Take something in stride
Today’s expression is to take something in stride. A stride is like a big, purposeful step forward. And when you take something in stride, it means you’re not allowing it to affect you negatively. You handle something negative in a calm manner. Here’s how you originally heard it. Boyan Slat, the young entrepreneur, took the initial failure of Wilson in stride. Some people might have gotten discouraged. Some people might have given up. Some people might have allowed the initial setbacks, and all the criticism he received, to affect them negatively. But Boyan Slat took it all in stride. He’s going to learn from his mistakes and come back stronger next time. He’s taking it all in stride.
You remember the story about the polar vortex? A lot of people stayed home. I know people who didn’t go outside for two or three days! They were not taking the polar vortex in stride. But I’ll tell you who was—a lot of the public safety officers like firemen, policemen, hospital workers, the repairmen for the electric and gas companies. They all had to work, and they took the cold weather in stride. They weren’t about to let some low temperatures stop them from doing their important work in keeping us safe, keeping the lights on, and responding to emergencies. They took it all in stride.
Remember the story from last week about the plane that got stuck in Iran? The passengers on that plane had to unexpectedly spend the whole night in a hotel in Iran—talk about an unexpected detour! But most of them took it in stride, enjoyed the food and hospitality, and they were on their way the next day.
You all know I travel quite a bit for work these days. Since October I’ve been on the road almost every week. And when you travel that much, you know there’s one unchanging fact of life: you’re going to face delays now and then. That could be from equipment failure, weather delays, whatever. And the important thing is to just take it in stride. Don’t get all upset. Come prepared with a book, some work to do, call ahead and let your family or coworkers know you’ll be late, and just settle down for the delay. There’s no sense in yelling and screaming at the airline employees like some people do. It’s better to just take it in stride and move on.
Happy Carnival for those of you in Brazil. Don’t forget about Audible, if you haven’t already signed up for a free audiobook. Details of that offer are at PlainEnglish.com/book. Oh, and you are not going to want to miss Monday’s episode. Have you heard of Marie Kondo? She’s the Japanese organizing consultant with a new show on Netflix and a bestselling book. Her special method for tidying up has taken the world by storm, and that’s what we’re going to talk about in Monday’s episode. It’s funny, and you’ll really enjoy it.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
