LANGUAGE AND USE
Manage English Idioms – Fall, Get
In order to sound native-like, a learner of English must internalize and use as many phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions as possible, and be ready to use them naturally to speak or write in different situations.
Let us explore expressions with the verbs fall and get.
Fall
If when telling a joke you realize that nobody has understood it, that it has been a failure, you may say that your funny story fell flat.
e.g. During my career as a comedian I had never had to entertain such a dull audience, almost all the jokes I told them fell flat.
You may fall in with someone’s plans if you accept them or agree to cooperate;
e.g. I’ll fall in with whatever you suggest for our new enterprise, you are the expert here!
Fall for has a positive connotation when the sentence refers to a person;
e.g. She fell for him the moment she saw him. (She loved him)
On the other hand, fall for has a negative connotation when it refers to an action;
e.g. The inexperienced detective fell for the criminal’s story. (He was deceived)
Business goes bad if sales fall off; they decline;
e.g. Coastal towns shop owners have to save during the summer to cater for their family’s needs in the winter season when sales fall off.
Such as cats are said to fall on their feet, regardless of the way they fall or are thrown, so do some people who always manage to get out of trouble or achieve financial success.
e.g. Are you really worried because Justin is in trouble? Don’t you already know he always falls on his feet?
If you quarrel with a person or finish a friendship you fall out with them;
e.g. Samantha fell out with her best friend after she tried to seduce Sammy’s husband.
Whenever a project is interrupted or not continued, it falls through
e.g. The building of the coastal highway fell through after groups of environmentalists organized a protest march.
Fall back on implies that you had to resort to something because you could not find something better.
e.g. We had to fall back on sugar as there was no more honey left to make the dessert.
Both fall back and fall behind show that the doer of the action had to retreat or withdraw. In the case of fall back the action was deliberate whereas fall behind indicates an involuntary action
e.g. The army fell back just because the enemy advanced.
e.g. The construction of the new airport has fallen behind due to the bad weather conditions in the area.
Fall behind is also used to show inability to keep up with others, an assignment or an agreed rate of payments;
e.g. We have fallen behind with his order because the workers have been on strike.
If numbers, attendance to a course or theatre play fall off, they decrease;
e.g. The course attendance has unexpectedly fallen off; we guess the teacher’s attitude towards the students has to do with it.
Fall on something or somebody implies an attack where the victim had no or little chance of a defense;
e.g. The rugbiers were starving after the hard match and they all fell on the food they had been served .
e.g. The scariest scene in the movie was when the werewolf fell on the young woman.
Get
Get at means imply, hint, mean and it conveys the idea that there is some kind of underlying message to the interlocutor or reader.
e.g. I’d love to know what he was trying to get at when he told me that he had already got a divorce.
If you are a person who travels widely, you can say that you get around.
e.g. My cousin has already visited most of Europe and Asia; he does get around in his free time.
A person who is friendly and generally has a good relationship with people is a person who gets along well or gets on well with them.
e.g. Meg is a teacher who easily adapts to difficult groups and gets on well with problem students.
When you say that somebody got away, you mean that they have escaped. In a similar sense get away with implies that somebody did something daring or illegal without getting into trouble or being caught.
e.g. Owen bet his friends that he could win the pop star’s heart and he got away with it. They are dating now!
If you wish to get your revenge or retaliate you will get your own back;
e.g. Our neighbours’ dog has always been a pest. We are now getting our own back: our son has started taking drum lessons at home.
Somebody who bothers or irritates you gets your back up.
e.g. The little boy got her back up whenever he threw a tantrum.
If you live on a low salary you are forced to get by till the end of the month.
e.g. Without her husband’s alimony she would find it really hard to get by on her meagre salary.
When you are depressed by something you can say that it gets you down;
e.g. No matter how hard I try, her negative attitude towards life gets me down.
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In order to sound native-like, a learner of English must internalize and use as many phrasal verbs and idiomatic expressions as possible, and be ready to use them naturally to speak or write in different situations.
Let us explore expressions with the verbs fall and get.
Fall
If when telling a joke you realize that nobody has understood it, that it has been a failure, you may say that your funny story fell flat.
e.g. During my career as a comedian I had never had to entertain such a dull audience, almost all the jokes I told them fell flat.
You may fall in with someone’s plans if you accept them or agree to cooperate;
e.g. I’ll fall in with whatever you suggest for our new enterprise, you are the expert here!
Fall for has a positive connotation when the sentence refers to a person;
e.g. She fell for him the moment she saw him. (She loved him)
On the other hand, fall for has a negative connotation when it refers to an action;
e.g. The inexperienced detective fell for the criminal’s story. (He was deceived)
Business goes bad if sales fall off; they decline;
e.g. Coastal towns shop owners have to save during the summer to cater for their family’s needs in the winter season when sales fall off.
Such as cats are said to fall on their feet, regardless of the way they fall or are thrown, so do some people who always manage to get out of trouble or achieve financial success.
e.g. Are you really worried because Justin is in trouble? Don’t you already know he always falls on his feet?
If you quarrel with a person or finish a friendship you fall out with them;
e.g. Samantha fell out with her best friend after she tried to seduce Sammy’s husband.
Whenever a project is interrupted or not continued, it falls through
e.g. The building of the coastal highway fell through after groups of environmentalists organized a protest march.
Fall back on implies that you had to resort to something because you could not find something better.
e.g. We had to fall back on sugar as there was no more honey left to make the dessert.
Both fall back and fall behind show that the doer of the action had to retreat or withdraw. In the case of fall back the action was deliberate whereas fall behind indicates an involuntary action
e.g. The army fell back just because the enemy advanced.
e.g. The construction of the new airport has fallen behind due to the bad weather conditions in the area.
Fall behind is also used to show inability to keep up with others, an assignment or an agreed rate of payments;
e.g. We have fallen behind with his order because the workers have been on strike.
If numbers, attendance to a course or theatre play fall off, they decrease;
e.g. The course attendance has unexpectedly fallen off; we guess the teacher’s attitude towards the students has to do with it.
Fall on something or somebody implies an attack where the victim had no or little chance of a defense;
e.g. The rugbiers were starving after the hard match and they all fell on the food they had been served .
e.g. The scariest scene in the movie was when the werewolf fell on the young woman.
Get
Get at means imply, hint, mean and it conveys the idea that there is some kind of underlying message to the interlocutor or reader.
e.g. I’d love to know what he was trying to get at when he told me that he had already got a divorce.
If you are a person who travels widely, you can say that you get around.
e.g. My cousin has already visited most of Europe and Asia; he does get around in his free time.
A person who is friendly and generally has a good relationship with people is a person who gets along well or gets on well with them.
e.g. Meg is a teacher who easily adapts to difficult groups and gets on well with problem students.
When you say that somebody got away, you mean that they have escaped. In a similar sense get away with implies that somebody did something daring or illegal without getting into trouble or being caught.
e.g. Owen bet his friends that he could win the pop star’s heart and he got away with it. They are dating now!
If you wish to get your revenge or retaliate you will get your own back;
e.g. Our neighbours’ dog has always been a pest. We are now getting our own back: our son has started taking drum lessons at home.
Somebody who bothers or irritates you gets your back up.
e.g. The little boy got her back up whenever he threw a tantrum.
If you live on a low salary you are forced to get by till the end of the month.
e.g. Without her husband’s alimony she would find it really hard to get by on her meagre salary.
When you are depressed by something you can say that it gets you down;
e.g. No matter how hard I try, her negative attitude towards life gets me down.
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