Pick up

To “pick up” means to increase in strength or speed.

Today's story: A toad's quick evolution
Explore more: Lesson #340
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Pick up

Today’s expression is to “pick up.” There are several ways to use this phrasal verb, but as usual, we’re going to concentrate on just one way today. In this sense “pick up” means to increase in strength or speed.

“The wind is starting to pick up.” That’s a common thing to say when you’re outside and the wind is starting to blow harder or faster. If you’re out playing golf, you’ll want to pay close attention to the wind. When the wind starts to pick up, it can affect the trajectory of the balls you hit.

The cane toad in Australia is spreading . At first, the toad population spread slowly. But gradually, the spread started to pick up. The spread started to happen faster. The spread started to pick up because of a peculiar type of evolution along the frontier.

It’s snowy here in Chicago—we had a big snowstorm a few weeks ago. When it first starts snowing, just a few flurries fall. You see them blowing around, but it doesn’t stick to the ground and it’s still safe to be out driving. But when the snowfall starts to pick up, that’s when you need to be off the roads. When the snow starts falling harder and faster, you want to be off the roads if you can.

You can say it with rain, too. If it’s just drizzling, you can be out with just a light jacket. But if the rain starts to pick up, you’ll want to be carrying an umbrella. If the rain starts to come down stronger, then you want that umbrella and not just a light jacket.

You can say “pick up speed” if you want to say “go faster.” I drove a moving truck from New York to Chicago—I think I mentioned that once before: a big yellow Penske moving truck. As I was driving on the Ohio Turnpike, just west of Cleveland, Ohio, I ran into a problem. I couldn’t pick up any speed. I’d press the gas pedal and the truck would move, slowly. I pulled over to the side of the highway, in this truck with all my worldly possessions in the back. I tried to get going, but the truck just could not pick up any speed, so I couldn’t get back on the highway. I had to call the rental company. They found a hose had broken off in the engine. That explained why I couldn’t pick up any speed. They fixed it, and I was on my way.

“Pick up the pace” is a funny expression in English: it means “go faster.” We need to pick up the pace, here. If someone ever says that to you—let’s pick up the pace here—that person is telling you to go faster. Whatever you’re doing, do it faster. Joe Biden is trying to get a coronavirus relief bill passed in Congress. Our legislature is famous for moving slowly: it was built to move slowly. The White House is in no mood to wait. They’re telling Congress to pick up the pace. Move quicker.

If you’re waiting for a vaccine in Europe, you might wish they would pick up the pace. The continent was so instrumental in developing and then manufacturing the vaccine, and guess what? The shots are not getting into people’s arms fast enough. Europe really needs to pick up the pace.

Quote of the Week

Here’s a quote of the week. I mentioned earlier that scientists are working on a way to genetically modify cane toads to stop their spread, or at least make them less poisonous. Whenever you talk about genetically modifying animals, one concern that comes up is that it’s not the place of humans to “play God” with nature. And that is a valid concern. The other side of that argument, though, is that humans have been playing God for a long time, just in other ways. That cane toad came to Australia in an experiment, taking an animal from one part of the world and introducing it to another, all for the purposes of eating yet another kind of creature.

So all that is an introduction to the quote of the week. It’s from Stewart Brand. He said, “We are as gods and might as well get good at it.” The argument for genetically modifying the toad is to correct a mistake that people made playing God in a less enlightened time. Food for thought. Stewart Brand says, “We are as gods and might as well get good at it.”

See you next time!

And that’s all today. Congratulations on making it through another Plain English audio lesson. Remember, there’s always more to explore on the web site. The full lesson is at PlainEnglish.com/340. And if you’re ready to pick up the pace in English, you can listen to the fast version of this lesson. When I say the fast version, I don’t just speed up the audio electronically. It’s a whole new recording, and I read the text just the way I would speak it to a friend. So if you listen to the fast version, you’re hearing exactly the way I would normally say those words. It’s great if you’re trying to take that next step with your listening. That’s available for Plus members. If you’re not yet a Plus member, you can join by visiting PlainEnglish.com/Plus.

We’ll be back on Thursday. I need a break from doing scientific research: this lesson was hard. So on Thursday, I’ll tell you about some famous regional chain restaurants in the United States, and what they offer. Sure, we all know about McDonald’s and Subway and the national fast-food restaurants. But within regions, we have some local favorites. So I’ll tell you about those coming up on Thursday. See you then!

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Story: A toad's quick evolution