Playing catch up

Question

Familiar tale for the Rajasthan Royals again, too much dependance on Yusuf Pathan and unfortunately he failed to fire tonight. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals and just didn't get going at any stage of the innings. Watson and Ojha didn't fire as well and once they fell RR were just playing catch up. Steyn bowled with a lot of venom once again and Pankaj Singh who is playing his first match of the season did well to chip in with 2 wickets. There is no reason why RCB cannot chase this down, unless they bat badly or Warne weaves his magic once again, they should have the match on a platter.Join us shortly for the chase..

Please explain to me the emboldened parts.

Mr Wordy · Accepted Answer

"to play catch-up" (probably should be hyphenated) means to try to redress a deficit when one has fallen behind.

User_gary · Answer

Thank you Mr. Wordy.

Again there is a problem for me. I know "redress" means "to make up for something" and "deficit" means "payment more than receipt" but I wonder what it means "redress a deficit when one has fallen behind".

Mr Wordy · Answer

User_garyAgain there is a problem for me. I know "redress" means "to make up for something" and "deficit" means "payment more than receipt" but I wonder what it means "redress a deficit when one has fallen behind".

Sorry, I found it quite hard to think of a short and simple way of explaining "play catch-up" without just repeating the expression "catch up".

Say you are playing a game and the score is 10-5 against you. In other words, you have "fallen behind". The "deficit" is the five points that separate you from your opponent ("deficit" does not necessarily have to refer to money or payments). Let's say you later get the score to 12-12. You have "caught up" with your opponent. You have "redressed" (made up for) the earlier deficit.

User_gary · Answer

Thank you Mr. Wordy.

Your explanation is simply amazing. Now I got it.

Playing catch up

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions