English Idioms

harp on

Meaning:

• Continue to complain about something

1. My mom always harps on about my messy room.
2. The teacher kept harping on about the students’ grades.
3. Please don’t harp on and on about bad weather. We can’t change it.
4. Even if you harp on and on about the slow service, nothing will change anyway.

1. When your teachers harps on and on about your mistakes in front of other students, how do you feel?
2. If your partner harps on your bad breath, how do you respond?
3. Why do some parents harp on and on about their children’s friends?

You work for a computer company, and several of your coworkers always harp on and on about the way your boss is running the office. They complain about the office environment, the food in the break room, the rules about work attire, and their salaries. So far, you haven’t said anything to them, but the other day, they harped on about the political and religious views of the boss, and you feel that is completely unfair, but you don’t want to cause problems in the office. What is the best way to handle this situation?

Possible Answer: 

“You could look for another job where people don’t harp on and on about the coworkers.”

Sometimes, learners know the meaning of an idiom, but they don’t know how to use it correctly in conversation or writing. Thus, this activity checks your grammatical accuracy with the idiom so you become more confident in using it.