In a bind
Today’s expression is to be in a bind. To be in a bind is to be in a tough situation, where there are no great choices. New York is facing a flood of complaints about illegal fireworks. At the same time, there is heightened criticism of the police for using aggressive tactics, and using them more against minorities. It’s no secret that the fireworks are more likely to be set off in minority neighborhoods. So what should they do? Ignore the fireworks and risk the anger of people complaining about noise? Or dedicate police resources and risk a public backlash of targeting minority communities, right when there is heightened sensitivity about that? There are no good options. The mayor is in a bind. (And a sleepless one at that!)
Parents working at home these days are in a bind. Kids are home from school, so they need attention and supervision during the day. But at the same time, the parents can’t dedicate their full attention to work, and working from home, when they have kids to distract them. They are in a bind. Do they ignore the kids and focus on work? Or do they try to carve out time early in the morning and late at night for work? Some families I know alternate during the day, which parent has more responsibility for watching the kids. It’s not easy, especially when both work, both have calls and appointments. Those families are in a bind.
I feel like we’re all in a bit of a bind these days—it’s just different for everyone. The leaders of your country might be in a bind because they want to open up the economies, but they also don’t want to allow the coronavirus to spread. They don’t have any good choices. Do you have elderly family members? Some older members of our society are most at risk of catching—and dying from—COVID-19. But often they’re the least careful of everyone! I know more than a few people whose elderly relatives want to see them. But my friends are in a bind. Yes, they want to go; yes, they want to provide companionship to their older relatives—maybe let them see their grandkids. But they also don’t want to be responsible for accidentally giving the virus to an elderly relative. They’re in a bind.
Sometimes you might ask for help when you’re in a bind. You might say to your neighbor, hey I’m in a bit of a bind, can you help me out? I’m in the middle of making a big recipe and I realized I don’t have enough eggs. Can I borrow an egg? In this case, you’re really asking to have the egg, since you’re not going to give it back, but we say “borrow an egg.” Why are you in a bind? Well, you started making the recipe. It’s half-done. Maybe you’ve got 2 things cooking on the stove. But you need one more egg to finish it off. You can’t very well stop everything and go to the store. But neither can you finish the recipe without all the ingredients. You’re in a bind. What do you do? You can ask for help, in this case.
Quote of the Week
Here’s a good quote for the beginning of summer—the strangest summer we’ll ever live, probably. It’s by the writer George Sand, who wrote a memoir called “A Winter in Mallorca”. George Sand was the pen name of a female writer. She said in this memoir, “It is not so much a matter of traveling as of getting away; which of us has not some pain to dull or some yoke to cast off?” A yoke, in this case, is like a weight on your shoulders.
In these strange days where travel is not possible, remember these words. “It’s not so much a matter of traveling as of getting away.” See if it’s possible to get away—at least mentally—a little bit this year.
See you next time!
That is all for today’s lesson. If you choose to set off fireworks this year, please be careful! Be considerate to your neighbors and try to keep it to a reasonable hour.
Remember that we’ll be doing the free webinar on the best technology tools for learning English in 2020. Just visit the home page of PlainEnglish.com to sign up for that—or, better yet, if you’re a free member, you can just look on your dashboard.
That’s it today. See you on Thursday!
Learn more expressions like this
