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Danny
how to use "mess up"
Hi my language professors,
I am wondering how to use "mess up", are they correct down below?
1. YIKES, I messed up!!!!!!!! (I did something wrong that we both already knew )
2. "I messed it up!!!!!!" I said to my mom.
3. my hair got messed up by the dog.
4. my hair messed up.
5. I messed my sister up. (made her sad/angry)
6. I messed her up. ( I hurt her?)
other collocations , phases , slang also welcome
thanks a lot
Danny
31 mag 2019 01:45
Risposte · 8
1
1. “Yikes” isn’t a word used very often anymore. It does make sense though. However, the sentence doesn’t mean that both you and the interlocutor knew you did something wrong. Just simply means that you did something Wrong
2. I don’t have enough context to answer this one. But I would probably say “I messed up”
3. This sentence is not grammatically incorrect but it would be better said “my dog messed up my hair.”
4. “My hair is messed up”
5. This one is difficult to know what you want to say. I think you mean this...”I was messing with my sister and now she’s mad” Meaning you were giving her a hard time or mocking or bullying her.
6. This one is not grammatically incorrect either. But not very common. Depending on what exactly you mean it might be more colloquial to say “I fucked her up” but that is stronger language but something that is used quite frequently.
31 maggio 2019
1
1. YIKES, I messed up!!!!!!!! (I did something wrong that we both already knew )
"I stuffed up"
"I blew it" is another one.
2. "I messed it up!!!!!!" I said to my mom.
If I were really disappointed in myself, I'd say "I stuffed it", otherwise "I made a mistake", or "I messed it up"
3. my hair got messed up by the dog.
I'd say this all the time
4. my hair messed up.
My hair is messed up.
My hair is a shambles.
My hair is a dog's breakfast.
5. I messed my sister up. (made her sad/angry)
If it was something making her angry, I'd say "I stirred her up"
If it was something making her sad, I'd say "I upset my sister"
6. I messed her up. ( I hurt her?)
"I hurt her", I guess. Though I hope I never did this !!
other collocations , phases , slang also welcome
31 maggio 2019
Just adding to the other answers that are already here...
1. YIKES, I messed up!!!!!!!!
[This is fine. As Michael said, people don't really say "yikes" (maybe "Wow, I messed up!" or "Oh man, I messed up!") It doesn't necessarily mean that the other person knows what you did wrong. For example, you could be explaining what you did: "Wow, I messed up. I used salt, but it was supposed to be sugar!"]
2. "I messed it up!!!!!!" I said to my mom.
[Use "it" if you're talking about messing up something specific. For example, "The drawing was good at first, but then I messed it up when I added more details." "It" refers to the drawing. If you're just saying "I made a mistake," say "I messed up" (no "it").]
3. my hair got messed up by the dog.
[This is fine. It's in passive voice, but that's okay.]
4. my hair messed up.
[When you have a noun and then the verb "messed up," it means that the noun performed that action. So unless your hair "messed" something else up, this doesn't make sense. You should say "my hair is messed up" (using "messed up" as an adjective to describe your hair).]
5. I messed my sister up. (made her sad/angry)
[No. To "mess somebody up" is to do serious damage to them, either emotionally or physically. You should only use this if you harmed the person in a very, very serious way.]
6. I messed her up. ( I hurt her?)
[Same as above. This implies that you intentionally hurt her badly, probably enough for her to require medical care or a trip to the hospital, OR that you caused her permanent emotional issues.]
3 giugno 2019
thanks a lot ,everyone.
I will buy you all coffer.
you guys ran too far away. haha,let's get back on track.
as for the 5th and 6th items, I read up on this link and No4 and No5 explanations I quoted here
"
https://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/mess-up
4 mess somebody ↔ up to make someone have emotional or mental problems
I messed up my kids.
5 mess somebody ↔ up American English informal to hurt someone especially by hitting them
"
SO I just made up a context involving my sister. (sorry , my sister)
in the nutshell , NO4 and 5 right above or my 5th and 6th are commonly used in united states or not?
<<<<IF NOT , I WONT USE IT ANY MORE>>>>>
Danny
2 giugno 2019
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Danny
Competenze linguistiche
Cinese (mandarino), Inglese
Lingua di apprendimento
Inglese
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