to get up to speed
14
4.1
- phrasal verb
:
ponerse al día
- If you want to get up to speed on physics and try your hands at it yourself, the best place to start is brilliant.org.
If not, you got to quickly get up to speed on complex numbers.
- If not, you got to quickly get up to speed on complex numbers.
- I think that's how they, they got up to speed real quick.
- So White and I let people read to get up to speed on that.
- But man, you get up to speed, you could literally create legacy wealth for yourself, your kids, their kids, their kids and their kids.
- It's only really in the last five years that I've been finally getting up to speed on some of the, some of the thinkers and schools that that had indirectly informed me.
Examples
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Why did it take the rest of the O administration two whole weeks to get up to speed?
Blog text (1) -
Before starting the new project, I need to get up to speed with the latest developments in our field.
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If not, you got to quickly get up to speed on complex numbers.
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But at this point, it's more just getting up to speed with the language and the environment.
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I am trying to get up to speed.
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We're trying to get up to speed.
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How many weeks did it take you to get up to speed?
Blog text (19) -
And to me, it sort of allows me to get up to speed very quickly in lots of different situations.
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We've got to get up to speed immediately.
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As such, classroom teachers transitioning into their new role need to quickly get up to speed and prioritize what steps they need to take to function on a daily basis.
Academic text (2013)
Synonyms
172
3.5
To learn about the latest news or trends
90
2.5
To learn what happened while you were away
19
3.5
Review and improve what you know about something you have not used for a while
16
7.1
To learn the true facts after not knowing them
4
5.6
To stay up to date with new information
Antonyms
How Informed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components partly signal the meaning: 'get' = acquire and 'up to' = reach a level, so combined with 'speed' (here used metaphorically as a level or rate) the phrase suggests reaching the required level of knowledge. However, 'speed' is extended metaphorically to mean familiarity or competence and the fixed phrase 'up to speed' is idiomatic enough that its exact meaning is not fully predictable without exposure, so a B1 learner would need contextual cues.
Etymology
Get up to speed may come from driving; imagine a car that must get up to speed to join faster traffic. So the phrase now means to quickly reach the same level of knowledge or to 'become familiar' with the latest information.