Wreak havoc
Today’s expression is to “wreak havoc.” When something wreaks havoc, it causes a lot of trouble or confusion. Tennis is an outdoor sport and tennis tournaments follow a strict schedule. But the weather can sometimes wreak havoc on the schedule. If it rains, the whole schedule is at risk because these are tournaments. The results of one match determine who plays in the next match, so they all have to be played in the right order. When rain cancels games, the schedule can get messed up.
“Wreak” is one of those words that most often used inside this phrase. I would say 95 to 99 percent of the times that “wreak” is used in a sentence, it’s used with the word “havoc.” To wreak havoc.
Maybe you’ve noticed that we use “on” with this expression. A heavy rain storm can wreak havoc on a city: that means it caused trouble in the city by flooding streets. Social media can wreak havoc on your mental health. Smoking can wreak havoc on your lungs. Space junk could wreak havoc on satellites.
This jet lag is wreaking havoc on my sleep schedule. If you fly overseas and you experience a big change in time zones, your sleep schedule is going to be messed up for a few days. The change in time zones will wreak havoc on your sleep schedule. If, on your vacation, you’re experimenting with all kinds of new food, all those new flavors and ingredients can wreak havoc on your stomach. The last thing that wreaked havoc on my stomach on vacation was the torta ahogada I had in Guadalajara.
Potholes in the streets can wreak havoc on your car’s alignment. Have you ever driven on a street with a lot of potholes, and then you find that the car doesn’t go straight when you have the steering wheel in a neutral position? That means your car is out of alignment and that can happen if you hit a lot of potholes. Potholes in streets are common where the climate changes between hot and cold all the time, and potholes can wreak havoc on your car.
The Asian carp is a kind of invasive species of fish. The species somehow was brought to North America, where it has no natural predators. It’s the kind of fish that can give you nightmares because it’s big, strong, and can even jump into a fishing boat. It gets into a river or a lake, eats all the local species, and nothing eats the Asian carp back. It really wreaks havoc on the natural habitat. It causes a lot of damage.
Low ridership is going to wreak havoc on the budgets of public transportation systems. Every day I see the train go by empty and I think, there’s nobody on these trains and buses. There’s nobody paying the fares. The budgets of these public transit agencies must be in complete disarray. The virus and low ridership are wreaking havoc on public transit budgets.
Quote of the Week
Here’s a humorous quote of the week, but first I have to explain a little something. Sometimes, when you want to express that you’ve achieved something that others thought was unlikely, you can say, “They’re not laughing now.” For example, you might say, “They laughed when I said I was going to learn English. Well, they’re not laughing now.” Why would they not be laughing now? Because you proved them wrong.
Here’s another one. They laughed when Iga Świątek thought she could beat the number-one tennis player in the world. But they’re not laughing now. Why? Because Iga Świątek did beat the number one player in the world, and she went on to win the French Open.
Okay, so you get the pattern. People laugh when they think you can’t do something. You say, “They’re not laughing now” after you prove them wrong.
There was a British comedian named Bob Monkhouse. He hosted game shows, comedy specials, things like that. At the peak of his career, he said, “They laughed when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well, they’re not laughing now.”
I just think that’s really funny because it’s a play on words and a joke at his own expense. He’s a comedian, so his job is to make people laugh. So maybe they’re not laughing at his expense, but if they’re not laughing, then he’s a bad comedian.
I read that line in a magazine last week and I loved it, so I had to share it with you. Here’s Bob Monkhouse on achieving his career ambition: “They laughed when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well, they’re not laughing now.”
See you next time!
All right, that’s all for today. Thanks for joining us once again. If you’re getting hungry, then you might be ready to pull up a food delivery app. Before you do, you’ll want to hear Thursday’s lesson. That’s all about the best and worst kinds of food to order for delivery. That’s in lesson number 307 coming out on Thursday.
In the meantime, remember the fun continues on PlainEnglish.com, where you can find the full version of this lesson, including the video portion, quiz, pronunciation practice and much more. That’s all at PlainEnglish.com/307. Remember, we’ll see you right back here on Thursday.
Use realistic expressions like a native speaker
