TO TEAR SOMEONE APART, TO CUT SOMEONE DOWN: O que significam? (Post inspirado na música Happier, de Olivia Rodrigo)

And now I'm pickin' her apart

Like cuttin' her down will make you miss my wretched heart

But she's beautiful, she looks kind

She probably gives you butterflies

Phrasal verbs estão em todas as partes na língua inglesa. As vezes, o contexto pressupõe o sentido, as vezes não. Na música Happier, de Olivia Rodrigo, nós temos dois phrasal verbs que estão muito bem contextualizados. Para entendê-los, vamos à historia da música.

Depois do término dum relacionamento, Olívia sente ciúmes da nova namorada de seu ex. Por mais que tente controlar o sentimento, a nova garota desperta muitas inseguranças e ela acaba fazendo coisas como: to cut her down, to tear her apart. O que isso significa?

Ambas as expressões se referem ao ato de criticar alguém, de maneira pública ou não. To tear someone apart ainda pode passar o sentido de falar mal de alguém em pequenos detalhes, algo que é feito quando existe muito ressentimento envolvido. Vamos ver alguns exemplos:

1. I can’t believe how much she hates me. She was capable of cutting me down in front of everybody. It was so embarrassing and I felt very humiliated.

2. I heard you tearing me apart last night. You were really determined to find every single flaw I have and that makes me sad.

3. Don’t you dare to cut me down like that. You owe me respect!

4. I feel sorry for tearing her apart before I got to know her. It turns out she’s a really nice girl.

5. As much as you hate me, you don’t have the right to cut me down in front of the whole company.

6. Why are you tearing your friend apart? She wouldn’t like it if she were here.