back down: meaning and explanation
If you back down, then you accept or admit that you are wrong about something, or you accept that you have lost an argument or fight. e.g. The argument went on all night, but my brother eventually backed down and apologised.
This phrasal verb can be used negatively to describe a situation in which someone will not admit that they are wrong or have lost an argument. They won’t back down. e.g. It was obvious that he had made a big mistake, but he wouldn’t back down.
Have a go at these micro-dictation exercises to hear this expression being used in context – how much can you understand?
Listening exercises
Dictation #1
Accent: Ireland
About the sentence
…He’s so stubborn…
If someone is stubborn, then it is difficult to change their mind, attitude or position on something, even if they are probably wrong. This is synonymous with the word determined, but has more negative connotations.
…he knows he’s in the wrong…
If you say that someone involved in an argument is in the wrong, then you are saying that they are responsible for the argument or have done something bad or morally wrong. e.g. Sorry, but I’m not the one who is in the wrong here.
Dictation #2
Accent: England (RP)
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Dictation #3
Accent: North America
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Extra practice
Here are some questions/links to help you learn the new vocabulary:
- Are you a stubborn person or do you back down when you know you are in the wrong?
- Can you remember a time when someone refused to back down?
Photo by Vincent van Zalinge on Unsplash
I am not a stubborn person. When I know I am wrong, I usually back down, but I think sometimes I should be a little more stubborn.
I don’t remember a time when someone refused to back down in a discussion with me, but I see that on the internet there are lots of people that can’t admit they might be wrong and arguments go on and on and no one back down.
I think you’re spot on about the internet Aline – it’s always a bad idea to get involved in an argument online.
One tiny mistake in the last sentence – can you identify it?
Oh,a lot of people don’t BACK DOWN, when they are in wrong, so am I (sometimes), because we see mistakes of others, but don’t see the own ones.
Very honest of you Valentyna 🙂
When you want to say that you are the same but in a negative way, we use ‘neither do I’, ‘neither am I’, ‘neither can I’ etc. Because your first sentence was in the present simple (“a lot of people don’t back down”) the second part should be: “Neither do I”. If you had said “A lot of people are stubborn”, then the next part could be “so am I”. Does that make sense?
At the end, I would say “…but we don’t see our own ones”.
Hi) First of all, have never heard the phrase “to be in the wrong” before… Not sure I understand it correctly. I mean what is the difference between just “be wrong”?
Answering the questions – if I truly see that I’m wrong, I will back down despite it’s not easy on a practice.