🗓️ Idiom: Shake Things Up (v)
💬 Meaning
- To make big changes to improve something or make it more exciting.
- It means breaking routines or old ways of doing things to create something better.
🧠 Example Sentences
- The new manager wants to shake things up and modernise how the team works.
- We’re planning to shake things up with a new product launch strategy.
- They shook things up by redesigning their service model from scratch.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the idea of physically shaking something to mix it or change its structure. In business, it’s used to describe taking bold actions to refresh a system or approach.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The company hired a creative director to __________ in the marketing department.
Answer
shake things up
2. Choose the correct meaning of “shake things up”:
A) To make no changes
B) To calm a situation
C) To introduce major changes
D) To delay a project
Answer
C) To introduce major changes
3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:
“They changed many systems to improve how the company works.” → Change the sentence using: shake things up
Answer
They shook things up to improve how the company works.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
