Thread: Raise hell
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Old June 12, 2012, 10:13 AM
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wrholt wrholt is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA
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Native Language: US English
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Quote:
Originally Posted by powerchisper View Post
Hello friends :

It is now several times that I've heard this.

To me it sounds like "Crear mal" , " Liarla parda" , " buscar bronca"....

Could you please give me some examples , for me to understand the actual meaning ?
In the US we use "to raise hell" in a variety of contexts. They all relate to the idea of creating some degree of disturbance, either for good or for ill.

(a) In a factory a particular machine breaks, and it will take a long time to fix it. Until it is fixed, the factory cannot produce anything. So, the machine's not working raises hell with the delivery schedule.

(b) A teenager breaks some household rule, and his/her mother raises hell; that is, scolds and berates loudly and with great emotion.

(c) A group of buddies goes out for the evening to raise hell; that is, enjoy themselves in public with a lot of noise and high spirits, perhaps with lots of drinking and catcalling to pretty women.


Quote:
Originally Posted by powerchisper View Post
BTW : For some Spanish like me , the difference between "Rise" and "Raise" is a little confusing.

Thank you very much !
The grammatical difference between "rise" and "raise" is that "rise" is intransitive (it never has a direct object), and "raise" is transitive (it must have a direct object).

Someone/something rises (comes up, lifts itself up, goes up, or increases in volume): the sun rises, I rise out of bed in the morning, baked goods rise before and/or during baking.

Someone/something raises someone/something: parents raise (or rear) their children, cranes raise (or lift) materials and objects.
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