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Bump into
Bump into means to meet someone unexpectedly without prior arrangement, or to hit an object or person accidentally with your body.
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Bring up
Bring up has three distinct meanings in everyday English. First, it means to introduce a topic or start discussing an issue in conversation. Second, it means to care for, feed, and educate a child until adulthood. Third, in technology contexts, it means to make a document, image, or website appear on a screen.
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Bring about
Bring about means to cause something to happen, particularly a change, improvement, reform, or problem.
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Break up
Break up expresses four main ideas in modern English. First, it describes romantic partners ending a relationship. Second, it describes people in a gathering dispersing or an organizer ending an event. Third, it means dividing something larger into smaller pieces or groups. Fourth, it describes an unstable voice or video signal that cuts out during a conversation.
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Blow away
'Blow away' most commonly means to impress, delight, or astonish someone intensely. It can also describe moving air carrying an object away physically, or one competitor defeating another with total ease.
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Back up
The phrasal verb back up carries five primary meanings in everyday English: supporting someone who needs help, providing evidence that reinforces a statement, creating a duplicate copy of data, moving in reverse, and accumulating in a queue when forward movement is blocked.
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Back down
Back down means to stop demanding something, stop defending an argument, or withdraw a claim after opposition. It requires an earlier disagreement where at least one person insisted on their view.
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Add up
Add up has three distinct meanings in everyday English. First, it describes calculating a total by putting separate figures together. Second, it describes small amounts, delays, or charges accumulating over time into a large sum. Third, it describes whether an explanation, figure, or set of facts appears logical and consistent. When you name the resulting total, use add up to directly before the amount.
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28 Phrasal Verbs With Take
The verb take combines with particles and prepositions to form expressions for physical movement, time, tasks, and emotional reactions. The words following take determine the direction, target, and overall meaning.
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A wardrobe clear-out
A wardrobe clear-out involves four distinct outcomes based on condition and use. Regularly worn clothes stay in the wardrobe. Garments with minor damage go into a repair pile. Clean, wearable items that no longer fit are donated to charity without payment. Cloth that is ripped, stained, or completely unwearable goes to textile recycling to be broken down into new material.
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Video · 9 min Unusual names
An unfamiliar name is simply a name that a listener has not heard often, not an incorrect or strange name. A speaker may ask listeners to use their full given name and teach the correct pronunciation, or they may choose an informal short form for specific social settings. Using a shorter name does not mean the speaker dislikes their full name.
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Scamming the scammers
A trained fraud investigator sometimes keeps scammers talking through isolated decoy accounts to record patterns for authorized reporting. Members of the public should not engage or share information; they should end the contact and verify through an official channel.
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Advice that changed meaning
Advice is guidance or a suggestion about what someone should do in a specific situation. When you receive advice, you often remember the speaker's exact words for a long time. However, the way you understand those words can develop as you face real challenges at work. A phrase that seems simple when you first hear it can take on a deeper, more practical meaning once you gain practical experience.
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First-day onboarding tasks
Mandatory workplace instructions communicate tasks that an employee must finish to obtain access, meet regulatory standards, or begin work duties. Optional invitations give employees the freedom to participate without penalty if their schedule or workload permits.
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Transferring a ticket
To transfer a ticket means to officially give another person the right to use it. In this lesson's workshop situation, the buyer must change the attendee's name and email in the booking account by five o'clock on Friday. The booking reference stays the same.
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Repair inspection fee and quote
An inspection fee is a fixed payment for diagnostic labor, due whether or not you repair the device. An estimate with words like up to or no more than describes the highest expected price for parts and labor. The repair cannot begin until you give explicit verbal or written authorization.
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Estimated energy bill
An estimated reading is a calculated guess based on past habits, whereas an actual reading is the exact number shown on your physical meter. When an actual reading replaces a high estimate, the energy company recalculates the charges, which can reduce the amount due or put the account in credit.
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Meeting times across time zones
Pushing a meeting back moves it to a later hour. A single event takes place at three in the afternoon in London and nine in the morning in Chicago.
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