🗓️ Idiom: Put Out Fires (v)
💬 Meaning
- To deal with urgent problems as they happen.
- It means fixing things quickly instead of planning ahead.
🧠 Example Sentences
- I spent the whole day putting out fires caused by system errors.
- Managers often put out fires instead of working on long-term goals.
- She’s good at staying calm while putting out fires at work.
🏛️ Origin
The idiom comes from firefighting, where putting out real fires is urgent and stressful. In business, it means reacting quickly to solve problems before they get worse.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The IT team spent the whole day __________ after the new update caused login issues.
Answer
putting out fires
2. Choose the correct meaning of “put out fires”:
A) To schedule meetings
B) To fix urgent technical problems
C) To delete old files
D) To install new software
Answer
B) To fix urgent technical problems
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“The developer spent the day solving sudden system crashes.” → Change the sentence using: put out fires
Answer
The developer spent the day putting out fires.