Collocations in Use – Part 6

Metaphors based on movement

James did a lot of partying in his final year and ran into difficulties with his course. His father was hopping mad when he only just managed to get his degree. However, when he left university he walked straight into a job in an excellent company. Some people jumped to the conclusion that this was because he’d started going out with the Managing Director’s daughter. His mother worried that, if their relationship hit the rocks he would run into trouble at work too

.Answer these questions about the metaphors

?N1. What usually goes hand in hand with inflation, an increase or a decrease in savings ?N2. If a relationship hits the rocks, is it the end or the beginning of that relationship N3. If you say that someone is hopping mad, do you mean that they are good at athletics or that they are very angry ?N4. If you run into difficulties or trouble, does that mean that they happen quickly N5. Would you be more likely to call a magazine publishing gossip about celebrities light reading or a weighty tome N6. If you talk about facing the facts, are the facts more likely to be pleasant or unpleasant

:Answers

N1. A decrease in savings is likely to go hand in hand with inflation as people will have less money available for saving .N2. If a relationship hits the rocks, it is the end of that relationship .N3. If you say someone is hopping mad, you mean that they are very angry N4. If you run into difficulties or trouble, it just means that you encounter them or have them N5. You’d call a magazine dealing with celebrity gossip light reading. A weighty tome would only be used to refer to a book that is long and has difficult content – unless it is being used ironically, of course. So you might joke to a friend who is reading a celebrity magazine, I can see you’re reading your usual weighty tome .N6. If you talk about facing the facts, the facts are likely to be unpleasant