Quote
1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.
“I keep saying to her, I don’t need my phone blowing up at 4am to alert me to the fact that you’re having your second cup of coffee.”
- Actor Will Arnett on his mom discovering texting. (Us Weekly)
Definition
1. Definition - Study the definition.
getting very popular; becoming popular very quickly; getting lots of phone calls
2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.
Explosions attract a lot of attention. Think about how many movies you’ve seen where somebody blows up a building, or a car. There’s fire, smoke, a loud noise. When something blows up, people are going to notice.
You also use the expression blow up to describe the act of breathing air into a balloon to inflate it. When you blow something up in that way, you use your breath to make it bigger and give it shape.
Both of these meanings influence a third meaning of blow up, which Will Arnett uses above. In this case, to blow up means to get really popular and attract a lot of attention all of a sudden. If you’re blowing up, you’re attracting attention, like an explosion, and getting “bigger,” like a balloon filling with air.
Will Arnett uses the phrase ironically. In this case, the fact that his phone is blowing up doesn’t mean he’s gotten super popular; it just means that his mom is enjoying her newfound skill at texting.
Can you remember a time when you felt as if you were blowing up?
Examples
1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.
“My phone seriously has not stopped ringing all night. I’m really blowing up!”
“Norah Jones is blowing up right now. Her music is so good and so many people like her.”
“It’s kind of sad. He gets two text messages in an hour, and he’s like, ‘I’m blowing up!’”