T-learning # Idiom
Speak Like a Native

keep your chin up !

Choose the correct definition a, b or c.

a) keep calm

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.

b) stop laughing

Sorry, wrong answer. Please try again.

c) stay positive

Well done ! That’s the right answer.

Keep your chin up is an expression of encouragement to someone who has to bear some emotional burdens. If someone is feeling down, you can tell them to keep their chin up if you want them to keep spririts high and be more positive.

French translation

ne pas se laisser abattre, garder le moral

How NOT to translate : *tenir le menton haut !
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Examples in context

Sochi 2014 : Woods confident for Olympics despite X Games blip

‘To win the X Games is my dream and it would be amazing to win an Olympic medal, which I believe I can do" said Woods.
"It didn’t happen in Aspen for whatever reason, but that’s part of the sport - you can’t win all of the time and have to keep your chin up."

The Sheffield-born skier says "surprise results" can be common in slopestyle due to the subjective nature of the judging system.

"It’s incredibly difficult to describe what it takes [to score high points] because the judging criteria is marked so much on creativity and innovation," he said.’

BBC News Sports, 29 Jan. 2014
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Mitchell Johnson ’not feeling sorry’ for England captain Alastair Cook

"There’s a lot of pressure on him and he’s definitely feeling it."
Meanwhile, former England captain Mike Brearley, who led England to a home Ashes win in 1981, says he believes time away from the game can help Cook.
"He is having an exceptionally hard time. He can’t score the runs that he usually scores and it’s relentless defeat after defeat," Brearley told BBC Sport.

"To keep one’s chin up without getting intense and tense and anxious is almost impossible under that kind of scrutiny and exposure. He is doing as well as he can do.

BBC News, 15 Jan. 2014

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Everyday usage

Keep your chin up. Things will get better soon and you will get the results you want.

Try not to be too disheartened. Keep your chin up and head down and who knows what is around the corner !


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