When do you use ‘get’ in English? There are probably hundreds of uses. Look out for lots of ‘get’ action in this blog and don’t forget to read the explanations in the glossary. Get The origin of the E-coli outbreak in Germany is still not known, even after 22 deaths and approximately 2,200 people became ill. Almost all of the European-wide victims got ill in Germany and scientists there have been getting more and more confused as to where the problem started. Where did the E-coli come from? First to get the blame was Spain. German experts said that salad vegetables (such as cucumbers and tomatoes) were the source of the infection. Obviously, sales of Spanish produce across Europe plummeted at the news. The Spanish tried to get across to the watching public that their cucumbers were perfectly fine to eat and TV news programmes showed Spanish politicians getting stuck in to some tasty, ‘E-coli free’ cucumbers. They were proved to be right, as just one week later the Germans admitted that they had got it completely wrong. Now, Spanish farmers are wondering how they are going to get by, seeing as they can’t sell any of this year’s harvest. Spain is demanding to get millions of Euros in compensation and have rejected a first offer of around £135 million as the Germans tried to get out of this mess with a quick pay-off. Let’s just say that the German Agriculture minister won’t be getting an invite to spend his summer holiday in Spain this year. Next up was an organic potato-themed restaurant in north-east Germany, after scientists believed it to be a ‘hotspot’ for the deadly infection. However, the very next day, the blame shifted on to a farm that produces bean sprouts in Lower Saxony, also in Germany. As soon as the news had got out though, despite statements of extreme confidence that this was the one, tests came back proving that German officials had ballsed it up yet again and they were no nearer to finding out where the E-coli came from. German mistakes have left lots of businesses in ruins and it’s difficult to see how the victims are going to get over the false accusations. European politicians are getting together as we speak to try and sort out this mess in terms of financial payouts to those affected. Meanwhile, the general public in Germany are having to get by without vegetables. I know: I live here. By looking at the supermarket shelves, it’s obvious that no one is buying veg at the moment. It seems like the only way to not get infected is by eating frozen pizza!
GET a load of this glossary! (Look at this glossary)
- Get ill
- become ill
- Getting confused (getting before an adjective)
- ‘become’ confused
- get the blame
- ‘receive’ the blame
- get across to
- to communicate clearly or convincingly
- get stuck in to sth
- (idiom) eating something quickly
- get sth wrong
- to ‘be’ wrong
- get by
- to survive or manage
- get millions of Euros in compensation
- to receive
- get out
- to escape or leave
- won’t be getting an invite to Spain
- will not be receiving an invite
- as soon as the news had got out
- when the news became known
- get together
- to meet
- get by without vegetables
- to manage/to live without
- to not get infected
- to not become infected
