Make or break
Today’s expression is “make or break.” In today’s lesson, I said that “get-out-the-vote” efforts can make or break a political campaign. These efforts are all about connecting one-on-one with individual voters and encouraging them to go vote on election day. You can run the best campaign in the world, but if your voters don’t go to their polling places and cast their votes, then you won’t win. So the candidates get lists of supporters and they call them and they visit them in person. This type of campaigning can make or break a campaign.
What do I mean by this? I mean that, this could be the one thing that causes a campaign to win or lose. In a close election, with roughly equal numbers of supporters on both sides, the one factor that could cause one side to win could be this get-out-the-vote effort. That could make or break the campaign: that could be the one thing that separates victory from defeat.
What day is today? It is November 23. And that means some very important shopping weeks are coming up for retailers around the world. In fact, some people say that “Black Friday” can make or break a retailer’s year. If they have a good Black Friday, they have a good year. If they have a bad Black Friday, they have a bad year. Imagine! A year is 52 weeks. But just this one week separates a good year from a bad year. Black Friday performance can make or break a retailer’s year. That’s a lot of pressure.
The football team I root for is the Chicago Bears. They had a good beginning of the season followed by a few very tough losses. They now have three important games against division rivals. Many people are saying the next three games can make or break their season. If they do well in the next three games, then they will probably end up with a good season. If they do badly in the next three games, well, their season is likely going to end in disappointment. These three games will be the difference between a good season and a bad season. These games can make or break the Bears’ season.
Customer service can make or break a company’s reputation. Picture two companies: they both make products you like for an affordable price. But one has good customer service, while one has terrible customer service. Customer service usually isn’t the first thing you think about when buying a product or service. But it can make or break a company in a competitive industry. If two or three companies are all about the same, then customer service can make or break a company’s reputation. If you provide good service, then you’ll gain loyal customers. Bad service, and you can be trending on social media—and not in a good way.
Quote of the Week
I had a quote of the week in mind for this week, which I thought was first uttered by Winston Churchill. And as I was investigating the quote, I discovered that this famous Churchill quote may in fact not be authentic. But it was based on an authentic quote, so I’ll give you the real one. It is by the Israeli diplomat Abba Eban. Here is what he said: “My experience teaches me this: Men and nations do act wisely when they have exhausted all the other possibilities.”
That’s clever. Men and nations act wisely—they do the right thing—only when they have exhausted all the other possibilities, meaning, they’ll do the right thing only when they’ve tried all the other options. And I thought this quote would be especially appropriate around this election. We’ll do the right thing, only after we’ve tried all the alternatives!
See you next time!
And that brings us to the end of today’s lesson. Remember, anything you want to ask is fair game as a member of Plain English Plus+ in the forums. I didn’t mean to leave you hanging before. A report “on” something is a report describing that thing. A report “of” something is like an unconfirmed rumor. Just one letter difference, but a big difference in meaning. And that’s just one example of the types of questions I can answer for you in the forums at Plain English Plus+. So to join us there, and to get our full library of video lessons and exercises, come join us at PlainEnglish.com/Plus
Coming up on Thursday: good news in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine. You’ll want to join us for that one; some good news for once!
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
