“Is something wrong with Saurabh? He just shouted at me for no reason.”
“You must excuse the poor chap. He just came to know he hasn’t been promoted.”
“Really? That’s sad! The fact he hasn’t been promoted in over five years must be eating away at him. Seeing people who joined….”
“Eating away at him? What are you talking about? How can anything…”
“The expression ‘eat away at someone’ is used in informal contexts to mean to trouble or worry someone. It’s been a cause of worry for some time.”
“And because the person is worried, the expression carries with it a sense of unhappiness.”
“I guess you could say that. Here’s an example. The fact that his friends didn’t throw a surprise party on his birthday was still eating away at Jai.”
“The thought that her cousin’s cancer had returned was eating away at Sunitha.”
“That’s a very good example. It’s also possible for something to eat away at something. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an individual. Renu’s reckless gambling habit has been eating away at the family’s fortune.”
“In this context, ‘eating away’ doesn’t mean ‘to worry’ but ‘to reduce’.”
“Very good! The hard water that we get from the Municipal authorities is eating away at the pipes. We’ll have to replace them soon.”
“By the time we returned from our vacation, the acid from the inverter had eaten away at the wooden table it had been placed on.”
“Which reminds me, I think I need to replace my inverter battery. It’s been acting up.”
“Acting up? Does it mean that it’s not working properly?”
“Exactly! When used with things, that’s exactly what the expression means. Although I had it serviced less than a month ago, the car is acting up again.”
“You should take it to my mechanic. He’s good. How about this example? My laptop has been acting up. It’s more than seven years old. Guess it’s time to get a new one.”
“Sounds good. ‘Acting up’ can be used with people as well. Since the kids didn’t have an afternoon nap, they’re acting up. What you’re trying to say…”
“You probably mean they’re not behaving properly because they didn’t have their usual afternoon nap.”
“Exactly! The expression usually suggests bad behaviour. Dilip’s son acts up for no reason at all.”
“When the students saw the substitute teacher enter the classroom, they started acting up.”
“That’s to be expected, I guess. When you see a new teacher entering the classroom, you can count on the students to act up.”
“Count on? Does it mean depend on?”
“Very good! When you say that someone can be counted on, what you mean is that he can be depended or relied on.”
“I can always count on you when I need some money.”
“When we were children, we counted on our parents to help us with everything.”
“My parents never counted on me during a crisis.”
“Knowing you, that’s understandable! It’s also possible to ‘count on things’ as well. Whenever we planned a picnic, you could always count on it to rain.”
“Most people were late for the wedding. They didn’t count on the traffic being so bad.”
“Good example.”