To paint a picture
Today’s phrase is a little unique. It’s more of a rhetorical device than an actual expression. Earlier in the program, you heard that some unverified reports paint a dark picture about what happened to Jamal Khoshoggi. Here’s what that means. It means those reports are showing that what happened was pretty bad. They are painting a dark picture. They are painting a disturbing picture; they are painting a frightening picture. All those work.
In English, when you want to say that a person, or a report, or like in this case a series of details—when they describe something in a certain way, you can say they are painting a picture. This is going to be one of those expressions where it’s easier for me to give you a bunch of examples instead of trying to explain it too much. So here we go.
China’s official statistics paint an optimistic picture about its economy over the last few years. They are leading us to have an optimistic view about its economy. But
The Neflix series “Making of a Murderer” paints a disturbing picture of the criminal justice system.
Candidates for public office often try to paint a negative picture about their opponents, while painting a positive picture about themselves. Actually as I’m writing this, I’m seeing an ad on TV painting a pretty negative picture about an opposing candidate.
When there are conflicting versions of a story—as with the disappearance of Jamal Khoshoggi—it can be difficult to paint an accurate picture of what happened. It can be difficult to describe what happened in an accurate way, to paint an accurate picture.
The British government is trying to paint a picture of unity—of all being in agreement—as it negotiates its exit from the European Union. Though it may try to paint a picture of unity, in fact there are many varying opinions on how Britain should negotiate its exit.
I hope those examples paint a clear picture of how to use the expression “paint a picture.”
Thanks for being with us today. If you want to get in touch with us, you can find JR and me on Facebook and Twitter under the user name PlainEnglishPod on both of those. If you prefer to email, you can send me a message to [email protected] and [email protected]
Learn more expressions like this
