SEE someone OFF

Airports and long-distance train stations have always seemed to me to have a sentimental feel. Parents leaving their grown-up children as they head back to university; lovers snatching a final kiss while they can; friends hugging and promising not to leave it so long til next time… they are places that are full of goodbyes.

WIND someone UP

I hate it when people listen to music without headphones on public transport. My commute is a time to catch up on some work messages, or reply to those WhatsApps I haven’t got round to yet, or, if I’m lucky, read a book. If nothing else, it’s a time to look out the window and

RIP someone OFF

Last year I bought some boots. Nice ones, made of black leather, with a sturdy sole and a long zip up the side. They weren’t cheap, and that’s fine – I wanted some boots to last me several years. However, this year, the zip starting getting stuck, and then became difficult to do up in

RUB it IN

We can’t always do everything well. When we do something badly, sometimes we just want to forget about it. However, at times, we have that one friend or relative who likes to remind us of how badly we’ve done. And then telling us again later… and then again another day… just to make sure we

DRAG ON

We’ve all been in situations that bore us. A tedious class at school, a film that isn’t as interesting as promised, or a work meeting that doesn’t hold our attention… you know, those times when you look at the clock every ten minutes and only two minutes have actually passed. meaning and examples If something

LOOK UP TO

Most of us have a role model in life. Sometimes it’s someone we know – a relative who has always set us a good example, or a friend who we admire. Equally, young people often have celebrities as role models – a footballer who they aspire to be like, or a singer who has achieved

GET ROUND TO

It has been FAR too long since I’ve uploaded a new phrasal verb, and I apologise; life has just been, well, like the life of a teacher/parent/person in a pandemic. But I’ve finally found the time for a new post, which brings me nicely onto this week’s phrasal verb. We always have a list of

WEAR someone OUT

At the moment everything seems to take more effort. Whether it’s work, childcare, relationships, leisure or social life, in the midst of a pandemic there are so many things to consider in this ‘new normal’, that things we previously did automatically take so much more time and energy. I don’t know about you, but it’s

SINK IN

This year has definitely brought with it its fair share of bad news, and in many cases good news, if only in the form of relief. Sometimes it takes a while for us to comprehend how serious something is – I don’t think anyone realised at the beginning of the year quite how much our

TAKE sth ON

I definitely can’t say that I particularly suffered during lockdown, compared to millions of other people. In fact, I am lucky enough to be able to say that it gave me an extra two hours to my day, while my son was sleeping and I wasn’t working the same hours as usual. This was just