'Knock' in Phrasal Verbs - knock out, knock up, knock over...

Hi. Welcome back to EngVid. I'm Adam; nice to see you again. Today's lesson is for Suhaib,

who requested this lesson from Facebook. We're going to look at phrasal verbs with the verb

"knock". I know all of you know this verb, "knock" – "Who's at the door?", etc. When

we combine it with other prepositions to get phrasal verbs, the meaning is completely different.

We're going to look at a few of these. We're going to look at "knock down", "knock over",

"knock up", "knock out", and "knock off". These are verbs. Of course, we have "knockout"

and we have "knockoff" as nouns – could be adjectives as well. Let's start.

"Knock down": What does it mean to "knock down"? Well...

I have a domino, let's say, standing

up here on the table. I "knock it down", I topple it, I make it fall. Very simple, "knock

down" – make it fall. Easy.

"Knock over" is basically the same thing. You can "knock something over". For example,

you're walking in a restaurant, you're not paying attention, you bump into a table, you

"knock over" their wine glass, spill it on their dress. Not very happy, don't do that.

Be very careful. "Knock down" and "knock over" – the difference is that this is on purpose.

This could be accidental. So try not to do that.

"Knock up": This is a little bit different than what you may expect. It doesn't have

anything to do with lifting, with raising, anything that you can imagine. Some of you

may have heard this in movies and in Hollywood. There's actually a movie called 'Knocked Up'.

This means make someone pregnant. Yes, make someone have a baby. To "knock someone up”

is to get a girl pregnant. If she is "knocked up", that means she is pregnant. Very, very

much slang, not an everyday word that you're going to use.

"Knock out": Some of you might like sports. If you like boxing, you know this word. If

you like hockey, you know this word. To "knock out" means to punch and put unconscious; that's

one meaning. Another meaning basically means to put out of order. For example, there's

a lightning storm. Lightning comes down from the sky, it hits the electrical wires of a

city, it "knocks out" electricity to many houses. So to "knock out" – to put out of order,

to put out of commission.

"Knockout" has a completely different meaning from "knock out". You have to be very careful.

Notice there is no space between the words. It's one word. "Knock out" – two words.

Verb -- and adjective or noun. If you say about someone, usually a woman, you don't really

say this about men, although you could. If you see a woman walking down the street and

you say, "Wow. What a knockout.", what that means is she's gorgeous. She's so beautiful

it's like getting a punch in the face. You want to fall down because you're in love,

or lust, or whatever you are in. A "knockout" – a very gorgeous person, or gorgeous. Good.

"Knockoff": Again, you can "knock" something off the table, but it could also mean steal.

There are some countries that specialize in "knocking off" other countries' products.

These fake products are called "knockoffs". So basically "knockoff" means fake. You could

go, for example, traveling in some country and you see a Louis Vuitton bag, but this

Louis Vuitton bag is only $50. You're thinking, "Wow. What a bargain. I'm very lucky today.

I get a Louis Vuitton bag for $50, or a Gucci bag for $50." Be careful – it's probably

a knockoff. That's a noun. It means fake, not real. You don't actually have a Louis

Vuitton bag, you have a Joe Schmoe bag with Louis Vuitton written all over it. You're

lucky… but not so lucky. Very simple; very easy words. My example is gone. Sorry. I'll

come back to it.

I bumped into the table and knocked over someone's wine. I didn't want to, but I knocked up my

girlfriend, now I have to marry her because I'm a responsible guy. The lightning knocked

out electricity to the entire city. Be careful that you don't get a knockoff, because some

countries like to knock off other countries' products. "Knock down": If you're really angry,

you can knock me down and I won't fight back. Not the best example, but it'll work.

Okay, if you want more examples, go to www.engvid.com. We have a quiz for you there. You can practice

all of these, and hopefully use them well down the road. Okay. Thank you very much.

See you next time.

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