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get over

ɡet ˈoʊvər

A cold, a breakup, a fence — all the same hill

The picture A hill stands in your way; you climb it and come down on the other side. Get through cuts a way inside what blocks you; get over climbs over it and lands beyond.

Everyday expressions

Where the picture shows up in get over

  1. climbing a real fence

    Let's get over the fence here.

    lets ɡet ˈoʊvər ðə fens hɪr

    Let's climb over the fence here.

    You swing a leg over the top of the fence and land on the ground beyond it.

  2. the hill is an illness

    It took me a month to get over the flu.

    ɪt tʊk miː ə mʌnθ tə ɡet ˈoʊvər ðə fluː

    The flu took me a month to shake off.

    The flu is a hill that took a month to climb and come down from.

  3. still standing at the hill

    She still hasn't got over the breakup.

    ʃi stɪl ˈhæzənt ɡɑːt ˈoʊvər ðə ˈbreɪkʌp

    She hasn't moved on from the breakup yet.

    She is still standing at the foot of the hill, not one step up it yet.

  4. stuck in front of a shock

    I couldn't get over how big the place was.

    aɪ ˈkʊdənt ɡet ˈoʊvər haʊ bɪɡ ðə pleɪs wɑːz

    I still can't believe how big the place was.

    The place is so big your eyes stop at it and can't get over the top.

    The picture is being held at the foot of the hill: the surprise never wears off.

  5. pushing a chore over the top

    Let's just get it over with.

    lets dʒʌst ɡet ɪt ˈoʊvər wɪð

    Let's just get it done and behind us.

    You shove the leftover chore over the crest so it rolls away behind you.

All of it in one picture

Get over is one picture: climbing what blocks you and coming down on the far side. When the thing is a fence you really climb it; when it's the flu, the illness is behind you; when it's a breakup, the heart has come down the other side. Standing at the foot of the hill is not having moved on, and stopping in front of something huge is not being able to take it in. So every get over leaves the same feeling — you are out on the far side of what was in the way.

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