Learn 18 English PHRASAL VERBS for compliments & criticism

Hi there, and welcome back to engVid. Today we are looking at phrasal verbs for complimenting

someone and criticizing them. So, I'm wearing a clue as in what I'm wearing today, which

should give you a clue as to which one I might be looking at on this board over here. Which

one do the costumes give you the clue to? Well done: I am raving about.

Okay, so this lesson should help you both in the professional world to, you know...

Appraisals, we have to give opinions at work in a delicate and sensitive manner; but also

in a social way, you know, to get things better, we compliment and we suggest improvements.

To make sure that you're not just sitting there like a couch potato, and that you're

going to learn and have some fun in today's lesson, I thought I'd play a quick game with

you before we actually come on to the learning points. So what I want you to do is stand

up. If you are sat down in a chair in front of the computer, just stand up and just going

to be a series of instructions that you're going to have to try and follow. Up for it?

Good.

Okay, so we're standing. So, when I say: "Go", I want you to walk on the spot. Go. And then

when I say: "Stop", you're going to stop. Stop. Now, when I say: "Stop", you're going

to go; and when I say: "Go", you're going to stop. Stop. Go. Very good. Okay, I'm going

to give you one more practice. Ready? Stop. Go. Okay. We're going to make it a little

bit more interesting now, we're going to include a couple more instructions. So, when I say:

"Clap", you're going to jump; and when I say: "Jump", you're going to clap. Okay? Stop.

Clap. Jump. Go. Very, very good. I think we're all ready, awake, switched on, brain in gear,

ready to learn.

Okay, so, I thought we'd talk about me today, Benjamin. We're always talking about random

people and their story, so today we're going to talk about me. So, if I was "to find favour

with you", it means... Well, we can see that the word "favourite"... So I would become

a favourite of yours. "To find favour". "Favour" means a good feeling.

"To look up to", so obviously some of you are going to veer more on that side of the

board, but some of you might look up to some of the teachers on here, and think: "Yes,

thank you, teacher, sometimes you teach me something". "To look up to", so we're looking

up. Okay? Like that person is on a pedestal. Okay? Like they are on a...

"To put someone on a pedestal" means to value them highly, which links to this phrase: "To

speak highly of someone". If I speak highly of someone, it means that I say good things

about them. So, if you speak highly of me, you tell your friends: "Benjamin on engVid,

he teaches me good things."

"To butter up", so... "To butter", so there's a sense here that we're trying to make the

person listen to us, we're trying to make that person sweet. You know, toast on its

own is not very nice, but with a bit of butter it becomes easier to eat. So, if you butter

up to someone, maybe you're trying to get them to do something. If you butter up to

me, maybe you're writing a message on the forum, saying: "Benjamin, dah-dah-dah-dah-dah",

and that's buttering up.

"To hand it to". So, we would use this a little bit like: "Oh, I've got to hand it to you.

That was fantastic. I've got to hand it to you". "To hand it to" means to give credit.

To give credit. If you hand it to me, then it's like: "Yeah, Benjamin, that was good."

Don't worry, you'll get to say bad things in a moment.

If you give me a "pat on the back"-okay?-that means well done. "To pat on the back" means

to congratu-... To congratulate.

"To take your hat off to", okay? So that is a symbol of respect, to take your hat off.

There's a... So we're harking back to sort of Victorian manners, here, where a gentleman

would take their hat off as a form of respect to another person. We still have this reference

here in our way of speaking. "To take your hat off to" means to show respect.

"To wax lyrical about", kind of an unusual phrasal verb, this one. So, "wax" we get in

a... Do you know what wax makes? It makes candles. "Wax lyrical", so we can see the

word, the shorter word in the big word: "lyric", write a song, so you're kind of using a candle

to write a song, you're kind of making something sound quite good. If you wax lyrical about

Benjamin on engVid, you're saying: "Benjamin, engVid lessons, fantastic, blah, blah, blah,

blah, blah".

And, of course, if you "rave about", then you're really excited, you're full of enthusiasm

and you're just really loving it. But it does sort of refer to speaking about someone. So,

you know, why not tell someone about Benjamin on engVid?

Criticism. If I've been a bad boy, if I've been a bad man and I haven't taught you well,

then you may be criticizing me instead of praising me. You might say: "Benjamin, you're

such a show off. You show off. What is this strange outfit that you are wearing?"

"Screw up", now, this is slightly more American English than it is British English, but I've

included it anyway. "To screw up". So, it means kind of to make a mess. So if my board

was all: "Uhl-uhl-uhl", it's like: "Benjamin, you've screwed up, man. That is not a good

lesson." Okay? "To screw up" means to make a mess.

"To measure up". I don't know if you've seen my video about going to the hairdresser, but

I had a ruler, a metal ruler with inches and centimetres on. "To measure up". So you're

sort of evaluating. So you'd be... You'd say something like: "Benjamin, you've been measured

up, and you've been found wanting." Okay? I'm going to write that in. "You have been...

You have been measured up, and you have been found wanting". "Found wanting" means... Okay,

I'm looking for something good, but I'm still looking for something good and I'm still wanting

something good that's not there. "You have been measured up, and found wanting." Okay?

"What are you playing at?" Okay? So this expresses confusion. "Playing", without this preposition,

okay? Nice and innocent. Put that preposition "at" next to it: "Playing at", it expresses

a sense of not very happy with this; it's quite strange. "What are you playing at?"

Okay, let's just put a line there.

So, these next four are about being quite mean to me, about being quite nasty. So, if

you "pick on", okay? So you pick, you pick a scab, you pick on... If you're picking on,

then you're being quite unpleasant. "Pick on" makes me think of sort of school and bullies,

okay? So, we don't... We don't want to... You to pick on me.

If you "lay into someone", then you really have lots of different criticisms, you lay

in, you say: "This is wrong, this is bad, this is wrong." Of course that's never going

to happen with me, is it, loyal subscribers?

Because I would feel quite "run down", you would have run me down. Benjamin would be

feeling very sad, and he wouldn't come back and make the next video for a very long time,

so you better watch out. Okay?

"To rub something in", so it... You would think it's something nice, rubbing something

in. Maybe you're rubbing some ointment in, but we use it... Like a special potion. We

use it to say that we're repeating this bad news, we're repeating this criticism. If you

rub something in, you say: "Benjamin, you're bad. Benjamin, you're bad." Rubbing it in,

you're saying it again and again and again. Okay?

But you know, me being me, that I will always "hit back", I will always bounce back and

then you'll come back to giving me lots of praise and finding favour with me, looking

up to me, speaking highly of Benjamin on engVid.

Hope you've enjoyed today's lesson. Until next time, press "Subscribe", say good things,

and take today's quiz. All the best. I'll see you on the next video. Bye.