carry on — behave emotionally
To behave in an uncontrolled, emotional, or foolish way, often by complaining, making a fuss, or showing excessive emotion.
Say it like a native
Textbook He was behaving in an excessively emotional and dramatic manner.
Native He was carrying on like a child.
'Carry on' (BrE) compactly means make a fuss or behave dramatically; the formal paraphrase is flat.
Pattern: carry on (about something) | carry on (like a child)
In use
- She started carrying on about how unfair everything was, even though it was just a minor inconvenience.emotions
- While some people may carry on about minor issues in public, others prefer to remain composed and address their concerns privately.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ She carried on at the bad news.
✓ She carried on about the bad news. / She made a fuss about it.
In this fussing sense it's 'carry on ABOUT something'; 'carry on' alone just means continue.
Common collocations
carry on (about)— about it, like that, something terrible, don't
Don't confuse it
Unlike the basic sense of 'carry on' meaning 'to continue', this sense is about someone reacting emotionally or making a scene, not simply persisting with an activity.
Related
- carry on (continue) — 'carry on' also has the more basic meaning 'continue'; this is the advanced sense.