You don't have to rub it in!!!

Hey guys sorry for not posting more but I am on vacation and not really in the mood to blog about English which is my job!

Do you understand this lesson's title? It comes from an expression: rubbing salt into an open wound. This actually disinfects the wound but is EXTREMELY painful. The expression has been shortened to "to rub (something) in" it means that someone repeats many times something negative to make themselves feel good and you feel bad.

John: I hear Tara broke up with you.

Ben: Yeah, it sucks.

John: I told you she would, she was no good for you.

Ben: Yeah, you warned me.

John: Yup, she wasn't the girl for you. I heard she's dating Ted now.

Ben: Ok, ok, quit rubbing it in!

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Ben: John's a real jerk sometimes.

Sara: Why do you say that?

Ben: Whenever he's right, he likes to gloat. He always rubs it in.

Sara: Yeah, that's true.

To gloat means to express or feel a great sense of pleasure or satisfaction usually because you won or you are right. It has a negative meaning!

Winners who gloat are jerks.

That guy is always gloating whenever he's right. He loves rubbing it in!

So you can see that the usage of "rub (something) in" is when someone is bothering you by telling something true but that you don't want to hear or be reminded of. Usually we say "Stop rubbing it in!" the it referring to what the other person said or did.

A: We won! In your face suckahs!

B: Good game...

A: You guys SUCK!

B: Um, yeah, you beat us.

A: Hahaha we're number 1, we're number 1!!!

B: Ever heard of sportsmanship??? It's not nice to rub it in...


Any questions?

Phil