Word of the day: R&R

R and R stands for rest and relaxation, rather than rock and roll. So if you are having a bit of R&R, you are having a break or a holiday where you are doing very little other than lying around by the pool or hanging out on the beach or maybe wandering round a city and stopping off at a café for a coffee or beer or just watching the world go by. You’re just taking it easy after a period of hard work. Hopefully, all of our summer school students manage to have a bit of R&R here in London as well as studying, enjoying, for instance, a Saturday lunch with some paella round at my place.

I think that R&R is an interesting phrase for learners of English for two reasons. Firstly, it’s an example of the way we like to use rhyme and rhythm in English sometimes, even though this means using two words which essentially mean the same thing! So you might look for some peace and quiet, or a bar might be dark and dingy, the weather nice and sunny or a day dull and boring (hence this story about town twinning!). R&R is also an example of how we like to create acronyms (words made from the first letter of each word in a phrase). This is particularly common in work and military settings, which according to Wikipedia is where R&R originates. So you might need to speak to HR asap about your CPD (talk to human resources as soon as possible about your continuing professional development)!

So why are we talking about R&R today? Well, we’ve been working hard and have an extra busy week next week – and we’re both feeling the need for some R&R of our own . . . so we’re going to take a three-week break from writing these word of the day posts; but don’t worry – we will definitely be back again at the start of September.

Want more? Take one of our online courses.

• When was the last time you had a bit of R&R?
• Where’s a good place to go?
• Do you prefer lying around the pool or wandering round new cities? Why?