“I like it, I like it, I can’t get enough

I like it, I like it, yeah I get a rush…”

from “I Get a Rush” by Bon Jovi

The words sound similar but the meaning is totally different. Read on to get it right.

RASH

Part of speech	Meaning	Examples
adjective	reckless, carless, unwise	1) That was a rash decision. You should have thought about it all more carefully. 2) It was rash of them to get married like that. They hardly knew each other. 3) Avoid any rash statements.
noun	an area of redness and spots on a person’s skin	1) I need to do something about this itchy rash. 2) When did the rash appear on your arm?
noun	a large number, esp. of sth. happening in a short period of time	1) There’s been a rash of robberies in the valley in this area. 2) The rash of complaints is making the company reconsider its policies. 3) The rash of strikes by health workers proves that the healthcare system needs reforms.

RUSH

Part of speech	Meaning	Examples
noun	a situation in which you have to hurry or move somewhere quickly; hurry	1) What’s the rush? We have plenty of time. There’s no need to hurry. 2) We’re all in a rush today because the deadlines is approaching. 3) We’re in no rush to sell the car. It can wait. 4) There’s been a rush for (= sudden popular demand for) the new phone.
noun	a sudden strong emotion or physical feeling	1) Certain situations will trigger an adrenaline rush. 2) She felt a rush of anger when she heard the news. 3) I felt a sudden rush of dizziness when the ship started moving.
verb	to hurry; to move somewhere very quickly or make sb. move quickly	1) He rushed toward the exit after the fire broke out. 2) Right after the accident she was rushed to the hospital. 3) Don’t rush me if you don’t want me to make a lot of mistakes.
phrase	gold rush – a situation in which a lot of people move to a place to try to find gold because they have heard that gold has been found there	1) The discovery of gold set off two great rushes in Alaska. 2) The California Gold Rush was sparked by the discovery of gold nuggets in the Sacramento Valley in early 1848.
phrase	rush hour – the time of day when there are a lot of cars on the road because most people are traveling to or from work	1) Especially when visiting large cities, you will want to avoid traveling during rush hour. 2) One in every four car accidents happens during rush hour traffic.

There are a few phrasal verbs with “rush” which are worth remembering.

• to rush into sth. – to do sth. without first thinking carefully about it: 1) Don’t rush into any decisions now. You are too anxious and stressed out. 2) He rushed into a new relationship right after the divorce and it was a disaster.
• to rush sb. into doing sth. – to forcefully persuade sb. to do sth. without giving them time to decide if they really want to do it: 1) Her mother rushed her into entering the college and the girl dropped out when she found out she wanted something else in her life. 2) I wouldn’t rush you into accepting that job offer. We have enough money at the moment, and after all, you need to be sure if you want that kind of commitment.
• to rush sth. out – to very quickly produce something and make it available to sell: 1) Haste makes waste. Let’s not rush anything out. If we do, we might need to recall the products, and that’s the worst thing I can imagine. 2) The company rushed out the new model and then greatly regretted it. Its excellent reputation was lost overnight.
• to rush around/about – to try to do a lot of things or to go to a lot of places in a short period of time: 1) I’ve been rushing around all day. Now I’m exhausted. 2) In my line of work I have to rush about if I want to get things done.

Practice

Click the link to do the exercise. Fill in the gaps with just 1 word. You can check your answers on the website.

• Blog