Turn back
Today’s English expression is a phrasal verb: “turn back.” When you turn back, you are going somewhere , but you have to turn around and return where you came from . And that is called “turning back.” So let’s take a look at a few examples.
If you are driving down a road and there’s a fallen tree , or a bridge is out , or there’s a crash, or the police have closed the road, you might have to turn back. That means you go back in the direction you were coming from. You don’t have to go back to where you started. Maybe there’s another way you can reach your destination. But on that road , you have to turn back if you turn completely around and move in the direction you came from.
Have you ever been on a flight that had to turn back ? That is extremely frustrating . I’ve flown a lot in my life, but I’ve only been on a flight that turned back once. It was late at night and there were thunderstorms and delays, and about a half hour after we got up in the air, the airport at our destination closed due to the weather. So we had to turn back. The plane turned completely around and we flew right back where we started.
Earlier in today’s lesson, I said that a humanitarian flight from Australia heading to Tonga had to turn back because of a positive COVID test onboard . The flight took off , it had supplies , and then someone on board tested positive. The plane had to turn back. They haven’t had COVID on Tonga, and it wouldn’t be fair to introduce a deadly virus to an unvaccinated population while delivering humanitarian aid. So the plane turned back.
So that’s the first way to use it. The second way to use it is related. You can turn someone or something else back if you make someone else go back the way they came. So for example, if there’s a crash on a roadway, the police might come and turn cars on the road back . So in this case, the police show up. The police decide that no cars can safely go by . The police decide that other cars have to turn around and go away. So we can say the police turned back the cars on the road.
You can be turned back at the border . If you try to drive across an international border with food or pets or too many household goods , then the border agents might turn you back. The US-Canadian border is pretty relaxed most of the time, at least when there isn’t a pandemic. Even in normal times, though, you can be turned back if you try to bring certain things from one country into the other.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “turn back the clock.” That simply means, go back in time . At a party, you can “turn back the clock” and play songs that were popular a few decades ago . Boris Johnson, the British prime minister, is in hot water for having parties during COVID lockdowns . He said he wishes he could turn back the clock and make different decisions.
Quote of the Week
Here’s a quote from the painter Vincent Van Gogh. He says, “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” And I leave you with that quote because on Thursday’s lesson, I’ll tell you all about the new immersive , interactive Van Gogh exhibits that are taking the world by storm . “What would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything?” That’s the quote from Vincent Van Gogh.
See you next time!
That’s all for today’s lesson. Congratulations on reaching the end of yet another Plain English lesson. And remember if you are a Plain English Plus+ member, the lesson content continues online at PlainEnglish.com/440. In the video lesson online, we’ll talk about how to say something happens repeatedly.
And remember, if you’ve heard about the new “immersive” art exhibits, you’ll want to be listening on Thursday. See you then!
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