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.

cut back, (to) cut back on, (to) cut down on

Today's CNN poll was this:

Quick vote

Are rising gas prices making you cut back on driving?

• Yes
• No

There is a noun that derives from this verb, "(a) cut back", and this word is very common in political and economic circles:

Government Cutbacks Spur More Layoffs

 
The verb is - (to) cut back on (something).  Very similar to this is the verb (to) cut down on (something).  Here are some other examples of these verbs from news headlines:

Americans Cut Down On Checking For Colon Cancer During Recession 

 Chelsea Handler: Why I've Cut Back on My Drinking

India says it won't cut back on Iran oil imports, in defiance of stiffer US and EU sanctions

These two verbs, (to) cut down on (something) and (to) cut back on (something) are fairly interchangeable.  They both imply to reduce the level of whatever it is that's being done!!

So can you think of a few things in your own life that you'd like to cut down on?

Send us your thoughts in the comment box below.

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Baby Boomer(s): The Word

In Japanese, it's " ベビーブーマー" - pronounced "baby boomer".  In Italian, it's "babyboomer". In Hebrew, it's "בייבי בומר" (pronounced baby boomer".  In Spanish it's "baby boomer". In Russian it's "бэби-бумеров".  But all of these are merely transliterations of the English word, "baby boomer". And none of these languages can get a sense of what the word really is saying!

The key here is the word "BOOM". 

What does "boom" mean?  A "boom" is a loud and deep and sudden noise. When something large and heavy falls, the sound it makes when hitting the ground is "boom". 

In economics, there is a term "boom" when the economy is healthy and strong - an economic boom. Then there's a "boom and bust", which refers to when everything is going well, then it suddenly goes "bust" - and crashes.

So that's the background. The "baby boomer" generation refers to those born after WWII, when servicemen returned home, started families and had children. Suddenly there were many babies, and these babies are referred to as 'baby boomers". Their effect on American life and the economy was like a big "boom".

Babies born between 1946 and 1954 are referred to as baby boomers. There was a sudden need for housing, for schools, for automobiles, for jobs, everything to serve these new young families.

We are hearing the term baby boomers now because people born in 1946 are now 65 years old and are entering retirement, and are placing a new type of demand on the economy.

How do you say "baby boomer" in your language? How did these "boomers" affect life in the 1940's and early 1950's? How are they affecting and influencing life now?