Do you know Goofy, famous Disney character? His English name is Goofy . That already gives a good hint of the meaning of our phrasal verb today, doesn’t it?
Goof up refers to making silly mistakes that end up ruining everything. Today, we will see some phrases with goof up meaning four things: 1) “get in the way”; 2) “spoil”; 3) “stepping on the ball” and 4) “letting go”, which is also “getting in the way”, but specifically when trying to get somewhere. After reading the sentences and listening to the audios, run over to Anki to add this phrasal verb to your list. Come on?
1 – Let’s start with goof up meaning “get in the way”:
I goofed up and got all the dates wrong.
I fumbled and confused all the dates.
A mistake in my notes goofed me up during the presentation.
An error in my notes hindered me during the presentation.
You really goofed up the spelling section of the test.
You really got in the way of spelling the proof.
All my papers are goofed up .
All of my work is in the way .
Boy, I really goofed up that math problem. How did I get a negative number as my answer?
Boy, did I really mess up with that math problem. How did I come up with a negative number in my answer?
2 – Now, let’s see goof up meaning “spoil”:
You really goofed up the job.
You really screwed up the job.
Who goofed up the machine?
Who ruined the machine?
The band didn’t rehearse enough and really goofed the march up .
The band did not rehearse enough and really ruined the parade .
3 – Another meaning of goof up is “stepping on the ball”:
If you goof up one more time, you’re finished.
If you step on the ball again, you are gone.
I hope I don’t goof up the report again.
I hope I do n’t hit the ball with the report again.
You really goofed up by not telling your parents you were leaving.
You really hit the ball by not telling your parents that you were leaving. (Read the post Speak, Talk, Say and Tell, what’s the difference? )
I didn’t follow the instructions for the job carefully, so I goofed up .
I didn’t follow instructions carefully for the job, so I stepped on the ball .
4 – The last sense of goof up is “letting go”:
You’re not alone, that fork in the road goofs up everybody .
You are not the only one, that fork in the road leaves everyone lost .
The directions to the park were confusing and they goofed me up .
The directions to the park were confusing and left me lost .
That lousy GPS system goofed me up and now I’m late to the meeting.
That lousy GPS system left me lost and now I’m late for the meeting.
Today we learned the meaning of phrasal verbgoof up . You may have remembered two other phrasal verbs that have a similar meaning: Mess Up and Screw Up . Enjoy reading about them too! See you next time!
