italki - About unsteady movement - for native English speakers. I wish to understand how to use some words ab

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About unsteady movement - for native English speakers. I wish to understand how to use some words about unsteady movement correctly. A couple of days ago I saw a man on a bicycle who appeared to be drunk. He wasn't able to follow a more or less straight line when he cycled. 1. Which of the following words would naturally fit into the gap in the sentence below to describe this? 1. Reeling 2. Swaying 3. Wobbling "The cyclist appears to be drunk. He is ______" 2. Are there other ways to express it? Thanks for your help!

1 déc. 2017 13:16

Réponses · 12

Reeling doesn't work. Swaying, hmm possible and but I associate that more with someone being unsteady on their feet i.e they are walking. Wobbling I would use like this: He was wobbling (about) all over the place/wobbling (about) all over the road/pavement.' 'Wobbling' alone doesn't sound great. 'To weave' is possible and was the first thing that came to mind. He was weaving (about) all over the place.

1 décembre 2017

From your choices I'd use "wobbling". I might say "riding erratically" if it were me describing it

1 décembre 2017

In the US, we often use "swerving" to describe a car that appears to be driven by a drunk driver. As in, "That driver must be drunk; he's swerving left and right." Since you mentioned the drunk cyclist not being able to follow a straight line, I think swerving works. But if you want to describe how a drunk cyclist is unbalanced and in danger of toppling over, then I think wobbling is a better choice of word.

1 décembre 2017

Reeling implies a more emotional impact. "He is reeling from shock" Swaying implies a gentle side to side motion "They are swaying on a boat / They are swaying to the music" Wobbling in this case fits the sentence as it gives a more jerky motion

1 décembre 2017

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