Overrun with
Today’s expression is “overrun with.” We use this phrase in the passive voice: One thing is overrun with another thing. We use overrun when something unwanted fills a place quickly. You always have a situation where there’s a place—either a physical place or somewhere online, say . And in that place is something unwanted, something that came from somewhere else. And there’s a lot of it.
The Mississippi River—and other connecting rivers—are overrun with Asian carp . The Asian carp is unwanted. It eats the local fish, has no local predators, and attacks fishermen—among other things. But precisely because it has no natural predators in those rivers, it’s filling the rivers up. There’s a lot of these carp. Just watch the video .
So we say that the rivers are overrun with Asian carp. So in this example, the first thing is the place; the second thing is the unwanted visitor. The rivers are overrun with Asian carp.
Before the pandemic, we did a lesson about tourist hotspots. That was Lesson 99. These places were overrun with tourists . There were too many of them; they were not all welcome. You probably recognize the names: Venice, Barcelona, cities like that. Europe is the world’s biggest tourist destination, but some cities are much more popular than others. Instagram has not helped, as everyone chases the most popular Instagram backgrounds.
Venice was so overrun with tourists that it started closing a fence around its historic center, keeping out tourists if it got too crowded. Barcelona was so overrun with Airbnb rentals that locals couldn’t afford their rent. Those that could afford the rent had to contend with parties at all hours of the night.
Mount Everest was also overrun with inexperienced hikers : we talked about that in Lesson 161. Instagram also figured in that unwelcome trend. Remember what happened there? The government of Nepal started selling more and more tourist passes for the famous hike. And many tour companies started relaxing their standards, allowing less experienced hikers to take the journey.
So the path up Mt. Everest was overrun with inexperienced hikers—people taking unnecessary risks for the perfect Instagram background. There were way too many of those inexperienced hikers, and they were not welcome.
A lot of people got “pandemic pets.” Stuck at home, with extra time and few distractions, people adopted dogs and cats. Not all of those people thought this through: a pet can live ten, fifteen years; a pandemic lasts less than that. And now, unfortunately, a lot of shelters are overrun with pets. Their pandemic parents had to go back to work. The shelters can’t handle all these pets.
Elon Musk believes Twitter is overrun with fake accounts. He believes there are way too many fake accounts that are all ruining the user experience. He is using this as a pretext for cancelling his agreement to buy that social media company . Twitter is suing him, as we discussed back in Lesson 490. A recent decision set a five-day trial for October. Twitter said it has been overrun with unreasonable data and document requests from Elon Musk’s lawyers and bankers.
Quote of the Week
Today’s quote of the week goes like this: “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.” That’s from Andy Rooney, a journalist. He had the last few minutes of a really popular weekly news show called “60 Minutes.” He had a big head of white hair and big, bushy white eyebrows. And a distinctive voice, too, I remember that. Andy Rooney, his name was. He was on “60 Minutes” every week until he was 92. And one time he said: “Everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you’re climbing it.”
See you next time!
That’s it for the audio portion of today’s lesson. Now remember, this was number 492, so we’re creeping closer and closer to a big milestone number. And I want to celebrate it with all of you. So PlainEnglish.com/500 is where you’re going to find all the details for how to be part of the celebration.
Now if were just me planning this, it would be kind of a lame party. But JR is involved. He is closely advising me on how to celebrate this milestone. So here’s what we have planned. We are going to live-stream the audio—and video—on Facebook and Instagram. We are going to have a giveaway.
But the best part is, we are going to make a video with all of you. I really want as many of you as possible on this video. And it’s simple. Right from PlainEnglish.com/500, you can record a video telling us where you listen, what you like the best about Plain English, what your favorite episode is, whatever you want to say. I’m making it so easy for you. You don’t have to download anything; you don’t have to e-mail me a file. Just tap a button and record the video. It couldn’t be easier. I do want to hear from you, and I want you to help JR and me celebrate this milestone lesson.
So go to PlainEnglish.com/500 and you can be part of the celebration. All the details are there already; the page is already up. PlainEnglish.com/500… go there now, and record a video for us, and you will be part of the fun. PlainEnglish.com/500.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
