All over the world, people are adjusting to a new way of living as a result of COVID-19. At the time of writing, around a third of the world is on lockdown, permitted to leave home only for such reasons as food and medicine shopping. Even those of us who are lucky enough to be well and virus-free may be finding the sudden changes to our lifestyles challenging. With this in mind, I thought we’d focus on words and phrases around the theme of dealing with difficult situations.
Let’s start with some nice idioms. If you make the best of it, you make a difficult situation as pleasant and positive as it can possibly be: For now, we’re stuck in this apartment, so we’ll just have to make the best of it.
If you look on the bright side, you think about the advantages of a difficult or bad situation: It’s not an ideal situation but, looking on the bright side, I get to spend more time with my family.
To count your blessings is to feel grateful for the good things in your life during a period in which there are lots of difficulties: We’re all healthy and we have food in the cupboard. You’ve just got to count your blessings, haven’t you?
If you rise to the challenge, you show strength of character in a bad situation, dealing successfully with it: Knowing Julia, I’m sure she’ll rise to the challenge.
Finally for idioms, in a difficult situation, if you grin and bear it, you accept it without complaining: There’s nothing you can do to change the situation. You just have to grin and bear it.
There are some useful phrasal verbs in this area too. If you put up with a bad situation, you accept it and deal with it: It’s a tricky situation for everyone but we have no choice – we just have to put up with it.
To get through a difficult period of your life is to manage to live through it: It’s going to be tough, but we’ll get through it together.
To resign yourself to something bad in your situation is to accept that you cannot change it: I don’t like working in the evenings but I’ve resigned myself to it.
Finally, a person who doesn’t complain or show negative feelings when bad things happen to them may be described as stoic /stoical or uncomplaining: Sam rarely complains about anything – he’s very stoical. / I’ve been impressed with the kids – they’re remarkably uncomplaining.
I hope you’ll find these words and phrases useful in the months and weeks ahead. Please stay safe.
I think there’s a typo at the end of this sentence: “Let’s start with some nice idioms. If you make the best of it, you make a difficult situation as pleasant and positive as it can possibly here”.
Instead of “here”, shouldn’t it read “be”?
Kind regards.
We have corrected this now.
Many thanks!
Inspirational piece.
Thanks keeping us updated with the variety of new words. Cambridge Dictionary never monotonous me.
Its an excellent app. I would love to learn more and updated with such idioms and language updation.
non linear responses
Hear hear..non linear
Kind regards
It was tremendous.
I want more like this to read. Please
Brilliant post! Thank you.
Thank you! How kind!
I use this Cambridge dictionory all the time.
Well written
Respectable Madam,
Kate Woodford,
In your Blog of “Making the best of it (dealing with life during Pandemic ) of 1st April 2020.
You have very nicely given the usages of Phrasal Verbs & Idioms.
(1) Count your blessing is one good Idiom, We should be grateful to our God that he has given to us everything that we need to fulfil our need & necessities.
So many good Pharasal Verbs ……
Thanks.
Yours Sincerely
Khalid Anis.
Dear Kate,
Over the years I have collected about 500 pages of ‘About Words’ and have begun to gap them, making them fit for study. Actually, some of my friends are interested in my collection and have asked me for a copy. Would you object to my doing so? I would love to oblige but I certainly do not want to infringe any copyright.
What I would like most of all is for you to make all this valuable lexical work available in book form. I really do think that it would interest EFL learners across the world and that they would be happy to use it alongside the Cambridge Dictionary and other Cambridge publications such as ‘English Vocabulary in Use’ .
Wow…That ‘s up to the mark & very encouraging to understand.I like such prhases & words to be part of my life.In this turbulent time of Corona let’s study books,dictionaries,digests,megazines and much more.
I’m watering my brain by such posts/blogs aand books..
Marcel, thank you so much for your comment. It’s lovely to hear that you’ve found our posts so useful! Regarding the use of the collected posts, would you mind, please, emailing your request to dictionary@cambridge.org Many thanks – and best wishes!
highly informative post , Bravo!
It’s really nice and stimulating to utilize time in a positive way err.. make the best of it in a relaxed manner.
Being unfortunately locked down and counted within this third of the world, I must show gratefulness to your brilliant blog, which I would like to count it within my blessings. It wonderfully bridges the language to the situation; at the same time, it bridges my attempts to up to date English. Thank you, Kate.
That’s a very nice comment, Maryem. Thank you!
Nice collection always!
This is incredibly handy, Thanks a lot!
Thank you for an uplifting post!
Thanks for all your lovely comments!
Thanks keeping us updated with the variety of new words. Cambridge Dictionary never monotonous me.
its amazing site i get a laat off knowldge very very nic info for me thaaaaaaaaaaaaankxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Your comments are all so lovely, thank you! I really hope you’re all keeping safe and well.
Thanks very much Kate u r one in a million.
Good
I need to know what is hippocratic
See our entry here about the Hippocratic oath.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes
https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/hippocratic-oath
Apologies. Here is the link!
Bingo! Once again a brilliant post, Kate.
Is it possible you could a couple of posts on giving a piece of advice, and asking for a favor , when you get a chance.
Many thanks and stay safe everyone…
Hello! Thank you so much! You might find this post by my colleague, Liz Walter, helpful? https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/?s=advice
Entre más exposición haya al virus más se absorbe una alta carga viral y más probabilidades de ocasionar una enfermedad grave. Por otro lado, si sólo se tiene contacto con una persona infectada de COVID-19 la carga viral será menor y las probabilidades de una enfermedad grave también.
Good list 🙏🙏🙏…
Rev Dr Jacob Frank
Thank you!