Confusing Words: Confusing Words: Get (#13)

Confusing Words:
Get (#13) 

Get is a very challenging word in English--because
it has many very different meanings and because it
is used in many expressions--including phrasal verbs,
verbs + prepositions, and other combinations.

Another group of idioms with get is used to show
strong feelings or reactions. Some of these idioms
are actually insults, so be very careful if you use them!

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Get real!: Be realistic!

This idiom is used when someone
seems naive. "Get real!" shows
a negative opinion of another person's
ideas and means something like
"How could you believe that?"

Get a life!: Don't be so naive!

This idiom is also used when
someone seems naive. "Get a life!"
is like "Get real!," but stronger.
It means something like "How
could you be so naive that you
believe that?"

Get lost!: Go away! / Leave me alone!

This idiom is a way of dismissing
someone angrily. It means something
like "I can't stand being with you,
so leave!"

Get a move on!: Hurry up!

This idiom is used when someone
seems to be "dawdling"--taking too
long to do something.

Get the lead out!: Stop delaying and do something!

This idiom is like "Get a move on"
but stronger. When someone says,
"Get a move on!," he/she is impatient.
When someone says, "Get the lead out!,"
he/she is irritated.

Get to the point!: What do you really want? (Stop
making "small talk" and say what you really want!)

This idiomis a way of telling someone
that you're tired of hearing him or
her make "small talk" and want him
or her to say what he/she really wants.

Get with it!: Change your thinking or actions now!

This idiom is difficult to "translate"
exactly, but it's similar to "Get real!"
and "Get a life!" "Get with it!" is used
as a reprimand for someone whose
thinking or actions seem to be
unacceptable or inappropriate.

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Special Notes

1.		In Get real!, Get lost!, and Get with it!, get means about the same thing as become: change from one state or situation to another one.
2.		In Get a life!, the meaning of get is something like receive and in Get to the Point!, the meaning of get to is something like arrive at. In both Get a move on! and Get the lead out!, the meaning of get is difficult to explain and is best understood as part of the idioms.
3.		Be careful! These expressions are often used when someone is angry or irritated and can be understood as insults. With friends, the expressions are sometimes used to show strong surprise at someone's opinion or behavior, but most strangers would definitely consider these expressions to be insulting.