Jill Came Tumbling After

Jill Came Tumbling After Jill Came Tumbling After Jill Came Tumbling After By Maeve Maddox The word fall in English, both as a verb and a noun, has numerous meanings. People can fall, but so can stocks, water levels, and empires. As a noun fall can refer to the season Fall, the fall of a city, and the Fall of Man. Leaving aside the many ways in which inanimate objects can fall, people can be said to fall, slip, topple, tumble, keel over, and take a spill. Each choice carries a different connotation. topple suggests a fall from a high place, possibly induced or caused by a displacement of weight: He lost his balance at the summit and toppled to the canyon floor. keel over suggests that the person fell over suddenly: We were walking along talking when she simply keeled over. take a spill would be appropriate to describe a fall from a horse or from skis. For me tumble is a playful word for a fall with minor consequences. Perhaps it’s because I associate it with a nursery rhyme. When Jack fell down and broke his crown, Jill came tumbling after. And while the words â€Å"broke his crown† may suggest a split skull, all it means is that Jack cut his forehead: Up Jack got and home did trot, As fast as he could caper, To old Dame Dob, who patched his nob With vinegar and brown paper. In my mind people who â€Å"tumble† may get hurt, but they aren’t killed, so I’d use tumble to describe a minor fall. Because I don’t associate serious consequences with the word tumble, I was startled by its use in a grim news story: David John Pimental, 19, of Fort Smith tumbled off a bridge around 10:15 p.m. This â€Å"tumble† was not minor. In an attempt to avoid oncoming traffic during an ice storm, the unfortunate Pimental slid from a dark ice-covered bridge and plummeted 180 feet to his death. From The Oxford American Writer’s Thesaurus, 2nd ed.( 2008), here are some more words for the way people can fall: go head over heels go headlong collapse pitch forward trip stumble slip Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Misused Words category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:English Grammar 101: All You Need to Know"Wracking" or "Racking" Your Brain?Starting a Business Letter with Dear Mr.