Live up to expectations
Do you remember the episode we did back in February about the movie “Crazy Rich Asians”? The phrasal verb we talked about in that episode was “measure up.” That means to be as good, or as successful, as someone else. It’s often used—as it was used in the movie—in a negative sense. Nick’s fiancée Rachel wouldn’t measure up, they said.
Today’s phrasal verb is a close cousin to measure up, but it doesn’t have quite the same negative energy. Today’s expression is to “live up to expectations.” If something “lives up to your expectations,” that thing is as good as you thought it would be. Porsche buyers have high expectations for their vehicles. They want their cars to be fast, yes; but they want to feel good driving them. They want to feel powerful, feel alive driving it. The sound of an engine, the response you get to accelerating, shifting gears. How it feels around curves. And then the interior has to be top-notch. Porsche buyers have high expectations. Can an electric car live up to those expectations? Will an electric Porsche be as good as people want it to be?
I think it will. I mean, look: an electric car will not sound the same. It won’t feel the same. But Porsche would not build anything other than a powerful, invigorating car. I have a feeling those early buyers are going to be happy.
A person can live up to expectations. If you hire someone at work, or engage a contractor, you hope that person lives up to your expectations.
Kids, too. Not all kids, obviously, but a lot of kids want to live up to their parents’ expectations. If you’re a parent, you want to have high expectations for your kids—and help them live up to those expectations. And kids will stumble, of course. You want to be understanding when they don’t live up to expectations.
You can also say “live up to the hype.” A person or a business can build up a lot of hype; they can raise expectations of themselves. Hype is like, you talk and talk and talk, and you tell everyone it’s going to be amazing. Like these private space exploration companies—people are going to live on the moon someday, they tell us. Pretty soon, you can go to space for the same cost as a plane ticket. Okay, sure. Let me just say, I don’t believe all that hype. It’s going to be pretty hard for these space travel companies to live up to the hype. Living on the moon! Come on.
Sometimes there’s a lot of hype surrounding movies. “The Joker” came out recently and there was a lot of hype around it. I read some reviews that said “The Joker” did not live up to the hype. It was all talk—it wasn’t as good as they said it was going to be.
Quote of the week
Quote of the week for you, by Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of the sports car company we were talking about today. He said, “It’s not the technology that makes history, but the people who invented it.” There’s a lot to be pessimistic about in the world, but there’s a lot of exciting ways human inventiveness is making the world better. Last week, we talked about new natural technologies to make food last longer. That’s over and above the new, more productive seeds. And today, a sports car that’s all-electric.
You remember not too long ago, if you wanted an electric car, it had to be this tiny little futuristic looking thing? And now you can have almost any kind of electric car you want—sports car, SUV, normal-looking sedan, delivery van even. So I like this quote, “It’s not the technology that makes history, but the people who invented it.” And there are so many people dedicated all over the world to interesting new technologies that will improve our lives, extend our lives, reduce our impact on the environment, all kinds of things.
That’s it for today. Thanks for being with us as always.
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JR and I will be back on Thursday with a brand-new episode.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
