Listening - Daily Lesson

Listening - Daily Lesson:

"wrap one's head around it"

Jun 19 2014

Quote

“It’s hard to wrap my head around the idea of leaving a place where I’ve lived and breathed for so long.”

TV host Seth Meyers, talking about leaving Saturday Night Live

Meaning

understand something

Use

When you wrap something, like a gift, you cover the item with paper. Generally, the item is supposed to be a surprise, so you make sure to take your time and hide the gift. Nothing of the original box or package is showing because it’s all inside the wrapping paper.

When you wrap your head around something, you also cover it. Not with paper, but with brain power. Solving a difficult problem takes a lot of mental energy. You think about what is wrong. And then you decide on one or more ways to fix it. Sometimes the situation is too complex, and you don’t have an answer for it. No matter how many ways you look at the problem, you just can’twrap your head around it. It doesn’t seem like there’s an answer.

Talking about leaving Saturday Night Live, TV host Seth Meyers said it’s difficult for him to wrap his head around leaving. He doesn’t have an answer for what it will be like when he is no longer part of the network show. It’s obviously something he’s thought about a lot, but he is still unsure what his life will look like.

When have you not been able to wrap your head around something? How did you solve the problem?

Examples

“Steven was such a hard worker. I can’t wrap my head around the fact that he got fired.”
“Even though scientists have studied the cosmos, it’s impossible to wrap your head around how big the universe is.”
“Can you explain this game to me? I just can’t wrap my head around the rules.”