Stay put

Stay put

“Stay put.”

To “stay put” is to stay in the same place. Don’t move around. And we use “stay put” in situations where a person might be likely to move, might be tempted to move, might want to move, but does not move.

I’m purposely keeping things vague with the word “move.” So let’s dive into the many ways you might use “stay put.”

Don’t move around

“Stay put” can mean, you don’t move your body; you don’t go to a new place. Imagine you’re with your family and you’re on vacation in a big city. You want to take a taxi, but you don’t see any taxis nearby. You don’t want to walk with your whole family in search of a taxi. So you might say to your spouse, your partner, “I’ll stay put with the kids while you find a taxi.”

“I’ll stay put” means, “I’ll stay here. I won’t move.” And it implies that your partner or spouse will go look for the taxi; you will stay in one place with the kids without moving.

‘Stay put’ in the imperative

You can use “stay put” in the imperative. If you tell someone, “stay put,” you’re telling that person not to move. Now imagine you’re on that same vacation, but it’s just you and the kids. You’re going to go find a taxi. You might tell your kids—if they’re old enough—”stay put while I find a taxi.” That means, “stay right here and don’t move” while I find a taxi.

Next, imagine you’re out on a busy sidewalk and you see someone fall. The person is clearly injured and tries to get up. You might say to that person, “Just stay put. I’ll call for help.”

“Just stay put” means: stay where you are. Don’t move. You’re hurt. Stay put and I’ll get help.

Other ways to use ‘stay put’

The examples I’ve given you so far are about moving around, moving your body. Don’t get up off the sidewalk if you’re injured. Don’t move while I look for a taxi. Things like that.

You can also use “stay put” in other situations. Think about other ways you might use the word “move”: for example, moving to a new house.

Where do retirees live after they stop working? Some move to a smaller house; they don’t want the expense and burden of maintaining a full family house when their kids are grown and they’re not working. Other retirees move to warmer climates.

But about a third of retirees stay put. About a third of retirees in the United States don’t move after they stop working. They keep living in the same house, the same house where they raised their kids. They stay put; they don’t move.

Switching jobs, or thinking about switching jobs, is another time you can use “stay put.” When we talk about quitting a job and getting a new job, we sometimes call that “making a move.”

If someone is talking about their career or their job, they might say “I’m looking to make a move right now.” That means they’re ready to get a new job. Or they might say, “I’m not ready to make a move right now.” That means, they’re not ready to get a new job.

And if that’s the case, the person might also say, “I think I want to stay put for now.” And that means, “I don’t want to make a move; I don’t want to switch jobs.”

So all of these examples with “stay put” are about not moving. It could mean not walking around, not moving to a new house, not getting up after a fall, or not moving to a new company or job. Use “stay put” when you want to talk about not moving around.

See you next time!

And that brings us to the end of Plain English, episode number 702. If you want to practice using “stay put,” you can do that on the website, right next to the transcript. There’s a tab called “Your Turn .” Click on that tab and you can practice writing your own sentences with “stay put” and I’ll give you some personal feedback.

We’ll be back on Thursday. The topic on Thursday: jury duty. We all—most of us, in the U.S.—we get called once in a while to serve on a jury. And on Thursday, you’ll learn more about what that’s like.