🗓️ Idiom: Take a Load Off (verb)
💬 Meaning
- To sit down and rest after working hard or standing for a long time.
- To relax and take a short break to recover energy.
🧠 Example Sentences
- You’ve been on your feet all day — take a load off and have a seat.
- After the long meeting, everyone grabbed a coffee to take a load off.
- The manager told the team to take a load off before starting the next project.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from the idea of removing a heavy physical load or burden. In the past, people carrying goods or wearing heavy equipment would rest and “take a load off” to recover. Over time, it became a casual way to tell someone to sit down and relax.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
You look tired! Come and ________ for a few minutes.
Answer
take a load off
2. Choose the correct answer:
What does “take a load off” mean?
a) Work faster
b) Sit down and rest
c) Lift something heavy
Answer
b) Sit down and rest
3. Change the sentence using “take a load off”:
“She sat on the sofa to rest after cleaning the office.”
Answer
She sat on the sofa to take a load off after cleaning the office.
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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.
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