Idioms:

to pull your socks up

this expression is used to warn someone they haven't been working hard enough and that they must start working harder.

• A:- What did your tutor want to see you about?
• B:- She said I'd been cutting too many classes and that if I wasn't going to fail my end of term examinations I had to start pulling my socks up.
• A:- I see. No more late night parties for you then!

• After spending a month on vacation, lying in the sun all day at the beach, staying up late drinking every night, I found it really difficult to pull my socks up once I went back to work.

• B:- This building project is two months behind schedule. Why?
• S:- Well, I don't know, I can't explain it.
• B:- What time do the builders start in the morning?
• S:- Around 9:30 to 10. And they knock off at around 4:30.
• B:- I think you need to tell them to pull their socks up. They need to be working overtime and weekends if this project is going to be finished on time.

• C:- You're bottom of the league, you haven't won a game for five weeks, you're not spending enough time in the gym, you're not training hard enough, the only way to get out of this slump is to pull your socks up. Got that?
• P:- Yes coach.

• I was really floundering during my first few months at language school. I had been taking it easy and I didn't seem to be making much progress at all. So I decided to change my attitude and pull my socks up. Now my teachers seem to be really pleased with me.

a-f

g-l

m-r

s-z

COPYRIGHT © STUART A. KIRK. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.