Go after
This is a really good phrasal verb today, “go after.” I’m saying it’s really good, not because you’ll use it a lot, but because there aren’t a lot of great alternatives to this phrase. To go after something is to try to get something that others are also trying to get. I’ll repeat that: it means to try to get something that others are also trying to get.
Boris Johnson was promoted to prime minister via a party election in 2019. Then, he called an election, hoping to win more seats for his party. During the election, he went after voters in parts of England that felt left behind . Those voters had supported the Labour Party for decades. But Boris Johnson, as leader of the Conservatives, went after those voters. He pursued them. He was competing for something that others—the Labour Party specifically—was also competing for. He went after those voters.
“Go after the top job” means to try to get the top job. Try to get it, because others are also competing for it. Boris Johnson had served in Theresa May’s government as foreign minister. But soon he decided to go after the top job. After May resigned, Johnson campaigned for Conservative Party leader. He went after it, he competed against other people for the top job, and he won.
Who will go after the top job now? There will undoubtedly be a lot of candidates. But if I were a British politician, I don’t think I’d go after the top job now. Boris Johnson left a lot of chaos in his wake. I don’t think I’d want to be the one to clean it all up now.
Have you heard of Instagram Reels? Reels are Instagram’s new short-form videos. They’re going after users that like to consume short videos, like they see on TikTok. There are social media users who like this. TikTok is going after them. Now Instagram is going after them. And YouTube has a new product called YouTube Shorts. They’re all going after people who like watching short videos, one after another. They’re all pursuing, competing for, trying to get the same thing. So we say they are going after those people.
Were any of you lifeguards as kids? Here in the U.S., the job market is so competitive that a lot of pools and beaches can’t find enough teenage lifeguards. That was one of the classic summer jobs for teenagers. You got paid really well and, most of the time, you didn’t have to do too much actual work. And you could get a good tan in the process.
But now, towns searching for lifeguards are going after a new pool of potential workers: senior citizens. Maybe a senior citizen isn’t the best choice on a beach with big waves. But retirees are often make good lifeguards at community pools. The towns are going after them. In this job market, there are a lot of opportunities, a lot of people competing for talent. Now community pools are competing for these workers. They are trying to get these workers as others try to get them, too.
JR’s song of the week
JR has selected a song of the week. Listening to music is a great way to engage in some passive English learning—more on that in a minute. Today’s song is “All My Days” by Alexi Murdoch. As soon as I pressed play on this song, I recognized it. It has been in a lot of TV shows—Grey’s Anatomy, Scrubs, Sense8. I didn’t watch any of those, but I instantly recognized the song, so I know I heard it somewhere. But I have a feeling that JR picked it because it’s in a new series called “Conversations with Friends.”
So see if you recognize this one; it’s called “All My Days” by Alexi Murdoch. Thanks JR for that song selection this week.
See you next time!
I forgot to mention before that you can “go after” your dreams. That means to pursue your dreams, try to get them. Maybe it’s not a direct competition with someone else, but to achieve your dreams, you have to work at it and pursue what you want.
And if your dreams involve English, the best way to go after your dreams is with active learning. Listening to podcasts, listening to songs, watching movies—that’s all good stuff, but it’s all passive learning. To really make progress, you want to be an active learner.
And to help you along with that, I prepared a short video on how to become a more active learner. Check your e-mail for a link to that. If you’re not getting the e-mails, you can still see the video at PlainEnglish.com/active .
There are some great tips in there about how to turn some everyday things into active exercises, and a lot of them are totally free. So check out that video—it’s not long, just fifteen minutes or so—by going to PlainEnglish.com/active or by clicking the link in the notes to this lesson in your podcast app.
That’s all for today; we’ll be back on Monday with a new lesson. See you then!
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
