Spring into action
Today’s expression is to spring into action. What does it mean to “spring into action”? Often, if you are in a state of rest or not otherwise working very hard, but you have to start working suddenly—if you have to start working very quickly because of some outside influence, then you spring into action.
Here’s how you heard it earlier on today’s lesson. A South Korean government report said that just one blockbuster movie could be worth as much to the economy as selling a million cars. At the time, there wasn’t much of a South Korean pop culture. But the government sprang into action: it changed laws and began investing in softer industries like film and music. Why do we say they “sprang into action”? They hadn’t been doing much in this area before. But the report showed them how valuable exporting popular culture could be. Recognizing that, they began to take action energetically. They sprang into action.
In normal times, the facilities departments at big companies have an unglamorous job: just make sure the buildings and facilities work for the employees. It’s a good job, a necessary job, but one without a whole lot of drama, on most days. However, since the coronavirus pandemic, the people who take care of our workplaces have had to spring into action. First, they needed to decide when and how to close down. Some had to quickly retrofit manufacturing processes to comply with new safety guidelines. Others had to put up barriers and floor guides to keep shoppers separated. Now, these departments are critical in crafting the return to work scenario for many companies. For most companies, this is a department that has always had a low profile. But they’ve had to spring into action lately because they are now in the middle of a storm of activity and high-stakes decision-making.
I mentioned last week about the re-opening plans across the world. Some state governors here in the US announced their re-opening plans somewhat abruptly. Businesses didn’t know that they would be allowed to open so soon. As soon as the governors made their announcements, many small businesses sprang into action, preparing their stores to accommodate new visitors and comply with the new social distancing guidelines.
It happens to me too. I’m having a bit of a lazy day, either work day or weekend. But then something happens and I have to spring into action. It could be an urgent e-mail from work, or JR tells me I forgot to do something for the web site, or I have a great idea and I want to make progress on it right away. Whatever the case is, if I’m having a low-key day but decide I need to change the pace, then I spring into action.
If someone in your family or your neighborhood gets sick, you and some others might spring into action to help out. You might prepare and deliver meals, help with household chores, volunteer to watch kids. This doesn’t mean you were just sitting at home doing nothing, and then you started to help. It simply means, you were going about your daily life. But then something caused you to raise the intensity of your activity. You sprang into action to help out where needed.
After the coronavirus genome was published, laboratories around the world sprang into action, trying to develop a vaccine. When snow starts falling, an army of snow shovelers and plow operators and utility repairmen spring into action to keep our roads cleared and electricity on. Most fire stations are relatively subdued—not a whole lot going on most hours of most days. But when a call comes in, everyone springs into action to respond quickly to the emergency, and we are glad that they do.
JR’s song of the week
I’m detecting a pattern in the selection of the song of the week. Today it’s “I’d Rather Go Blind” by Etta James. It is a sad song. The line that stands out to me is this one, “I would rather, I would rather go blind // Than to see you walk away from me.” It is a R&B, rhythm & blues, song from 1968. And it was featured in the third season of Ozark on Netflix, one of JR’s favorite shows these days. Last week, it was a song from Normal People, this week from Ozark.
See you next time!
That is all for today. Thanks for joining us as always. Counting down the days until our new site goes live. It’s kind of like moving. You make a lot of progress packing, and you’re 95 percent of the way there, but that last five percent just seems to drag on. That’s the part I’m in right now. But it will be done, June 1. And we’ll be right back here on Monday with another Plain English lesson.
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