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To have a running nose vs. to have a runny nose

B1- B1 B2 C1

WRONG: I need a tissue! I’ve got a running nose.
RIGHT: I need a tissue! I’ve got a runny nose.

We’ll be honest. This is one of the funnier mistakes us English teachers hear. It’s only a few letters wrong, but it sounds quite amusing.

‚A running nose‘ – a nose that’s running along the street, a nose that’s been entered into the Prague Half Marathon! A funny image, right?
‚Running nose‘ is not the phrase to describe the need for constant tissues. We say ‚runny nose‘. Not runny in a ‚put on your trainers‘ kind of way, runny as in liquidy. For example, if you lightly boil an egg, it is still liquidy. We call that a ‚runny egg.‘

Now imagine your nose is like that egg. Yes, all ‚runny‘. Fuj!

Rubriky