1. This is used in a situation where you are behind or losing from the start. For example if you were playing soccer and the score was 3-0 you would've "been playing catch-up ever since." As you were losing from the start and now trying to catch-up to the score 2. This is used when you need to talk to someone for a quick discussion, or when you need more time to prepare for something. E.g "Excuse me, i was wondering if we could have a few minutes to talk?" and "We were wondering if we could have a few minutes to finish our work" 3. "Not in the loop" is another way of saying, "I don't know enough about it". For example if someone said "Do you know who won the soccer last night?" I would say, "I'm not in the loop sorry" because I don't watch soccer

1. We missed the first two weeks of classes, and we've been playing catch-up ever since! (ie you get stuck behind and the action that you are performing is getting you to where you are expected to be) 2. Jenny, can you come into my office please? Heather and I were wondering whether we could have a few minutes. (Essentially you're just asking if you can have that persons attention for a short period of time, usually to talk about something). 3. Jane and I went out with our friends last night, but when they began to make references to the latest developments in Hollywood, we weren't in the loop enough to know what they were talking about. (Being 'out of the loop' implies that there is a specific set of knowledge that you don't have access to, knowledge that is usually continuously developing in nature. You could also say you were out of the loop if someone asked you about the latest news, or about where your group of friends was planning to get lunch on the weekend, and you hadn't been paying attention to recent developments). Hope that helps!

This may vary depending on whether somebody is from the UK or USA for example, but I would suggest the following: 1. This relates to lost time. So it could be in a relationship (e.g: "my best friend moved away for a few years to University, but they came back last weekend and we've been playing catch-up ever since" - meaning talking and being friends again as they were before, which they were unable to do whilst the friend was away) or maybe something with money like "Friends of ours bought a house years ago, but my wife and I were still travelling around the world before starting to save for a deposit last month, and we've been playing catch-up ever since" . Catching up is about getting to where you would have been, had time not been lost originally. 2. This is about wanting to speak to someone. Often in private, or if the other person is already busy with something. For example, parents might approach their child's teacher after school one day and say, "we were wondering if we could have a few minutes..." and they would know that they wanted to discuss something with them. 3. Being "in the loop" means being privy to some information, knowing how things are or what the situation is. This could be on a small scale, say a group of friends planning to go out (e.g "I think John mentioned drinks on Friday night, but then Alex said something about lunch on Saturday instead as he might be busy on Friday. I'm not in the loop enough to know") or on a bigger scale like, "The financial markets having been rising recently, but I'm not in the loop enough to know why or where I should have invested."

1. This is used in a situation where you are behind or losing from the start. For example if you were playing soccer and the score was 3-0 you would've "been playing catch-up ever since." As you were losing from the start and now trying to catch-up to the score 2. This is used when you need to talk to someone for a quick discussion, or when you need more time to prepare for something. E.g "Excuse me, i was wondering if we could have a few minutes to talk?" and "We were wondering if we could have a few minutes to finish our work" 3. "Not in the loop" is another way of saying, "I don't know enough about it". For example if someone said "Do you know who won the soccer last night?" I would say, "I'm not in the loop sorry" because I don't watch soccer.