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You are here: Home / English Phrases In Conversation / “Give It A Rest!” – And Other “Give It” Phrases

“Give It A Rest!” – And Other “Give It” Phrases

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Bill kept his eyes focused on the screen, ignoring his sister’s voice in the background.

– “Bill. BILL! You’ve been playing that game all night! When are you going to do your assignment?”

– “Oh, give it a rest! It’s not due for another week.”

Give it a rest is a spoken English phrase used to tell someone that you’ve had enough of hearing them talking about a particular topic, and you would like them to stop talking about it.

Basically you’re annoyed and would like them to stop and to be quiet about it.

In fact, it can be quite direct, asking someone to shut up:

– “How many times do I have to tell you, Eve! You’ve got to look for a new job!”
– “Jake, give it a rest, ok!”

However, sometimes it can mean you just want to change topic because you’ve talked about it enough already:

– “Hey we’ve been talking about this all night. Maybe we should give it a rest.”
– “Yeah, you’re right there. Let’s go grab another beer..”

Sometimes it can be used with humour:

– “I see John’s still trying to ask Julie out on a date. When will he give it a rest..”

Here are a few more examples from Twitter:

How is there still cicadas going at it at 7:40pm? Give it a rest little mates

— Em Lush Jane ♡ (@Emmzza) February 22, 2016

It’s so frustrating to know that it is the only thing you’re concerned about. Give it a rest 🙄😤😠

— Jenna (@jrosenfeld23) February 22, 2016

There are also other ‘give it’ expressions, as you can see below:

Give it a go

This means to give it a try. Usually it’s to encourage someone to try doing something:

– “I’m not sure if this diet will work, but give it a go.”

Another example:

– “I really love zouk. You should give it a go.”

It’s better to try and fail than never give it a go, right?

— Kate (@KMS_01) February 22, 2016

Give it a day or two

The idea here is to be patient and wait a day or two to see if things get better:

My ankle is killing. Lesson. If you hurt it give it a day to rest. Don’t keep dancing and running on it. 🙄

— Han(: (@Hannaahisabelle) February 22, 2016

Give it a hundred percent

This means to work very hard and give it all your effort.

– “Ok guys, we’ve got a big match today. Let’s all put in and give it a hundred percent!”

Go into the gym with a game plan. Know what muscle groups you are going to tackle and give it 100%!!

— Female Fitness (@FemaIefit) February 29, 2016

Give it a miss

This is used to say that a place you went to or something you saw is not good or you don’t recommend it:

– “The new Leonardo Di Caprio film sucks. Give it a miss.”

You can also use it to say you’re not going to a particular event:

– “Are you coming to the Spanish party this week..?”
– “Sorry, can’t. Got to do my homework. I’ll have to give it a miss this time.”

Pub quiz tonight or give it a miss, been a while

— Robert Girvin (@Robbiee_Girvin) March 2, 2016

Give it a chance

To give it a try:

just take my hand, give it a chance pic.twitter.com/pJLMfIoqib

— Bill. Just Bill (@TokioHotalien) March 2, 2016

Give it a listen

– “I really love the songs on Lost Girl, especially Dark Runs Out. Give it a listen!”

Emilie Mover’s new album, Le Pop Fantastique, is very intriguing. Give it a listen. http://bit.ly/ab5EFN “Wait Till It Snows” is esp. grt.

— JPB (@jpberthiaume) March 31, 2010

Give it a year

Sometimes said with humour, this expression is used to predict something happening in the future, usually something bad. Often it’s used to predict how long a relationship will last:

– “Gillian is getting married to Pavla?! Ha, I give it a year.”

TOM FINALLY GETS MARRIED! – https://t.co/gq5rzPKdz4 Poor Lass, give it a year or two.

— J.McDiarmid (@McDiarmidJ) February 21, 2016

Give it a shot

This also means to give it a try, to make an attempt to do something, particularly in order to try to achieve something:

– “I’m not sure if I’m ready for the casting but I’ll give it a shot.”

My friend Teazy is 6’3 and I’m trying to get him to model. He says if this gets 100 retweets he’ll give it a shot. pic.twitter.com/yPOjyaWnzj

— Uchiha Senilore (@TheFunnycator) February 28, 2016

Give It A Like

Hey if you enjoyed this post and found it useful, please give it a like on Facebook or your favourite social media site 🙂

Give it a like! “Give It A Rest!” – And Other “Give It” Phrases https://t.co/xPKylPatTs #learnenglish via @getintoenglish

— David Sweetnam (@GetIntoEnglish) March 2, 2016

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Fabiano says

    March 4, 2016 at 01:43

    Would it be ok to say ‘hey, we´ve been banging on about this all night. Let´s give it a rest’ ? Cheers

    Reply
  2. David | Get Into English says

    March 4, 2016 at 02:41

    Hi Fabiano

    Exactly! In this example it sounds like you’re having a friendly debate but you feel it might be best to take a breather after talking about it all night.

    “We’ve been banging on about…” is also a nice slang expression btw 🙂

    David

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Word Watch – “I Don’t Wanna Brag” – Brag [v.] – Get into English says:
    March 22, 2016 at 01:43

    […] “Oh man he’s always bragging about her. I wished he’d give it a rest!”  […]

    Reply

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Welcome to Get Into English. I’m David, an English teacher, traveller & language enthusiast from Melbourne Australia.
That’s me above in Bendigo, Victoria before Corona came!
I write articles on learning English especially for people wishing to live in or travel to Australia, and for those who are interested in business and all kinds of issues!

Older posts were written while I was in Europe, newer ones are from Australia.

Feel free to leave a comment!

davidsweetnam

This is a nice time to take a little break from po This is a nice time to take a little break from posting photos. This is from my 12 km walk to Middle Park last Thursday 😮 
Not quite sure what to do with the hundreds of photos I still have from during the lockdown 🤷‍♂️ 
But I’ll be back in Middle Park, hopefully tomorrow, it’s a beautiful part of Melbourne. 

Mej se hezky a zatim ahoj 🏝😊🌱

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Walking home from Middle Park. Melbourne and the M Walking home from Middle Park. Melbourne and the Melbourne Cricket Ground at dusk 🏏 
So many magical moments in Australian sporting history have happened here. Hawthorn’s three-peat in 2013-15, Shane Warne’s 700th wicket, the 1992 World Cup, the 1956 Olympics. 
There are many walks you can go on from here - to the river, to East Melbourne, to Richmond. Or indeed up William Barak Bridge to the city 😊🌱☕️

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If you’re not sure where to go, come here ☕️ If you’re not sure where to go, come here ☕️😃

I came here quite a bit during the lockdown. This one is from late October 🤗 And it’ll be waiting for you tomorrow. 

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I walked all afternoon from Richmond to Middle Par I walked all afternoon from Richmond to Middle Park last Thursday. Still posting some of the pictures 😃 This is Beaconsfield Parade, Middle Park 🏝

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Waiting for the sunset at Middle Park. The views f Waiting for the sunset at Middle Park. The views from those buildings must be amazing 🏝

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Melbourne is oddly tropical at times - I quite lik Melbourne is oddly tropical at times -
I quite like this 🌱🏝☀️

Middle Park, Melbourne 

3.12.20 😊 
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Middle Park, the red city. This street has many Au Middle Park, the red city. This street has many Australian Bottlebrush trees 😊

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3.12.20
Late in the day in Middle Park, Melbourne 🏝 #h Late in the day in Middle Park, Melbourne 🏝

#heartmiddlepark #visitmelbourne #likemelbourne #jaro #checkmelbourne #printemps #melbmoment #melbournemoments #sunlover #beachvibes 🌱
The colours of Thursday 😍🏝🌱 #jacarandatr The colours of Thursday 😍🏝🌱

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Richardson Street, Middle Park 🌳🌴🌱 #výl Richardson Street, Middle Park 🌳🌴🌱

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Middle Park is one of Melbourne’s smallest subur Middle Park is one of Melbourne’s smallest suburbs. If you haven’t been here, I totally recommend you visit 😊🌱☕️ Beautiful sea, churches, shops, homes and tree-lined streets. 

#middlepark #melbournebeach #visitmelbourne #likemelbourne #checkmelbourne #cestujeme #výlet #heartmiddlepark #beachlovers🌴
Wandering along Richardson Street, Middle Park 🌳 🏝 

#iheartmiddlepark #middlepark #heartmiddlepark #likemelbourne #checkmelbourne #tropicallife #beachlovers🌴
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