Rave about
To rave about something is to speak enthusiastically and positively about it. I came home from Europe raving about Budapest. I had such a nice time there. I loved the architecture. The Hungarian Parliament building is stunning during the day and beautiful at night. The food was very good and very international. The thermal baths were relaxing. The castles were majestic. The ruin bars were fun. The beers were cheap. The company was good, too. I had friend from Chicago who was visiting at the same time and I met with a number of Plain English listeners, who made the trip a lot of fun. Oh, and the public transit was extremely efficient and easy to navigate. And don’t get me started on the chimney cakes!
Guess what I’m doing? I’m raving about Budapest. I’m speaking positively and enthusiastically about it. I have only good things to say.
You can rave about the food at a new restaurant; you can rave about a new movie or TV show; you can rave about the service you’ve gotten from a person or a business; you can also rave about an experience. All of these are examples of things you can speak positively and enthusiastically about.
That last part is important: it has to be enthusiastic. There has to be energy in your voice. When you rave about something, you’re not just saying the words. You’re putting feeling and emotion in what you’re saying. I read a lot of books; I read a lot of good books. But I don’t rave about a lot of them. The last book I raved about was called “All the Light We Cannot See.” I could not stop talking about it. It was surprising because I hadn’t wanted to read that book. I had read the first chapter maybe three or four times and I always put the book down. It was one of those books that I thought I should read, but I just never had the motivation to read it.
Well one time I got past the first chapter and I was hooked. I just loved the story and the writing was beautiful. I finished the book in a couple of days and I was raving about it to anyone who would listen. You have to read this book, I kept saying. There was energy in my voice, I was a passionate advocate for this book. I still am. “All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr.
Do you remember how you heard it earlier? I was talking about online reviews . In some Airbnb reviews, everyone raves about the location, but nobody says anything about the comfort of the unit or the bed. If everyone raves about the location, they love the location. Everyone raved about the location of my Airbnb in Budapest, and rightly so. It was in the middle of everything, but the unit was quiet.
What does it tell you if everyone raves about the location, but they don’t say anything about the comfort of the bed? Well, maybe the bed isn’t exactly five stars. If that’s important to you, you should look for units where people rave about the comfort of the bed and the furniture. For me, I’d rather stay where people are raving about the location. I’m a deep sleeper: I can sleep on a wooden board if I need to!
JR’s Song of the Week
This week’s song is “The Ledge” by Mary Gauthier. This song is about 20 years old; I’ve heard it on and off over the years but never paid attention to the lyrics. Listening to the song, and reading them now, I think she’s describing the sensation of being emotionally closed off to the whole world. The lyrics say, “I couldn’t love, could not forgive, I didn’t know how to live and let live.” So that’s today’s song, “The Ledge” by Mary Gauthier.
See you next time!
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