Flare up
But we’re back at work now, and that means we have an expression to review today. And that is to flare up. That’s a phrasal verb. Here’s how you first heard it: The US and China have been in trade negotiations for about a year, but a conflict flared up between the two sides, and that resulted in each country putting tariffs on some of the others’ products. The conflict flared up between them.
There’s a pretty good image that you can use to remember this. A flare is like a flame of fire. So picture a slow-burning fire and all of a sudden a big flame shoots up. That’s like when something flares up. So the US and China have been in these negotiations for a while, negotiations are tough. There are two sides. And it’s not like the negotiations have been intense for a full year; there are ups and downs. But a conflict flared up—a conflict quickly developed.
You’ll use “flare up” to describe when some type of conflict, anger, pain, or danger suddenly appears. Let me give you a couple more examples.
I had a slight headache all day, but for some reason right before bed the pain just flared up and I couldn’t fall asleep. You had a little bit of dull pain—that’s fine, we can live with that. But when it flares up, when it suddenly becomes more intense, ouch! That’s really bad. So pain can flare up—anything that’s normally low-intensity that becomes high-intensity pain: that’s when it flares up.
Cancer or an illness can flare up. There are times where doctors think they have everything under control, but for some unknown reason the symptoms flare up again—they get more intense. It doesn’t have to be pain: it could be the size of a tumor, arthritis, even a rash on your skin can flare up. Sometimes just being under a lot of stress can cause your symptoms to flare up. If you get seasonal allergies, the change in temperature or a change in pollen levels could cause your allergies to flare up.
It’s common to say that violence flares up. Sometimes political protests or actions by the police or the government can cause violence to flare up. I think you get the idea. It’s not really common, but it does come up, so now you know what it means and how to use it.
JR’s song of the week
It’s Thursday, so JR has a listener-suggested song to share with the audience. It’s a good classic song. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” by Frank Sinatra and we have to thank Rodolfo from Ecuador for this suggestion. The title is a bit of a play on words, since if something gets under your skin, it usually bothers you. But in this case, it’s kind of like a romantic tribute. Frank Sinatra has a great voice and he would be a fine addition to any English playlist. He was one of the most popular musicians in the US in the 1940s and 1950s. My personal favorite Sinatra song is “New York, New York,” which they play at the end of every Yankees game. But “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” by Frank Sinatra is a good one too, and that is today’s song. And thanks to JR for selecting the song and to Rodolfo for nominating it.
If you would like to contribute a song to the show, please send your nomination to JR. His email address is [email protected].
Great to be back home and with you once more. It’s nice to have my voice back, too. I think I just needed some vitamin D, what do you think? I spent some time working on the podcast and on the great plans I have for the future while I was in Florida, and I’m back and more excited than ever to be with you each and every Monday and Thursday.
Remember that JR and I offer a whole lot more than just the show. We have transcripts on the web site, and we send out additional English resources by e-mail. So if you’d like to build even more vocabulary, and read more about the topics we choose, then you won’t want to miss out on the e-mail resources we offer. Just visit PlainEnglish.com/mail and you can begin boosting your vocabulary with two additional words each week. PlainEnglish.com/mail . That’s all for today! JR and I will be back on Monday. If you’ve ever opened your closet and said, “I have nothing to wear,” then you’ll want to hear Monday’s episode. That’s all I’m saying! Until then, have a great weekend, study hard, and thanks for being part of the best audience in the world.
Learn more expressions like this
