Crank up

[0974] Dial it down

🎲 Carry on
English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • To reduce the intensity, extremity, volume, or emotional level of something.
  • To make something less forceful, aggressive, loud, or exaggerated.

Origin

  • Comes from the action of turning a control dial (like on a radio, thermostat, or machine) downwards or to a lower setting (down) to reduce output (volume, heat, power).
  • It's the direct opposite of crank up or dial up.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Tone it down (Reduce the intensity/forcefulness of language or behaviour)
  • Calm down / Simmer down
  • Take it down a notch (Reduce intensity slightly)
  • Reduce / Decrease / Lower
  • Ease off / Back off (Reduce pressure or intensity)
  • Cool it (Calm down, stop being intense)

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • Chill / Chill out (Very common: Relax, calm down)
  • Take a chill pill (Slang, often sarcastic: Calm down immediately)
  • Cool your jets (Calm down, stop being overly excited or angry)
  • Put a sock in it (Rude slang: Be quiet)
  • Pipe down (Informal: Be quieter, less noisy/argumentative)

Vulgar/Emphatic:

  • Calm the fuck down (Vulgar, often aggressive way to tell someone to calm down)
  • Shut the fuck up / STFU (Very vulgar, aggressive demand for silence)

Milder/Formal:

  • Please moderate your tone/language.
  • Let's try to de-escalate.
  • Could you please lower your voice? / Keep your voice down.

Situational Appropriateness

  • Informal to semi-formal.
  • It's a direct way to tell someone (or suggest) to be less intense. Can sound critical depending on tone and context.

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • While literal dials are less ubiquitous now, the concept of turning something 'down' to reduce its level is generally well understood. Ensure learners grasp it means 'reduce intensity/level'.

Examples

  • Okay, you're making good points, but you need to dial down the anger.
  • The music is way too loud; can you dial it down a bit?
  • He tends to exaggerate, so you always have to mentally dial down what he says.
  • Let's dial down the rhetoric and have a more constructive conversation.

Dialogue

Sarah: This is the third time they've messed up my order! I'm furious! I'm going to leave a scathing one-star review!

Tom: Whoa, okay, I get you're upset, but maybe dial it down a notch first? Let's call customer service and see if they can fix it calmly.

Sarah: (Sighs) Okay, you're right. Screaming in a review won't help. Let's try calling.

Social Media Examples

  • Comment: @Username Look, you can disagree, but you need to dial down the personal attacks. Keep it civil.
  • Tweet: Maybe we should all dial down the outrage meter online just a little bit? #perspective #socialmedia

Response Patterns

  • Compliance/Agreement: Okay, sorry. I'll dial it down. / You're right, dialing it down.
  • Defensiveness: I'm not being intense! Why should I dial it down?
  • Acknowledgement: Point taken. I'll try to dial it down.

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

  • The person reduces their volume, intensity, or extreme behaviour/language.
  • The situation becomes calmer or less confrontational.
  • Discussion continues on a more moderate level.

Conversation Starter

  • No.
  • It's a response, request, or instruction aimed at reducing intensity.

Intonation

  • Often used as a calming instruction or request.
  • Stress usually on DIAL and DOWN. You need to DIAL it DOWN.

Generation Differences

  • Common across generations, perhaps slightly more prevalent from Gen X onwards, but widely understood.

Regional Variations

  • Common in most English-speaking regions, especially North America. Tone it down is also very common everywhere.
Crank up
🎲 Carry on