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