Listen to the author reading this blog post.
by Kate Woodford
A couple of weeks ago, I was walking to the shops when I slipped and fell on a patch of ice. I got up immediately and was absolutely fine, though of course, rather embarrassed! Later, when telling a friend about my accident, I said I had fallen ‘in a heap’, to convey how heavily I had fallen, the whole of my body landing on the ground. I started thinking about this phrase and all the other ways we talk about falling and thought I’d share my thoughts with you.
Starting with that word ‘fall’. If you fall to the ground, you can use the phrasal verb fall over. In UK English, instead of saying that someone falls, we sometimes say they have a fall. Strangely, this phrase is used especially when old people fall:
He fell over in the playground and hurt his knee.
My grandma had a fall last week and broke two ribs.
If someone falls flat on their face, they fall forward and land with their face against the ground. (An informal way to say this is to faceplant, or do a faceplant):
He took one step and fell flat on his face in the mud.
She missed a step and faceplanted in front of the cameras.
I stepped on the front of my dress and did a faceplant on the stage.
As you might expect, many ‘fall’ verbs suggest that the person falling is not well. For example, someone who collapses or keels over suddenly falls over because they are ill, and often unconscious. The verb crumple can be used in a similar way and emphasizes how suddenly someone falls and how uncontrolled their movements are.
He collapsed and died aged 45.
She keeled over from exhaustion.
Without warning, she crumpled to the ground.
If you trip or trip up, you fall or almost fall after accidentally hitting your foot against something while walking or running:
I tripped over a cable and fell.
He tripped up on a fallen branch.
Meanwhile, if you stumble, you fall or almost fall because you step awkwardly or hit your foot against something while walking or running:
He stumbled and fell, hitting his head against the car door.
I stumbled over a tree root and hurt my knee.
The verb tumble – or the phrase take a tumble – is often used for a fall in which someone rolls over or lands on a surface a few times. It suggests that the accident is not serious:
She lost her balance and tumbled backwards over the hedge.
I took a tumble while I was out jogging.
I’m going to finish with a common, informal phrase that means ‘to fall dramatically’. If you trip or stumble over something and go flying, you fall with a big movement:
I caught my foot on the edge of the rug and went flying.
That concludes my post on the language of falling. Have a good week and be careful not to do any of the above!
I cannot but bellyache about a construction such as this which sticks in my throat….even though I never say it despite the universal acceptability it has “achieved”:
IF SOMEONE FALLS FLAT ON THEIR FACE……
Here SOMEONE, a singular pronoun is given a verb in the singular, and rightly so.
But in the same breath it then is GIVEN a plural possessive adjective THEIR.
In the name of consistency, rather than so-called “gender neutrality”, isn’t it sensible to use ONE’S (which just as equally respects “gender neutrality” as grammar) rather than THEIR?
You are aware, that this form is usable for singular too and is rather old too? It’s far older than our modern concept of “gender equity” not even regarding the fact that the english language is even rather far with it. So please take your BS somewhere else, thank you.
Hi! Thanks for this. It’s always interesting to hear people’s opinions. We use ‘their’ as standard in phrases such as these, reflecting the language as it is used (and has been used for some time). ‘One’ and ‘one’s’ would sound very formal and quite old-fashioned. Best wishes to you!
Informatively written, as usual! However, surprisingly, you haven’t mentioned the verb ‘topple’ or the phrasal verb ‘topple over’.
Thank you! Yes, I considered the verb ‘topple’ but concluded that it was used more for things than people so didn’t include it.
I couldn’t agree more
I love it
I’m very glad!
I must confess that I have been delighted by a most gifted lecturer on such a delicately presented subject. What an amusing way to improve the language!
I’m delighted to hear this. Thank you!
Wow, it’s lovely.
Thank you for enriching my vocabulary.
You are right
that was lovely
Informative and entertaining. Thanks a lot.
Your post is very useful. How about the phrasal verb “falling down”?