to strike up a conversation
12
3.0
- phrasal verb
- /straɪk ʌp ə ˌkɒnvəˈseɪʃən/
:
entablar una conversación
- I was too shy to strike up a conversation with anyone.
It's, it's makes you somebody that people can relate to something, strike up a conversation about something other than the Catholic Church.
- It's, it's makes you somebody that people can relate to something, strike up a conversation about something other than the Catholic Church.
Examples
-
Go to a local watering hole and strike up a conversation with a stranger.
Blog text (5) -
You have to strike up a conversation with a stranger who is sitting near you during the commute.
-
So, in your job, you sit down, strike up a conversation.
-
So we strike up a conversation or whatever.
-
Well, you just have to try to strike up a conversation, Hi!
-
We struck up a conversation with them.
-
The man in front of us, however, is dying to strike up a conversation with her.
Fiction book (1996) -
I went into a bar in New Jersey, struck up a conversation with a guy.
-
At the subway, the PhD student struck up a conversation with the lone employee.
Blog text (32) -
During the event, she decided to strike up a conversation with the new guest sitting alone.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Speak with someone to share ideas or information
29
3.3
To talk with someone in a friendly way
9
6.8
To chat in a relaxed informal way about unimportant things
Antonyms
How Easily
Surface Forms
Morphology
strike + up + a + conversation
The noun 'conversation' is transparent, but the verb phrase 'strike up' is a phrasal/idiomatic use meaning 'to begin' that does not follow directly from the literal senses of 'strike' (to hit) and 'up'. A B1 learner who knows the words might guess it involves initiating talk (especially given parallels like 'start a conversation' in many languages), yet the non-literal phrasal verb makes the overall expression only partially predictable.
Etymology
The phrase strike up a conversation comes from the picture of musicians who strike up a tune by hitting their instruments to start music. So, to strike up a conversation means 'to begin talking' with someone, like starting a song together.