Improving your English

Title

Language

English

Source

Panorama XIX (5) May 1967

Year

1967

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

IMPROVING OUR ENGLISH This section of Panorama will be regularly published for the benefit of Filipino students of English. It will be devoted to idiomatic English — nouns, verbs, adverbs, prepositions, and expressive phrases. Idiomatic expressions are distinctive ways or peculiarities of using words and phrases in English. They are usually forcible, terse, and vivid. They are the most difficult part of the language for a person to learn who is not an American or Englishman. They must be committed to memory and frequently used in speaking and writing. VERBS WITH PREPOSITIONS 198. Put on, is to invest oneself with. 199. To put on clothes, a hat, shoes, spectacles, etc. 200. To put on airs, is to assume proud airs. 201. To put on the screw, is to exert pressure on a person with an ulterior purpose. To extort a confession or promise, to extort money. 202. Put out, is; 1. To eject, as to put out an intruder. 2. To extinguish, as to put out a fire, a lamp, a candle, a torch. 203. Put one up to, is to incite or instigate. Who put you up to this mischief? 204. Put up with, is to endure without resentment or opposi tion. To put up with a person, sometimes means to stay at his house for a time. 205. Qualify for. He had qualified himself for office. 206. Quarrel over a thing; quarrel with a person. 207. Rank with. What poet of any country can rank with Shakespeare? 208. Reason with a person, about a thing. 209. Reconcile one to; reconcile one thing with another. 210. Reduce to. To reduce a sergeant to the ranks, is to deMay 1967 61 grade him to the rank of a private. 211. Refrain from tears, reproach, anger, strife. 212. Rejoice at, in, over, on account of. No one rejoiced at (or in) their success more than she. 213. Remind of. His face reminds me of his father. 214. Rest on or with, is to be founded or based on, to devolve on. To rest on one’s laurels, is to stop trying for fur ther successes. 215. Retire from business, from public life, from a contest. 216. Retire into private life, into a monastery, into a cave. 217. Retire upon or on a pension. 218. Ride down a person, is to treat him in an insolent, over bearing manner. 219. Rob one of. By lying he would rob me of my good name. 220. Root out or up, is to pull up by the roots, to destroy. 221. Rub off rust, rub off an impression, rub off rude manners, rub off awkwardness. 222. Rub out, is to erase, to obliterate. Indiarubber rubs out pencil marks. 223. Rub up, is to polish, to burnish, to brighten. The servant has rubbed up to the silver plate. 224. Rule out, is to exclude. 225. Run at, is to attack. The bull ran at the farmer. 226. Run, down, is to chase till the quarry is exhausted and caught; also, to censure, to decry to, disparage. 227. Run into debt, into danger. This phrase verb implies heedlessness, want of due consideration. 228. Run through, is: 1. To pierce. 2. To waste or to expend. 3. To examine hurriedly. 229. Scoff at religion, at sacred things. 230. Search for a thing lost, or a thing not readily found. 231. Search into all the details of a subject. 232. Search out, is to seek till found, as, to search out the truth. 233. See off, is to accompany one to a place of starting, and wait with him till he takes his departure. 62 Panorama 234. See through, is to discern; to penetrate; to watch to the end. 235. Seek after or for, is to follow, to endeavour to find. 236. Send by, is to send by way of or by means of. Send me an atlas by book post. 237. Serve up, is to present food to be eaten. 238. Set about, is to begin, to apply oneself to. 239. Set apart, is to reserve, or separate to a particular use. 240. Set aside, is to disregard, to annul. 241. Set forth, is to manifest, or exhibit, to proclaim. He set forth his views with clearness and force. 242. Set on, or upon, is to incite, to urge on; to attack. It is wicked to set on boys ro dogs to fight. Two dogs set upon the poor old beggar, 243. Set up, is: To establish. To begin a new business. To put in power. He determined to set up his own private store. The printer has set up but four pages of your manuscript. 244. Settle down, is to become quiet, to establish oneself. The unruly students have at last settled down to study their lessons. 245. Sever from. To sever the tail from the body of the lizard. 246. Shake off sleep, drowsiness, nervousness, etc. 247. Show off is to display or exhibit in an ostentatious way. S'he went to the party to show off her new dress. The new politician went to church just to show off. 248. Show up, is to expose; to hold up to ridicule. If he pro vokes me again I shall show him up. 249. Shrink from contact with the leper. 250. Shudder at a dreadful sight, carnage. 251. Side with, is to take the part of, to embrace the opinions of. He has always sidl’d with the Nacionalistas. 232. Sink into the sea, into evil habits, into obscurity. Sink into the mind, is to enter the mind and remain there. 253. Sit up, is to rise from a reclining position; to get up and not lie down. He had to sit up all night, i.e. he did not go to bed all night. He sat up till five o’clock in the morning, i.e. he did not go to bed till five. May 1967 63 254. 255. 256. 257. 258. 259. 260. 261. 262. 263. 264. 265. 266. 267. 268. 269. 270. 64 Slow down, is to gradually diminish speed, to lessen activity. You cannot continue working so hard; you should slow down. Smile at, on or upon. She smiled at the compliment and left. Lady Luck smiled upon him at the sweepstakes. Sneer at, is to show contempt by a particular expression of the face. Speak, out or up, is to talk out loud enough so it could be heard. Speak with a person, is to converse with him. caught; also, to censure, to decry, to disparage, wicked to set on boys or dogs to fight. Two dogs Spread out, is to lay open to be seen. The merchant spread out his dresses before the young woman, hoping he could sell her one. Spread over. The flood spreads over a large territory. Stamp out, is to destroy by force. The Philippine army stamped out the Huk uprising. Stand against, is to resist. No ordinary animal can stand against a lion. Stand by, is to be near or to be present. He stands by to wait for his turn to see the teacher. Stand for, to represent or be a symbol for. The cross stands for the Christian faith. Stand, out, is to be conspicuous or prominent. Stand pat, is to remain unchanged in one’s view or argu ment. Stand to reason, is to be clear in the light of known facts. After discovering Pedro’s money in Juan’s pocket, it stands to reason that Juan had taken it. Stare at. To look long and directly. Surprised by my sudden appearance, she stared at me as if I were unknown to her. Stay away, is to remain absent for a long while. Pedro stayed away from class for one week due to illness. Stay up, is not to go to bed. I went to bed at nine, but these fellows stayed up till twelve. (To be continued) Panorama

pages

61-64

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