phrasal verbs relating to illness

Starting with becoming ill, if you begin to feel ill with a cold, the flu, etc. you can say that
you come down with it or go down with it: I hope you’re not coming down with a cold. / Three
members of staff have gone down with flu. If you catch an illness from someone or
something, caused by a bacteria or virus, you pick it up: He picked up a stomach bug in the
first week of school. If a lot of people are suffering from an infectious illness at the same
time, you can talk about the illness going around/round: There are a lot of bugs going round
at the moment.

If an illness or medical problem suddenly gets worse, we say it flares up:She gets a lot of
knee pain and it flares up in winter. If you suddenly get spots or a rash on your skin, we say
you break out in it. (In UK English, we also use the phrase come out in): He broke out in a
rash after eating strawberries. / I come out in spots if I eat too much dairy. If you have a bad
fever, you are said informally to be burning up: You need to get that temperature down.
You’re burning up! If someone becomes unconscious for a short time, they are said to pass
out: He passed out in the heat. When you give someone a measured amount of medicine
you can say informally that you dose them up: I thought I was coming down with a cold so I
dosed myself up with vitamin C.

Let’s finish on a positive note! If you manage not to become ill with an infectious illness,
you fight it off: Her strong immune system seems to fight off any infection. When you
become well again after an illness, we say that you get over it: He’s just getting over a nasty
cold. If someone becomes completely well after an illness, we may emphasize how well they
recover by saying that they bounce back: Children generally bounce back from illness. If an
illness or medical problem ends, it clears up: The rash should clear up within two or three
days.
The machines that we use in daily life can cause problems for us and when they do, we
often describe the problem with a phrasal verb. If a machine or vehicle breaks down, it
stops working: Her car broke down on the way to work. If a machine or engine cuts out, it
suddenly stops working: Without any warning, the engine just cut out. Meanwhile, if a
piece of equipment plays up, it doesn’t work as it should: Ah, my laptop’s playing up
again! You can also describe a part of the body as ‘playing up’, meaning that it is hurting or
not functioning as it should. (In this sense, ‘play up’ can be transitive as well as intransitive
in British English.):His knee’s been playing (him) up again. Lastly, a computer system
thatgoes down stops working for a period: The computers went down and we were unable
to work for three hours.

Sometimes we cause problems for ourselves by making a mistake. There is a set of ‘up’
phrasal verbs used for this. If you (informal) trip up or slip up, you cause a problem by
doing or saying something incorrectly: These figures don’t make sense. Have we slipped
up somewhere? / The interview went so well until I tripped up on the last
question. Meanwhile, if you (informal) mess up or mess something up, you spoil
something or fail in something you are doing, often by making a mistake: It was my fault, I
know – I messed up. / I was just so nervous giving the talk and I messed it up! An even
more informal phrasal verb for this is screw (sth) up: I totally screwed up my biology exam.
/ Just don’t screw up this time!

Problems, of course, can have other causes. If you are snowed under, you have too much
work to do and cannot manage it all: I’m snowed under with work at the moment. Finally, if
you are bogged down, you are giving so much attention to one part of a subject or
situation that you cannot do anything else: Let’s not get bogged down with details – we
need to look at the overall situation.

phrasal verbs that describe what we do in difficult situations. Deal with is one of the most
common phrasal verbs in this area. If you deal with a problem, you take action that will
solve it: When problems arise, it’s best to deal with them immediately. Get round (US get
around) is another. If you get round a problem, you succeed in solving it, often by avoiding
it: I’m sure we can find a way to get round the problem. / We can always get around the
problem of space by building an extension. The phrasal verbs sort outand work out are
also used with the meaning of ‘take action that solves a problem’: It was a useful meeting
– we sorted out quite a few problems. / It’s a tricky situation, but I’m sure we’ll work it out in
the end.
Sometimes, for whatever reason, we accept a difficult situation rather than taking action to
change it. The phrasal verb put up with is often used with this meaning. (Very often, it’s
used for bad situations that other people cause.) His behaviour is so bad – I don’t know
how Maria puts up with it.A similar phrase is live with. If you live with an unpleasant
situation over a long period, you accept it: I can’t change the situation so I’m just going to
have to learn to live with it.

Some difficult or unpleasant situations cannot be changed and the only way to deal with
them is therefore to continue to the end. There are several phrasal verbs for this, all
ending in ‘out’. For example, if you continue to the end of a difficult or unpleasant situation
in a determinedway, you might say you tough it out or (informal) stick it out: It’ll be a
difficult couple of months but I’m going to tough it out. / He’s finding the course hard, but
he’s determined to stick it out. Other ‘out’ phrasal verbs in this area emphasize that you
wait patiently for something to end, rather than taking action of any sort. For example, you
might say that you wait something out: I’ll probably stay here and wait out the storm. A
phrasal verb with a similar meaning is sit out: It’s not ideal but I guess we’ll just have to sit
it out.
This week we’re looking at the many phrasal verbs in English that refer to ways of speaking and
the sort of things that people do in conversation.

The adverb ‘on’ has a sense which is ‘continuing or not stopping’. Accordingly, there are a few informal phrasal
verbs containing ‘on’ that are used for speaking a lot and not stopping. For example, if someonegoes on, they
annoy you by talking about one subject for too long:

I know she did well in her exams – I just wish she’d stop going on about it!

He went on and on about his new job.

The phrasal verb keep on is used in a similar way: Please don’t keep on about it.

Other ‘on’ phrasal verbs emphasize that someone is speaking too much in a way that is boring.
UK speakers use the informal phrases ‘bang on’and ‘rabbit on’:

She’s always banging on about the benefits of walking.

Whatever was your sister rabbiting on about?

Even more emphatically, UK and US speakers use the phrase drone on: I had to listen to Michael droning on about the law.

Meanwhile, the three-part phrasal verb ‘go on at someone’, used in UK English, means to annoy
someone by often criticizing them or by often asking them to do something:

I wish she’d stop going on at me about my diet.

He’s always going on at me to get my hair cut.

Of course, not all phrasal verbs refer to speaking too much. If you bring up a subject, you start
talking about that subject for the first time: It was Joe, not me, who brought up the subject of
animal rights.

If someone pipes up, they surprise people by suddenly entering a conversation after being
silent: Alfie suddenly piped up, ‘I’d like one of those!’

To chip in (UK) is to add a comment to a conversation that other people are having: She chipped
in with a couple of useful suggestions.
Meanwhile, (informal) to butt in, is to do the same thing, but in a conversation where your
comments are not welcome:

He kept butting in with silly remarks.

Sorry to butt in, but did I hear you mention Rosie?

If you reel off a list of things, you say a lot of things quickly and without stopping: He can reel off
the names of all the US presidents in order.

Finally, the phrasal verb speak up has two senses. It means ‘to speak in a louder voice’: Could
you speak up, please? We can’t hear you at the back.

Speak up also means ‘to give your opinion about something in public’: If anyone disagrees, now is the time to speak up!