{"id":4808,"date":"2022-06-20T17:55:23","date_gmt":"2022-06-20T17:55:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=4808"},"modified":"2022-06-20T17:55:23","modified_gmt":"2022-06-20T17:55:23","slug":"on-a-tear-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/on-a-tear-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"On a Tear \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for a way to tell your friend you\u2019re out on the town with other people having the time of your life? You could say you\u2019re \u201c<em>out on the tear<\/em>\u201d and that they should join you for a drink. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>If you\u2019re \u201c<em>on a tear<\/em>,\u201d it means that you\u2019re out having a good time with friends. Typically, \u201c<em>being on a tear<\/em>\u201d means that you\u2019re with a group of people, and you are all intoxicated and having a good time. You could be at a club or cruising the town on a bar-hopping night out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Being \u201c<em>on a tear<\/em>\u201d can also refer to a streak of wins or good luck due to excellent performance. For instance, a sports team could be on a tear of good results, or your company could be on a tear of excellent sales performance.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re out on the tear right now in Piccadilly. Why don\u2019t you join us for a drink, and we\u2019ll hit the club after that to dance a bit?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Knicks are on a tear right now. They\u2019ve won eight of the last nine and haven\u2019t lost in over three months. Let\u2019s see if the Celtics can put a damper on the flames.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKim is on a tear right now. Every project that the girl touches turns to gold. I\u2019m hoping she lands us the next big deal, so we all get that Xmas bonus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJohn, you\u2019ve been on a tear these last few months. No one has come close to matching your sales performance, and I want you to know that the C-suite notices your efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKeep it up, Tom. You\u2019re really on a tear this month. If you close the month at the top of the books, you are a contender for salesman of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe manager is on a tear right now. He\u2019s looking for any way to cut costs, and I heard him talking about downsizing the labor force the other day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina is on a tear right now to secure the world's food resources. With the coming global food crisis on the horizon, we\u2019re not doing enough now to add to US food security.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-4809\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/On-a-Tear.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"272\" height=\"181\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4810\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/On-a-Tear2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"281\" height=\"194\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The expression \u201con a tear\u201d has no clear origins, and language experts cannot find the source of the saying or when it first appeared in writing. However, some experts believe the expression comes from the 1800s.<\/p>\n<p>The original use of the expression was for describing people going on a \u201cdrunken tear\u201d through the local area. However, over the last three to four decades, the phrase changed to describe any action in teams or people where they are building momentum to achieving success.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Tear | Meaning of tear\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/N6Gv7WylD_U?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to On a Tear<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Running riot.<\/li>\n<li>On a mission.<\/li>\n<li>Gaining momentum.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to On a Tear<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Chilling.<\/li>\n<li>Falling behind.<\/li>\n<li>Meh.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cOn a tear.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say On a Tear Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase has nothing to do with the action of tearing something. The \u201ctear\u201d in the expression is the act of \u201cgoing wild\u201d or producing a lot of energy and momentum with your actions or words. The phrase also has a positive connotation and has little use in the negative sense.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase On a Tear<\/h2>\n<p>You can use the expression \u201con a tear\u201d to describe enthusiastic, energetic behavior gaining momentum. If you are on the tear, you are probably out on the town having a good time with your friends. If someone text\u2019s you while you're out partying and wants to know what you\u2019re doing, you could say you\u2019re out on the tear with your classmates from school.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOut on the tear\u201d can refer to behavior like partying. Or it can refer to the momentum building in a sports team as they start to develop a lead over the opposition. The phrase describes a person or a group of people and suits social or professional conversations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you looking for a way to tell your friend you\u2019re out on the town with other people having the time of your life? You could say you\u2019re \u201cout on the tear\u201d and that they should join you for a drink. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. Meaning If you\u2019re \u201con [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4808"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5040,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4808\/revisions\/5040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}