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[0973] Crank up

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English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • To increase the volume, power, intensity, speed, or level of something significantly.

Origin

  • Likely comes from the physical action of turning a crank handle, a common mechanism in early machines (cars, generators, winches, gramophones) to start them or increase their output/speed.
  • Also directly relates to turning a volume knob or dial upwards (up) to increase sound level.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Turn up (Very common, especially for volume/heat)
  • Increase / Boost
  • Amp up (Amplify, increase intensity/excitement)
  • Step up (Increase effort or level)
  • Intensify
  • Ramp up (Increase steadily, often production or effort)
  • Pump up (Increase volume, energy, enthusiasm)

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • Blast (Increase volume very high: Blast the music!)
  • Jack up (Increase, often used for prices, but sometimes volume)
  • Juice up (Increase power or energy)
  • Put the pedal to the metal (Increase speed, esp. driving)

Vulgar/Emphatic:

  • Turn that shit up! (Vulgar slang, common enthusiastic request for louder music)

Milder/Formal:

  • Increase the volume/level/intensity
  • Raise the output
  • Escalate efforts

Situational Appropriateness

  • Informal.
  • Very common for volume controls (music, TV). Used more broadly for increasing intensity, speed, or effort in informal settings.

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • The connection to a physical 'crank' might not be obvious, but the meaning of 'increase' is usually clear from context, especially with 'up'.

Examples

  • Crank up the radio, I love this song!
  • We need to crank up production if we want to meet the holiday demand.
  • The party didn't really crank up until after 11 PM. (Meaning: get more intense/lively)
  • Let's crank up the heat; it's freezing in here.

Dialogue

Driver: Feeling tired on this long drive.

Passenger: Put on that upbeat playlist and crank it up! That'll wake us up.

Driver: Good idea! (Turns up the music volume significantly).

Passenger: Yeah! That's better!

Social Media Examples

  • Post: Workout motivation: crank up the volume on your favorite power anthem! 🎧💪 #fitness #music #motivation
  • Tweet: The pressure is on! Time to crank up the focus and get this proposal finished. #workgrind #deadline

Response Patterns

  • Enthusiastic agreement: Yeah! Crank it up!
  • Action: Performing the increase (e.g., turning the volume knob).
  • Caution/Disagreement: Whoa, don't crank it up too much! / Let's not crank it up yet.

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

  • The volume/intensity is increased.
  • Checking if the new level is appropriate (Is that loud enough?).
  • Enjoying the result of the increase (e.g., dancing to louder music).

Conversation Starter

  • Yes.
  • Frequently used as a request or suggestion, especially regarding volume or energy level. Should we crank up the music?

Intonation

  • Often said with energy or enthusiasm, especially for music.
  • Stress on CRANK and UP. CRANK it UP!

Generation Differences

  • Common across most generations, particularly for music volume.
  • Younger generations might use turn up just as, or more, frequently, especially in the sense of increasing energy/excitement at a party (Let's turn up!).

Regional Variations

  • Widely used and understood in most English-speaking regions.
Blow off steam
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