Are these collocations formal or informal? Neutral or typical for American English?
pitch an idea, drone on, speak on the fly, at a loss for words, go into the interview blind, ramp up skills, put the person on the defensive
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Corrections · 5
1
I pasted my comment below because the spacing is better:
I wouldn't say any of these are formal or informal, they're simply idioms; however, I wouldn't use "drone on," toward a boss. I'm unsure of the phrasing for that, but it's implying that you either want the person to keep talking, or they're talking too much.
pitch an idea - common
drone on - very rare, it makes sense but I don't think you'd hear it
speak on the fly - fairly common
at a loss for words - very common
went to the interview blind - very common
ramp up skills - not at all common, although I would say I understood it (this is also a phrase that I'm not sure of, but I made some meaning out of it so I won't dismiss it).
putting a person on the defensive - this is a weird one. It seems more sports related, but I would say you can use it. Perhaps "I put him on the defense, " or "I made him defensive;" I'm not sure.
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Are these collocations formal or informal? Neutral or typical for American English?
All of the expressions are typical in American English.
"pitch an idea" is somewhat informal, but can still be used in ordinary conversations. The other expressions are standard.
0
I agree with everything Daimen wrote! The only thing I would like to add is that generally "drone on" has a negative connotation (it's usually used to describe a boring way in which someone speaks). For instance, if you didn't want to attend a professor's lecture because he always speaks to much in an uninteresting manner, you might say "I don't want to go to class because he always drones on."
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I wouldn't say any of these are formal or informal, they're simply idioms; however, I wouldn't use "drone on," toward a boss. I'm unsure of the phrasing for that, but it's implying that you either want the person to keep talking, or they're talking too much.
pitch an idea - common
drone on - very rare, it makes sense but I don't think you'd hear it
speak on the fly - fairly common
at a loss for words - very common
went to the interview blind - very common
ramp up skills - not at all common, although I would say I understood it (this is also a phrase that I'm not sure of, but I made some meaning out of it so I won't dismiss it).
putting a person on the defensive - this is a weird one. It seems more sports related, but I would say you can use it. Perhaps "I put him on the defense, " or "I made him defensive;" I'm not sure.
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