Take up space

Take up space

Today’s expression is a really good one, and to be perfectly honest, it’s a weird one. The expression is to take up space. “Take up space” simply means to require space; it’s a measure of how big or bulky something is. Every physical thing takes up space. So, when we use the phrase, we’re often making comparisons between how big or bulky two things are.

Let’s practice. A car takes up more space than a motorcycle. A football field takes up more space than a basketball court. Let’s try the opposite now. A travel umbrella takes up less space than a golf umbrella. T-shirts and swimsuits take up less space in your suitcase than sweaters and jackets. And as you heard in today’s lesson, vertical farms take up less space than traditional farms. For the same amount of production, a vertical farm is smaller—it requires less area—than a traditional farm.

We often use “take up space” when we’re comparing how big something is to the space available for it. I recently went to Europe. I have this pillow that’s supposed to help me sleep on the plane. I hate this pillow; I don’t know why I still have it. First of all, it’s not that comfortable. Second of all, it takes up a lot of space in my small carry-on. I don’t have a lot of space available. This thing is big and bulky and it takes up a lot of space; it’s too big relative to the amount of space I have available.

Are you a coffee fan? A traditional espresso machine, with a steamer for cappuccinos, takes up a lot of space on your kitchen counters. If you just like espresso, you can get a small espresso maker that uses little pods. That’s not as good as a real espresso machine, but it takes up a lot less space on your countertops.

Thanksgiving is coming. It’s traditional here in the U.S. to make a turkey on Thanksgiving. Often, there’s a lot of turkey left over for the next day. After Thanksgiving dinner, all the leftovers go in the fridge. The one thing that takes up the most space in the refrigerator is the turkey. You can put the whole turkey in there. But you can also carve the turkey beforehand and only put the carvings in the fridge. That takes up less space than putting the whole bird in there.

When I wrote this lesson, I was keeping an eye on a football game on TV. The first TV I ever bought was not a flat-screen TV. That thing took up a lot of space in my living room. It was big and bulky. This one in my living room is sleek and flat and it’s hanging on the wall. It barely takes up any space at all.

Speaking of my living room, it’s so hard to shop for furniture. When you’re in a furniture store, you never really know how big the pieces will seem in your house. I bought my living room couch over 15 years ago. I absolutely love it; it’s so comfortable. But when I bought it, I got it home to my very small living room. I looked at it and I said, “Wow, I had no idea it was going to take up so much space in my living room.” I had no idea it was going to be so big relative to the amount of space I had available. Today, I have a much bigger living room and the couch—the same couch as before—doesn’t seem like it takes up very much space at all. It’s all about perspective.

Here’s a way to use “take up space” sarcastically. Think of something in your house that’s useless. You don’t need it. You don’t know why you have it. I’ll tell you one thing from my house. I have some cookbooks in my kitchen. News flash: I don’t use cookbooks. I rarely even use recipes. If I do cook from a recipe, I get the recipe online.

What are these cookbooks doing in my kitchen? All they are doing is taking up space. Those cookbooks are doing nothing but sitting there, preventing me from using that space for something better. All they’re doing is taking up space.

JR’s song of the week

Today’s song of the week is “And The Grass Won’t Pay No Mind” by Neil Diamond. It’s not exactly gramattical, but here’s what it means in context. The singer is inviting someone (a girl, presumably) to go for a walk in nature. And he’s saying “the grass won’t pay no mind,” or the grass won’t pay any attention. It’s originally an Elvis song, but JR has chosen the Neil Diamond version.

See you next time!

That brings us to the end of today’s lesson, number 417. Congratulations on all your hard work and thank you for making Plain English a part of your study plan. A listener sent me a note the other day asking where to find the transcripts of the lessons.

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We’ll be back Monday with a new lesson. See you then!