Run into

To “run into” someone is to see them coincidentally, without planning it.

Today's story: Nomadland review
Explore more: Lesson #346
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Run into

Today’s phrasal verb is “run into.” Now, like many phrasal verbs, this one has a number of meanings, but I’m going to use a super-common meaning today—a very informal way to use this phrase, but an essential one for your English.

To run into someone is to see them coincidentally, without planning it. In the movie “Nomadland,” the character Fern is browsing around a sporting goods store and she runs into an acquaintance. This simply means they saw each other in the store. They had not planned to meet, but they were both there at the same time and saw each other coincidentally. They ran into each other.

Pretty simple, right? “Run into” sounds like something physical, like you accidentally bumped someone physically. Someone might say they were driving and accidentally ran into a mailbox. That means they hit the mailbox. But when you’re talking about running into a person, there’s no crash involve, no physical touch. Just a coincidental meeting.

“Guess who I ran into?” That’s common to say. You might get home from doing errands and say to your spouse, “Guess who I ran into?” It’s a question with no real answer: if it’s a coincidental meeting, there’s no way to know who it is. Your spouse might answer, “I don’t know; who?” And then you would given the answer. I ran into Massimo. I ran into Fernando. I ran into Claudio. Whomever.

Have you ever run into someone in a completely unexpected place? It can be surprising—like, to run into your dentist in a bar, or run into your favorite bartender at the dentist’s office. One time at the gym, I ran into a human resources manager from work. It took a second for us to recognize each other, dressed in workout gear rather than business casual dress.

I lost touch with one of my best friends from growing up. We’ve grown apart and we really don’t stay in touch anymore. No hard feelings; we’ve just gone different directions. I ran into him on the subway in Boston. He lives there and I was in Boston doing a project for work; I was going from my hotel to the office where I was working. It was strange, but we recognized each other right away and caught up briefly.

This is really weird, but I run into a former coworker a lot in New York. New York is a big city, but you do, surprisingly, run into people there. I have a former coworker that I’m friendly with, but we don’t really keep in touch too actively. However, I’ve run into him at least three times on the streets of New York, and then once I ran into him on a train in New Jersey.

Quote of the Week

Today’s quote is from the travel writer Rolf Potts. He was writing about the lifestyle of long-term travel. Here’s what he says: “Long-term travel isn’t an act of rebellion against society; it’s an act of common sense within society.”

That’s probably an answer to the perception that traveling long term, meaning in an RV or travel van, is like opting out of mainstream society. That attitude is certainly present in some of the characters we see in Nomadland. But that’s not how everyone sees it. So here’s that quote again from Rolf Potts: “Long-term travel isn’t an act of rebellion against society; it’s an act of common sense within society.”

See you next time!

And that’s all today. Remember, we’ll continue with this movie on Thursday’s lesson. We’ll focus more about the nomads themselves and the conditions that led them to this lifestyle. We’ll talk about three real-life nomads that played themselves and unexpectedly found themselves in one of the most celebrated movies of the year. So that’s coming up on Thursday. Remember to join us then!

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Story: Nomadland review