Did anyone ever stand you up?

This morning, I tried to log onto my Skype account to start my lessons for the day, but I was not able to log in on any computer. I didn’t know what was wrong, and I was so worried that my student would think I had stood her up.[spacer height=”20px”]

stand (someone) up           Fail to meet someone as planned.[spacer height=”20px”]

When you stand someone up, it is not the same thing as cancelling an appointment. It means you don’t show up when you are expected to be there. Standing someone up is much worse because you don’t let the person know that you are unable or unwilling to keep the appointment. The other person is waiting for you to arrive for the appointment, but you never show up.[spacer height=”20px”]

This phrasal verb is often used between friends or in reference to friendly or casual situations.

Examples:  

I was supposed to meet my friend for lunch today, but she stood me up! I waited for half an hour for her, and I finally left.

That guy I met last week at the party stood me up for our date last night! He said he would pick me up at 8:00. He never called or texted me that he had to cancel, and I still haven’t heard from him![spacer height=”20px”]

Sometimes this phrasal verb is used in the passive voice:

I was stood up or I got stood up[spacer height=”20px”]

It is interesting to note that when it is a client or potential client that fails to show up for an appointment (such as a doctor or dentist office), this expression is not generally used. Instead, we would say he or she was a no-show.

My 9:00 appointment was a no-show.[spacer height=”20px”]

Fortunately, in my situation, I later found out that Skype had a worldwide outage, and I was able to communicate with my student via email, and we rescheduled for another day. I was very happy she understood that I didn’t stand her up.

Do people ever stand you up? Did you ever stand someone up?

2 Responses

  1. Anurag says:

    It seems that this all stuff by Doneal is amazing. It is elaborated and have plenty of examples, which make things super clear.I think she has done a wonderful job.

  2. Donielle says:

    Thank you for your kind words! Keep checking back for more topics that I hope you will enjoy! 🙂