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

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

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

DRIFT APART

Think back to all the friends you’ve ever had. Friends from school, friends from university, friends who were children of your parents’ friends… Even if social media makes it easier to stay in touch with people for longer these days, I’m sure you’re not as close to some friends from your past, if you’re even

WIN somebody OVER

It would be more simple if everyone had the same opinion as us all of the time, but unfortunately, at times we have to convince people of our arguments (or they have to convince us!). At times like this we use our powers of persuasion with the aim of making others agree with our ideas