Synonym for 'in a hurry' Unit 6

Question

Hi Teachers,Could you tell a synonym for 'in a hurry'?Someone told me that 'under time pressure' is not a good one.By the way 'in a hurry' is just a phrase, isn't it?Thanks in advanceTS

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

It's an idiomatic phrase, yes.

in a hurry, in a rush.

There's also hurrying, rushing, hustling, scrambling.

And have no time to lose, have no time to spare.

You need a thesaurus. Try /

Set it to the thesaurus tab.

CJ

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi Jim,

Thank you for your reply. I have one 'Oxford American's Writer's Thesaurus'. But this one looks very good too!

This is the context of the phrase 'in a hurry'

Julia and her boyfriend are going to the cinema now. They are in a hurry because the film started ten minutes ago.

a) They are in the need to do something more quickly that usual.

What if I change the context to:

1. Julia and her boyfriend are going to the cinema now. They are walking really fast because they are in a hurry. The film started ten minutes ago.

2. Julia and her boyfriend are walking really fast to the cinema now. Why? The film started ten minutes ago and they are in a hurry.

Though I don't really like it. I don't like the context in which the sentences are written. Somehow I want to put the verb 'walking' in it to have a support for the explanation in this particular context.

a) They are in the need to walk more quickly than usual.

Could you help me?

By the way, if it is an idiomatic phrase, it is an idiom then. Am I righ?

TS

CalifJim · Answer

What if I change the context to:

1. Julia and her boyfriend are going to the cinema now. They are walking really fast because they are in a hurry. The film started ten minutes ago. OK.

2. Julia and her boyfriend are walking really fast to the cinema now. Why? The film started ten minutes ago and they are in a hurry. OK.

a) They are in the need to walk more quickly than usual. Not good. in the need to walk is not grammatical. Use this. They need to walk more quickly than usual.

Thinking SpainBy the way, if it is an idiomatic phrase, it is an idiom then. Am I right?

An idiom is a word group whose meaning you cannot determine by knowing the meanings of the words that make it up. For example, the idiom "to kick the bucket" means "to die", but you can't work out that meaning by knowing what "kick" and "bucket" mean. The adjective idiomatic is used a little differently. An idiomatic phrase is simply a phrase that is commonly used and sounds very natural to native speakers. "in a hurry" has aspects of both, but is closer to being simply "idiomatic" and farther from being a true "idiom".

CJ

Tenacious Learner · Answer

Hi Jim,

Wow! Wow! It is quite an explanation. Thank YOU so much

I'll put it immediately in my grammar tips folder. It has many things from this forum. As soon as I have my web page, I'll put them all to share everything I've learnt and I'm learning here.

My very best regards from this small country which is Catalunya (Catalonia).

TS

PS. I wasn't that wrong this time. Two 'OK'. I'm really happy for that too.

Synonym for 'in a hurry' Unit 6

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