Phrasal Verbs

Unit 3.3 - "Up" meaning "Damaging" or "Disrupting"

Guess the meanings of the phrasal verbs from context:
1. He drove over a land mine and his jeep blew up.
2. The vase fell to the ground and broke up into pieces.
3. The match was held up for ten minutes because of the rain.
4. The strong wind has messed up my hair.
5. These name cards are arranged in alphabetical order so don't mix them up.
6. He seldom made mistakes in the past, but recently he slips up from time to time.
7. Drugs like heroin and cocaine can really screw your body up.
All these phrasal verbs have the meaning of "damaging" or "disrupting". See Explanations ê
Explanations:

Blow up

(separable)

To destroy something or kill someone with a bomb

>>The man threatened to blow himself up rather than surrender.

Break up

(separable)

To break into many pieces, or to break something into many pieces

>>We had to break the old fireplace up before we could move it from the house.

Break up

(inseparable)

The ending of a marriage or romantic relationship
>>He started drinking heavily after his marriage broke up.

Similar:

Split up

Hold up

(separable)

To delay something or someone

>>Lack of funding could hold up the building of the new library.
>>I was late for the meeting because I got held up in the traffic.

Mess up (separable)

To spoil or damage something, or to do something badly

>>You don't want to mess up your career, do you?
>>It's the politicians who always mess things up for the citizens.

Mix up

(separable)

To cause a group of things to be untidily arranged

>>I've just spent two hours sorting those papers so please don't mix them up.

To be confused

>>The twins look so much alike that I always mix them up.

Slip up (inseparable)

To make a mistake (informal)

>>The project failed miserably - have we slipped up somewhere?

Screw up (separable)

To make a mistake, or to damage or spoil something (informal)

>>If you screw up again, you'll be in trouble!

Exercise:
- Complete each sentence with a suitable phrasal verb:
  - The terrorists the plane killing everyone on board.
  - Mr. Brown called and said he would be a few minutes late because he had been by traffic.
  - The calculations are wrong. I think we must have somewhere.
  - She made friends with some bad people and her life.
  - I didn't go to this morning's meeting - I got ; I thought it was this afternoon.
  - I was so surprised that John and her girlfriend . They seemed to be so happy together.
  - Someone's again! This report has lots of mistakes in it.
  - The Titanic hit an iceberg, into two, and sank to the bottom of the ocean.
  - The strong wind my hair.
  - "Did you pass the exam?" "No, I really it ."

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