Run the gamut
The word I chose today is “run the gamut” but if you heard that expression “strike a chord” and want to learn more about it, check out Episode 68 at PlainEnglish.com/68.
Okay, run the gamut. This is a weird one—it’s not super common, but every now and then you see it, and I think you should know what it means. To run the gamut means to extend over a large range. The way you originally heard it, the opposition to Jair Bolsonaro runs the gamut. That means, people are opposed to him on a large range of issues—economics, politics, his personal style, his views on crime, his views on foreign and environmental policy—people oppose him for almost anything you can think of. The opposition to him runs the gamut, because so many parts of his candidacy were controversial. We’ll also keep in mind that his support probably runs the gamut, too, since he did win 55 percent of the vote. I would say that opposition to the Workers Party was probably more concentrated in issues like the economy and corruption.
Let me give you some more examples. Think of things that have a very wide range. Walmart’s product line runs the gamut—they have clothing, groceries, cleaning supplies, eyeglasses, hardware, sports equipment, appliances, televisions—Walmart’s products run the gamut since they pretty much have everything.
One of my favorite museums here in Chicago is the Art Institute. The collection at the Art Institute runs the gamut of art forms: painting, sculpture, photography, ceramics, tapestries, even mapmaking and ancient artifacts.
You might have a friend whose musical tastes run the gamut. One she’s listening to popular music, the next day to jazz, the next day to classical music, and then one day to something obscure you’ve never heard of. If you have a friend like that, her musical taste runs the gamut; she covers everything.
I also ran across a web page that said the benefits of medical marijuana run the gamut, from mental health to better sleep to better physical health. Mmmm hmmm, I’ll let you be the judge of that.
The topics on this podcast run the gamut, don’t they? We’re in episode 100 and we’ve talked about politics, sports, artwork, current events, natural disasters, scientific breakthroughs, big elections, movies, the ethical dilemmas facing social media. The topics really do run the gamut. By the way, I’ve been in Canada a lot for work the last couple of weeks and I’ve noticed some people exercising their new rights here. If you don’t know what I mean, go back and listen to episode 98 at PlainEnglish.com/98.
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That’s all for episode number one hundred! Remember tomorrow JR and I are going to release a special episode to commemorate all that we’ve been through together over the last year or so. Thank you so much for being part of this project; like I said before, it means a lot to both JR and I that we are all here together. Check the feed tomorrow for the special episode and we’ll be back with a normal episode again on Thursday
Learn more expressions like this
