Phrases & Expressions

An awareness that a situation is serious and needs to be dealt with quickly.

• The report calls for a sense of urgency in tackling the shortage of nurses, which is getting worse every year.
• The new manager brought a sense of urgency to the team, and projects started finishing on time.

A fairly large part or percentage of a total amount or group.

• A significant proportion of the population still lives in rural areas.
• Food waste accounts for a significant proportion of household rubbish in most European countries.

An awkward problem that needs careful handling.

• Being asked by your boss to keep a secret from your colleagues puts you in a sticky situation.
• Forgetting a client's name halfway through a meeting can leave you in a sticky situation.

Something such as a film, show or product that fails completely.

• The company's smart glasses were a total flop because few people wanted to wear them in public.
• Our first attempt at a school musical was a total flop, but we learnt a lot from it.

Used to say that some accidents cannot be avoided, often to comfort someone.

• When my son knocked over his juice at the restaurant, the waiter just smiled and said, 'Accidents will happen.'
• Even in the safest workplaces accidents will happen, which is why first-aid training is so important.

To explain why something happens or what has caused it.

• Economists are still trying to account for the sudden fall in consumer spending last spring.
• Rising housing costs may partly account for the decline in the birth rate in many European countries.

To succeed in making a country's economy expand so that it produces more goods and services.

• Many developing nations hope to achieve economic growth without causing serious damage to their forests and rivers.
• The new finance minister promised to achieve economic growth while also reducing unemployment among young people.

To start dealing with a problem or question and try to find an answer to it.

• This essay will first address the issue of cost before turning to the environmental arguments.
• Governments must address the issue of youth unemployment urgently, or social tensions are likely to grow.

To accept an arrangement in which both sides stop shooting so that peace talks can take place.

• Aid workers could only reach the civilians in the city once the warring groups agreed to a ceasefire.
• International leaders urged the two sides to agree to a ceasefire before more lives were lost.

Having ideas or features that were too modern for most people to appreciate when it first appeared.

• The architect's design was ahead of its time, using solar panels decades before they became common.
• The online learning platform was ahead of its time; when it launched in 1999, few students had a fast enough internet connection.