Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

What does 'I'm in a lull.' mean?
Does it mean: I'm in a state of calm. Or, I'm in a pause like I'm at rest.? Or I'm deluding myself? Any comment?


Thanks in advance!

Leslie
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Less Is Blessed

[MauraS]

The first two definitions you have there are correct: calm or rest.

I hear this expression most often about work. Someone who is not busy at work right now, may be because there is a lull in business. This means that there is not a lot of business right now or that things are moving more slowly. A lull usually isn't positive.

Another common way we use it is "a lull in conversation". This is when no one talks for no reason. This is also not normally good as it indicates that there is nothing to say.

Hope this helps.

Have you ESL questions answered in a podcast at www.culips.com

[Bob S.]

It depends on the situation. Normally I say it when I don't have a lot of work to do at the moment (the previous job is complete and the next job is not due to start for a while).
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper