To be honest, I inherited a mess. It's a mess. At home and abroad, a mess. Jobs are pouring out of the country; you see what's going on with all of the companies leaving our country, going to Mexico and other places, low pay, low wages, mass instability overseas, no matter where you look. The Middle East is a disaster. North Korea -- we'll take care of it folks. We're going to take care of it all. I just want to let you know, I inherited a mess."

Another iteration of his use of the same word was his Tweet, "No president ever worked harder than me (cleaning up the mess I inherited)!"


Who else is using this term, (to) inherit?

Karl Lagerfeld’s cat Choupette could inherit part of his fortune

Now we're talking about inheriting $$$ money! 

Next we find words related to the concept of inheritance: Which of the following words is related to the concept of inheritance?

a) cat hair
b) her
c) heir 

The correct answer is the noun, (an) heir.

What word forms are related to this verb (to) inherit?  Circle the noun in the sentence below from the above article about Choupette:

A judge later reduced the pampered pooch’s inheritance to $2 million, according to the New York Times, ruling that the total sum exceeded what was necessary to care for the dog.

Are You BULLISH? Or BEARISH? Animals and English Words in the News

We know what the stock market is. But do you know where that term came from? Today we know "stock" as an investment in some specific product or corporation with the hopes that in the future the buyer or holder of that stock will reap profits from that investment.  But the word "stock" has origins that go way back.

Then there's livestock. Livestock are animals such as cattle, swine and sheep, that have been raised in an agricultural setting in order to produce meat, eggs, milk and so on. 

So are you up on your animals? Some politicians even use the names of animals to describe - to insult - other politicians. Today's economic and political vocabulary includes the names of many animals to describe the mood of the country and the economy, not to insult individuals.  Bulls and bears are frequently refereed to with expressions such as "bullish" and "bearish." 

Today's headline:

What Could Hold Back a Democratic Wave? Economy, Confidence, Independence

This article says, "With two weeks until the election, Republican leaders and President Trump are increasingly bullish about Republican voters and moderate independents rallying behind the party’s candidates rather than taking a chance on a Democratic challenger or a Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.

Now think of a bull. Does this adjective, bullish, mean highly optimistic or highly pessimistic?


Here's another example for you sports fans - or football fans:

Why Bruce Arians is so bullish on the Jets’ future

Does Bruce expect the Jets to have a winning season or a losing one?

"THE LAST STRAW": AN EXPRESSION THAT'S IN THE NEWS

Do you have a Facebook account? Do you use Facebook? Did you ever use the "Download Your Information" function?

Several scandals have occurred recently over Facebook: but more recently the very serious The Cambridge Analytica misuse of user information had global repercussions.

Many of the over 6 million worldwide Facebook users consider this Cambridge Analytica data breach to be "the last straw."  The expression is as widespread as it is old.

For Many Facebook Users, a ‘Last Straw’ That Led Them to Quit

 In this article, Dan Clark, a retired Navy veteran from Maine, is quoted as saying, “But you have to stand for something, so I just put my foot down and said enough is enough.”

What did Ben Greenzweig, from Westchester, New York, decided to do?

"The final straw" is another version of this expression.

Roy Moore is the last straw, you can now call me a Democrat

USA Today piece is an OPINION piece, but it expresses the writer's own "last straw." What happened, how did he feel about it, and what did he do about that?

This expression comes from a larger expression, "the straw that broke the camel's back." 

But enough for politics. The expression can be used in ones personal life too.

19 Divorced People Answer 'What Was the Final Straw?'

Some of these "final straw" or "last straw" moments are pretty shocking.

The earliest known expression dates from 1677. And it uses feathers, which appear to be light and weightless: "It is the last feather that breaks the horse's back" is from Archbishop Bramhall, Works 4:59. 

Why are feathers, and straw, and appropriate expression for this sentiment?

Have you ever had a personal "last straw" moment, a moment that makes the situation impossible to tolerate and go along with any longer? A moment that calls for change?

Meanwhile, go easy on your horses and camels! 


1 as quoted in George Latimer Apperson, English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases: A Historical Dictionary (1929), reissued as The Wordsworth Dictionary of Proverbs

Photo of camel By Bart de Goeij (IMG_1725) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

TWO-WORD VERBS FROM THE NEWS: (to) COME UP

Did the Subject Come up, or Didn't It?

That's what everybody wants to know.

This two-word , (to) come up, is very hot right now in presidential politics. It's in conversation and in the written news.

Former Trump adviser on discussing sanctions with the Russians: 'I can't definitively say' it never came up

We can visit this same topic viewing the following video:

"Good Morning, America" with George Stephanopolouss

After listening to the video of the interview, do you believe the topic of sanctions ever came up? Take our poll. 

Did the topic of sanctions against Russia COME UP in the meeting with Carter Page?

Let's look at another example from the news. Here is a sentence from a New York Times news article:

"The White House says this account is not correct. And Mr. Trump, in an interview on Thursday with NBC, described a far different dinner conversation with Mr. Comey in which the director asked to have the meeting and the question of loyalty never came up."

Reading that article, do you believe the topic of loyalty came up to Mr. Trump during that dinner?

Finally, let's visit this same word but in a different article.

"Previously, Flynn had flat out denied that the topic of sanctions came up during the phone call — answering “no” twice when directly asked about the matter — but presented with Thursday’s Post report, a spokesperson changed his tune. “While he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up,” the spokesperson said, which is odd, considering we’re talking about a conversation that happened a month and a half ago."

Keep your eyes peeled on the news.  We're likely to hear and see this two-word verb used again and again!

***

WORLD NEWS: (to) TAKE OFF

This idiom can be used in many contexts.

First, let's show it in its most common context, dealing with air flight, in an article which might interest many of you.

China’s home-grown C919 passenger jet takes off on maiden flight

Here, this intransitive verb is used with reference to air flight.

What does this event mean to the people of China? What does this mean to the rest of the world?

You also don't have to be an airplane and leave the ground in order to take off!

Runners take off in first-ever space station 5K race

Can you express that sentence in simple past tense?   

This flexible transitive verb can also be used in other contexts, often financial:

US: Existing-home sales took off in March to their highest pace in over 10 years

 In the above article, which verb can be used in place of "took off"?

Finally, Chrysler Pacifica Sales Took Off In September 2016

The people at Chrysler Pacifica are bound to be happy about that news.

Remember - this is a two-word verb and this verb is intransitive. It does NOT take an object. See the headline below:

3 Energy Stocks We Missed That Took Off

This is NOT to be confused with the verb (to) take and the preposition "off" as in "he took off his wrist watch" or "She took off her ring."


And for our final news headline: Here's the best use of this verb:

Romance took off after flight of fancy

Helping seriously-ill children take the trip of a lifetime with the Dreamflight charity became a life- changing experience for Simon and Suzanne when they met and fell in love, reveals Catherine Welford.

And I think that's a pretty good note on which to end this blog post! 

Photo, Permission Granted by U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 3rd Class Jonathan Chandler [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo, AHAVA  by Robert Indiana, American, born 1928 עברית: רוברט אידניאנה, נולד ב-1928 (Talmoryair) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) or CC BY-SA 4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: (to STAND) ON (an ISSUE)

Issues, issues issues.  You might not pay much attention to this two-word (verb + preposition) transitive verb but no democratic election or policy debate can occur without using this verb.

See, for example, the following headline:

First 100 days: Where President Trump stands on key issues

These words, stand on, are always together; they are not separable. They follow the pattern: 

question form:  where does (somebody) stand on (name of the issue)
statement form: where (somebody) stands on (name of issue)

Let's look at the article above. What are the issues that are explored?  Practice using this expression:

1.  Where does President Trump stand on the issue of _____?
2.  Where does President Trump stand on the issue of _____?

Choose five (5) issues that interest you. Where does President Trump stand on that issue?

Here's our next headline: 

While Obama did not intend to directly confront or take swipes at Trump on Monday, an adviser said he wanted to be forthcoming -- if asked -- about where he stands on specific policy matters, including areas where he and Trump clearly disagree, a source said. 

Now answer: What one political issue did Obama briefly discuss?

But enough of other people's positions. Where do YOU stand on any of the issues facing our country and world today?  

This next headline gives you an opportunity to find out!

Quiz: Where do you stand on the issues with the candidates?

Take the quiz and find out which candidate matches your positions most closely.  Where do you stand on immigration?  Where do you stand on climate change? Where do you stand on taxes and tax cuts?  Take the quiz and find out which candidate most closely matches where you stand on issues that are important to you.

What did you find out?

The VOCABULARY of POSITION: (to) STEP DOWN (from)

Can you keep up with all the changes in the Trump administration?

Many people, myself included, are having difficulty doing this. News analysts are also having trouble keeping up with the resignations and firings.

Let's see why! Let's start with 2019:

Schiff calls on Barr to step down

Here's the first paragraph from that news article. Which word describes what "step down" means?

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Wednesday called on Attorney General William Barr to resign after it was revealed that special counsel Robert Mueller believed the chief law enforcement officer publicly misrepresented the findings of the Russia probe.

Of course (to) step down means to resign from a position to which you were appointed or elected, often with outside pressure. 

We can also go back in time:

Chief digital officer for Trump steps down amid uncertain circumstances 

In the sentence above, we can see it as an intransitive verb. There is no object, and the verb + preposition always remain together.

Reading the news article, who was this chief digital officer? What was his role in the White House? Why did he step down?

When the sentence includes the job or responsibility of importance that the person formerly had, we use the preposition from, as in the sentence "A source familiar with Lansing’s departure said the former Hill employee stepped down from the office in mid-February. But Lansing isn't the only person who has stepped down so far.

Let's see what others we can find:

Nunes Steps Down From Russia Election-Meddling Investigation

Why did Nunes, who is now under investigation himself, step down?  Who took his place?

Here's one more headline and this was very big news on TV and in the print media:

 Trump National Security Adviser steps down over Russian reports 

Why did Michael Flynn step down?\ o far we\x27ve seen this used in regard to political office. But the expression can be used for business positions as well. And it doesn't always refer to a scandal. Here are some examples:

Starbucks Chairman Howard Schultz Steps Down As CEO

Why did this headline say 'step down as" and not 'step down from..."?

If you can say "He stepped down from his position as Chairman" or "She will step down from her job as Advisor" but "She stepped down as Advisor to the President." Notice that Howard Schultz took a different position in the same company.

What position at Starbucks did he take?

These are but a few of the people who are stepping down. No wonder the news is difficult to keep up with!

If that's not enough for you, here is one more headline:

The day Paul Manafort stepped down, he received $13 million from Donald Trump's associates

Let's see who else steps down from the Trump administration by the time of our next blog post! Any guesses?

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TWO-WORD VERBS FROM THE NEWS: (to be) BETTER OFF

This phrase can make or sink candidates for president.

In the 1980 race between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter, Reagan famously asked this question:

Are You Better Off Than You Were . . .

In 2004, this was the headline:

Bush: America (is) better off with his leadership

In 2012, this was the headline:

Are you better off?

It's the single most important question in an election.

During the election of 2016, this was the headline:

Are you better off than eight years ago?

The expression to be better off  has been in the English lexicon for ages.  But it took on new life with President Reagan during his campaign for president and has been asked by candidates since then.  They want you to compare NOW with FOUR YEARS AGO, the prior presidential campaign season.

Its use is not limited to politics.

Try this headline:

Filling a prescription? You might be better off paying cash

Why, according to the article, would you be better off paying cash than using a credit or debit card?

During political elections, candidates don't ask about your happiness; they ask about money and finances. Take the CNN poll.

What did you find out?

PRESIDENTIAL POLITICS: FLOP FLOP

 

These are flip flops. They're called that because they're not very firm. Flip flops have been worn since at least 1500 BCE.

The word "flip flop" is used in politics because so many politicians say one thing one time and say another contradictory thing later.  Politicians have probably been flip flopping since 1500 BCE as well.

Let's look at some current headlines:

President Trump, the king of flip-flops

This headlines uses the word as a noun. 

Here we see it as a verb in the same news article:

After Trump won the electoral college vote while losing the popular vote, he flip-flopped on the unique American system of electing presidents. 

Reading the articles, what are three issues that President Trump has flip flopped on? What was the position he took before and what is the position he takes now?

When is the first time that the term "flip flop" was used in English to refer to politics and politicians?  This Wikipedia article has an interesting history of the political nature of this word.

12 Huge Presidential Campaign Flip-Flops

Of the 12 huge presidential compaign flip flops, which surprises you the most?

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TWO-WORD VERBS: (to) CALL (something) OFF

This is such a common verb and underscores how important these little prepositions such as "off" are to the meaning of a word.

This two-word verb is used in active voice - "He called it off" - and in passive voice - "It was called off" - in both conversation and in reading. Let's look at today's headlines and see how this two-word verb is being used today in the news.

Kushner company, Chinese firm call off development deal

Grammar background: This verb is a transitive verb, which means the verb always takes an object. Here, the Kushner company and a Chinese firm call off WHAT? A development deal.

Let's substitute the subject pronoun "they" for Kushner's company and the Chinese firm and the object pronoun "it" for "the development deal." Be careful about word order:  THEY CALL IT OFF.

Here's the following sentence in the news article (color mine):

The Chinese conglomerate Anbang and the family of Jared Kushner have called off talks to redevelop a Manhattan office tower.

To CALL SOMETHING OFF means to cancel something that was planned. What deal did they call off? Why? What is a "conflict-of-interest"? What is the conflict-of-interest in this case?

Did you ever have a vacation planned but somebody got sick? You may have had to call off your vacation or a trip.

Sometimes it gets even nastier.  Here's another headline:

Glitzy $325,000 wedding is suddenly called off after a fight erupts during the rehearsal dinner

Read the story. Who do you think should get to keep the $125,000. engagement ring?? Answer us in our blog!!

AMERICAN GOVERNMENT: (to) SWEAR IN; (to) BE SWORN IN

January 20 is the day that the United States Constitution mandates that the old president complete his term, and the new president should begin his term. Not only that, but this has to occur at 12 noon. It's quite a feat of organization to ensure that this event occur exactly on that day exactly at that time, in order to be Constitutional.

The term of the new president used to begin on March 4, but the Amendment XX, adopted on Jan. 23, 1933, moved that date to January 20. 

He becomes president by taking an Oath (or Affirmation) of Office, which begins, "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Here we see the verb, (to) swear.  This means he makes a solemn promise. Notice it says "I... swear.... that...." and then we read what the person swears, or pledges,  or affirms.

The two-word verb, (to) swear in, is different. It's always transitive and it's usually used in the PASSIVE VOICE.

Donald Trump Is Sworn In as President

Notice what follows this verb: as and the name of the office that he now legally and constitutionally assumes.

Try this:

Vice President Mike Pence sworn in

As is typical in journalism and advertising captions, the "be" verb is omitted. Immediately following the caption, we see the sentence,Indiana Gov. Mike Pence is sworn in as Vice President of the United States.

Then there's the NOUN FORM, a swearing-in. 

Donald Trump inauguration: protesters march following swearing-in

  ...  and also the ADJECTIVE FORM: swearing-in:

  The President's Swearing-In Ceremony

If we are ever in a court case and have to testify, we are sworn in - that is, we affirm that we will be telling the truth. But to be sworn into office is a very unusual thing.

Here is a photo of William Renquist being sworn in as Justice of the United States Supreme Court:

It's pretty amazing to think that with just 35 words, a person can be sworn in and assume the title of President of the United States. We always hope that the person upholds his oath.

 

 

TWO-WORD VERBS FROM THE NEWS: (to) SHUT DOWN

Do you remember reading this headline?

Beijing (CNN)Much of the Chinese capital shut down Tuesday after Beijing's city government issued its first red alert for pollution, closing schools and construction sites and restricting the number of cars on the road. 

In the sentence above, it's used as an intransitive verb.  

 If you're not sure what (to) shut down means, read the following subheading:

Children kept at home, building sites and factories closed and cars kept off roads as pollution engulfs Chinese capital

It can also be used as a transitive verb:

Security Threat Shuts Down U.S. Consulate In Istanbul

This common two-word verb is also used as a noun!

It seems like Congress is always threatening a shutdown, such as this one:

28 Republican Men Threaten Government Shutdown Over Planned Parenthood

If you look online, you can see how often members of Congress threatens a shutdown if they don't get what they want. How many recent threats of a shutdown can you find?   Here's one more, to get you started:

Obamacare looms large in shutdown fight

And by the way, not only politicians threaten shutdowns. Anybody can get into the act.  Taxi drivers and truckers can do it too, as we see here:

'Truckers to Shut Down America' Shut Down by Traffic

Fortunately they were unsuccessful.

ENGLISH EXPRESSIONS: "I'VE GOT YOUR BACK!"

The first time somebody said to me, "I've got your back," I have to admit, I didn't know what he was talking about!

My eyes were looking ahead of me at the person I was talking to while my mind was visualizing somebody standing behind me. NO, there was no threat from behind me. My mind went back to what I could see. I had an inkling what this phrase refered to but if I were being threatened by somebody, in front of me would be the place I'd want somebody to be standing if they were trying to protect me!

I understand this phrase assumes that a threat will come from behind, which isn't always the case. I can tell you. The stranger who was holding a very large knife to me in my own apartment was, one morning, standing quite in front of me, not behind me. All I had to do was to open my eyes.

Be that as it may, this phrase "I've got your back" has now taken off. I hear it on TV, on action programs and movies, in book titles. Huffington Post did a piece on this in 2014. but the post seems to be making exactly my point: That the people we are most afraid of, and where people often feel the greatest threat, is from those we know, those who are standing right in front of us! Maybe even those we live with!

Here are some expressions from the news:

Trump to American steelworkers: I've got your back

In the sentence  below, which word defines "(to) have (ones) back"?

"President Trump and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross have a message for big American steel companies. We'll protect you."

Here is another example:

'I've Got Your Back,' Obama Tells Residents Of Flint, Mich., Amid Water Crisis

Questions for You:

 

Read that article and determine what Obama is promising to do.

(The people who I know, whom I most trust, would never say that, by the way.)

To keep this post short, let's just say that the phrase "I've got your back" means "I'll protect you."

TWO-WORD VERBS: (to) HOLD BACK

Here's a headline from today's New York Times:

In Targeting ISIS, U.S. Holds Back to Shield Civilians

Today's two-word verb is "(to) hold back."

Do you think it means:

1. (to) hurry up
2. (to) protect
3. (to) refrain from?

Which sentence from the article tells you what this means? Choose one:

1. American and allied warplanes are equipped with the most precise aerial arsenal ever fielded.
   
   
2. But American officials say they are not striking significant — and obvious — Islamic State targets out of fear that the attacks will accidentally kill civilians.
   
   
3. Killing such innocents could hand the militants a major propaganda coup and alienate both the local Sunni tribesmen, whose support is critical to ousting the militants, and Sunni Arab countries that are part of the American-led coalition.

The answers are (c) and (2).

****************************

Here's another current headline:

Clinton’s Staff Held Back Emails Requested Under FOIA

By this meaning, would you say that Mrs. Clinton showed the emails requested under the Freedom of Information Act, or not?

The verb (to) hold back can also mean to not progress at a normal rate. We see it used this way referring to education. Here is an example:

What holds you back? #AForEffort: Held back by the education system

This is a question for all of us: What holds us back from doing the things we need to do?

You are invited to comment below.

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TWO-WORD VERBS FROM THE NEWS: (to) FOLLOW THROUGH (on or with something)

The big news these days is ISIS and here we see this headline?

The U.S. and Canada may have a tougher time defending North America if Russia follows through on a plan to step up its military activity, according to the commander of NORAD.

Does this phrase, FOLLOW THROUGH, have anything to do with the verb follow?

Sort of, but don't rely on that to explain the meaning of follow through.

Follow through means to complete that task or assignment which you have begun with the intention of completing. In the above example, if Russia follows through on a plan to step up its military activity. . . .


See the following blog post:

Set a goal but didn't follow through? Tips to resetting habits

Here are a few additional examples from the news:

RNC chairman expects to follow through with NBC, CNN debate boycott

If the goal is not a good one, maybe it's good if you don't follow through. Can you think of some plans of yours in which it's a good thing that you followed through? Can you think of some plans of yours in which it's a good thing that you didn't follow through?

TWO-WORD VERBS FROM THE NEWS: (to) Come Down With...

A recent article had this to say:

The disease outbreak became apparent when visitors reported coming down with measles after visiting the park from December 15 to December 20. 

This is a common two-word verb that is used in the news when reporting on newsworthy epidemics. It is very common in conversation.

Here's another example from a website:

Each year from October to May, millions of people all across the United States come down with the flu. Kids get the flu most often. But people in every age group — including teens — can catch it.

We use this verb to describe when a person shows symptoms of a disease.

The ebola outbreak resulted in this verb being used frequently:

US health officials are seeking 132 people who flew on a plane with a Texas nurse on the day before she came down with symptoms of Ebola.

Here's to wishing everybody good health!!