In tatters
Today I’m going to show you how to use the English expression “in tatters.”
In a physical sense, “in tatters” refers to something that has been destroyed or torn to pieces.
If a tornado goes through a town, it might leave building in tatters. That means, it left the buildings torn to pieces.
A really sad situation in Mexico: the resort town of Acapulco is in tatters after a strong hurricane hit Mexico’s Pacific coast. The town is in tatters. Small buildings have been completely destroyed. The tall, gleaming hotels and apartments along the coastline are in tatters, too. Their windows were blown out by the wind, and their interiors are a mess from the rain and the exposure.
With their city in tatters, many residents of Acapulco have had to leave and stay with relatives and friends in other parts of Mexico. Those who stay face a long struggle to rebuild.
Often, though, we use “in tatters” to describe intangible things. Relationships, friendships, alliances, hopes, dreams, investments, plans, and—the way I used it in today’s lesson—reputations.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s parents were law professors at Stanford University. Let me just say that again. Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated the biggest fraud in crypto history—and that’s saying something!—and his parents are professors of law at a prestigious university.
Now. You might be imagining that during this whole thing, Bankman-Fried’s law-professor parents weren’t involved in their son’s company. You might imagine that they were looking on with dismay at the profligate spending and careless ways in which Bankman-Fried ran FTX.
That is not how it happened. Joe Bankman, the father, was a legal advisor to FTX during all of this. He even appeared in a television commercial for FTX. Barbara Fried, the mother, steered FTX company money toward political causes that she personally favored.
So here are two law professors who are both hip-deep in the biggest financial scam of this decade. They were not convicted of anything; they were not even on trial. Even so, their reputations are in tatters.
Your dreams can be in tatters if something happens to ruin your plans. Here’s one that ChatGPT suggested. “Her dreams of a perfect wedding were in tatters when heavy rain ruined the outdoor ceremony.” Well, that’s sad!
The New York Jets spent big money to get a star player, Aaron Rodgers. And just a few minutes into the first game of the year, he got hurt and he’ll miss the rest of the season. So the Jets’ dreams of winning a championship are in tatters.
An agreement can be in tatters. We can say this if two sides are trying to come to an agreement, or they even have an agreement, but something happens to ruin the agreement.
See you next time!
On that note, we will say goodbye for now—just for now. Because you never have to go more than a few days before the next Plain English comes along. And that will happen on Monday morning, bright and early 6:00 a.m. Chicago time, they’re published to your podcast feed and on the web.
Remember this was lesson number 629, so the full lesson resources are available at PlainEnglish.com/629. See you back here on Monday.
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