To wear out something means that it has come/ is coming to the end of its life through repetitive use.
Rugged = tough/ hard.
1. Flip-flops take forever to wear out. The best part is that they are also cheap, so you get really good value for your money when you use them for many months or years.
2. It isn’t common to see children’s clothes wear out, simply because kids grow out of them so fast… before they have a chance to wear them out. That’s why in large families, the older kids hand their clothes down to their younger brothers and sisters.
3. When your brake pads or tires on your car wear out, they need to be replaced as soon as possible. It’s really dangerous to drive in wet weather with worn out brake pads or worn out tires. In Formula 1 racing, the drivers have to periodically go into the pit stop to change their tires because they wear out after a number of laps.
4. If someone “wears out their welcome” they stay as a guest for longer than someone expects them to, or they are no longer welcome. Do you know when it is time to leave someone’s house, or are you oblivious to (have no idea) the subtle hints that it is time to leave?
5. When you are exhausted mentally or physically we can say that you feel worn out. If you burn the candle at both ends, you will wear yourself out.
6. Most men continue to use their underwear even after it is completely worn out. Even when they are full of holes and falling apart, we can’t let go of them because they are sentimental to us. We’ve gone through a lot together.
7. When a knife or a blade “wears out” we say that it goes blunt… then you need to sharpen it.
I couldn't agree more on the first point. Flip-flops is a great thing, a bang for your buck, when you use them for years and they don't wear out.
ReplyDeleteI've also heard the "hand-me-up" expression, which means a thing, usually hi-tech, that a young person passes to his/her parents when it's getting older. For instance, my folks use a hand-me-up computer that used to be mine.
Eugene
Haha, that's great.. first time I heard of the expression, "Hand-me-up". It makes sense. We have the expression, "Hand-me-down" which is anything that is passed down from older to younger siblings (brothers and sisters).
ReplyDeleteThe idea that our parents use our old stuff (technology) is funny, but true. They don't need a computer with the same processing speed etc. that we do. Thanks for the new expression Eugene!
You're welcome. :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, exactly, "hand-me-up" == "hand-me-down" the other way around. I believe a lot of new words & expressions in English are made up this way, which is quite logical and straightforward.
toothbrushes tend to wear out after say 3 months of use.
ReplyDeleteI feel worn out right now, but my desire to keep kicking the ass of all of these phrasal verbs, slang and idioms keeps me into gear
ReplyDelete