Keep it up

Keep it up is a phrasal verb which means to continue. People often use the imperative form to encourage someone to continue doing something. Here are a few examples:

Your boss: Wow! Your sales team had a great month!
You: Thanks! Yeah, everyone really worked hard and we were able to get all the goals at the end.
Your boss: That's fantastic. Keep up the good work!


Dear team,

Great job last month! I really appreciate the way everyone worked together, especially through some difficult moments. I want to thank everyone for your hard work and fantastic attitude. Now we just need to keep it up for the rest of the year!

Thanks again,

John

*****

I think that when you're trying to learn a language, especially once you have an intermediate or higher level, it can become difficult to continue. But I believe that if you keep it up, working along steadily, you will have consistent and lasting improvement. So don't give up!

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year I'm especially thankful, for my family and friends, for my colleagues, and for all the generosity and patience I receive.

I hope your day is marked by things to appreciate, and that you have some time to enjoy the people, places and activities that make you really happy!

Expression: Skating on thin ice

If you're skating on thin ice, it means that you're saying or doing something dangerous. You're taking a big risk, usually more in the emotional sense than in the physical one. For example, you might be talking about a difficult subject like religion or politics, and somebody could warn you that you're skating on thin ice. Here are a few examples:


Bob: What did you think of the meeting?
Irene: I was surprised when Jessica criticized the holiday party... She was really skating on thin ice!
Bob: You're right. Did you see the look on Celia's face?

*****

Dear Angela,

After thinking over your ideas for the presentation, I'd like to make a suggestion: aren't we skating on thin ice if we give our opinion without any data to support it? Don't you think the board of directors will question our sources and assumptions?

Let me know what you think.

All best,

Jim

*****

As you caqn see, this expression is usually in the continuous form, and you can use it in the present, past, or future continuous. Sometimes people shorten this expression and simply say: "you're on thin ice."

Resilient

My word for today is resilient. This is an adjective which means strong and able to survive. A person can be resilient, so can a material, or even an idea. The noun for this adjective is resilience.

This word comes up in an important way in the TED talk below. I found this talk really interesting and inspiring, and I hope you will too.

P.S. Many thanks to Sebastian Badea for introducing me to this talk, and to the Friday conversation group for being so awesome!