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Ecuador flagAlexis Espinoza
What do you say more often? To get our bearings OR to orient ourselves. The word bearing is very tricky because it has several meanings.

Answers · 4

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I've used "get our bearings" a lot. I wouldn't use "orient ourselves" very often.
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This is an example of British vs US English In the UK, it is common to use "orientate", rarely would anyone say "orient" (maybe only computer programmers). Academics may argue that these words have different meanings, but in practice, they are used to mean the same thing. "Let's orientate ourselves" sounds very formal, and therefore a bit strange (afterall, if you are lost, it is not a time for formal speech!). Much more common to say "Let's get our bearings". Orientate/disorientate would be used in other everyday speech e.g.: "I'm feeling dizzy and disorientated" "His life is orientated around football and sleeping" https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/204767/disoriented-vs-disorientated https://www.dailywritingtips.com/do-you-orient-yourself-or-orientate-yourself/ I cannot speak for US English.
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I would think "to get our bearings" is probably more common, but both are perfectly correct.
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El verbo "to orient" al menos no se usa en inglés británico (podría ser más común en América del Norte). Decimos "to orientate". Pero, cada vez, diría "to get our bearings". "To orient(ate) ourselves" es una manera muy formal de decirlo, aunque es un cognado con "orientarnos". Sin embargo, si uno se pierde, las frases "to lose one's bearings" y "to be disoriented" son igualmente comunes.

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