Lindsay McMahon
"The English Adventurer"

Have you ever heard somebody say that they were “singing the praises” of another person?

Is this one of those phrases in English that can be hard to understand?

Today we are looking at this phrase and others like it that focus on saying something nice about another person.

This can be a great way to be part of the conversation, and it may even be a helpful way to make a connection.

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Looking At This Phrase

So you may have heard us say something like this on the show before, such as “some listeners were singing our praises on Instagram.”

You can almost visualize this phrase, but you may not necessarily know what it means in conversation.

What does that mean?

When you say that you are singing someone’s or something’s praises, it means that you are saying something wonderful.

You are talking about something great that they did, or even showing what type of wonderful person they are in your conversation.

This is a fun phrase to use, and it’s actually quite useful as it may come up often.

It’s the ultimate compliment, and it is sure to make somebody feel good if they hear it.

So this can be a great phrase to use to be part of the conversation, and it can really make a connection with somebody that you are close to.

It is important to be sincere when you use this phrase, and to really mean that you are offering up this very kind compliment.

Looking At Examples With This Phrase

This is the type of phrase that you want to be sure you are using the right way.

It can be a helpful phrase to use, but you want to use it with the right person and in the right situation.

It often comes about when you are close to somebody and you want to say something really nice about them or something that they did.

Here are a few examples of how this phrase can work in conversation.

“I heard you had a great date last night. Steve was singing your praises. I guess you’re going out again?”

“Do you like the look of these curtains? Everyone online is singing their praises, but I’m not sure…”

“I called her references and all her old employers were singing her praises the whole time I was speaking to them!”

It’s really like this sense of standing by someone, showing you are for them, showing you think they are great, or that the situation is great.

This is a great skill to have, and it’s truly a useful phrase to utilize about someone that is deserving.

Rather than saying something safe such as “They had a lot of great things to say about X,” you are being more fun and zippy with your language!

Have you ever sang the praises of somebody?

Have you ever had somebody else sing your praises?

It sure feels good—think of a time where this happened to you or you used this sort of thinking and praise on somebody else.

How Else Can You Say This?

Though it can be great to sing somebody’s praises, there are actually other ways to say this.

If you want to mix it up a bit, you can use any of these phrases to help you convey the same sort of thing.

When somebody or something is very favorable, and you want to say something nice then any of these phrases can work well in your conversations.

  • Go on and on about : This is saying a lot of nice things about somebody, and you can almost visualize this. It’s almost as if not enough nice things can be said, and so the person speaking goes on about this kind person or thing. You might hear “My mother loves you. She was going on and on about how you are so much fun to be around and so smart!” The truth is though that this could also be negative, so you want to be careful about how it is utilized. This could be used to say that somebody is talking too much, or going on and on about how bad something is!
  • Gush over: This is always good, and it’s actually another one that you can sort of visualize. This may be used more in a romantic way, it’s almost as if it makes the people involved blush. You might hear “Mary couldn’t stop gushing over her new boyfriend last night.”
  • Rave about: This is like the ultimate compliment, because it’s as if you can’t say enough nice things. You are absolutely raving about this person, and so it’s very flattering. You could say something like “I have to stop at the library. My friend was raving about this new best seller all evening and I have to read it now!” You see here that it can be used about an object, rather than just a person too.
  • Talk someone/something up: This is slightly different because it’s as if you are trying to show that this person/thing is great. So it’s similar, but they may not be so great depending on the context and so you may feel the need to almost overcompensate. You could say “I can’t wait to see your presentation skills. Your company has been completely talking your public speaking skills up.” This is a genuine use of it and so the person saying the nice thing really means it. If you want to see it in another way, then there can also be some uncertainty involved. In this case it might be something like “They were talking her up, but in the end, we could tell she didn’t have the skills to match what we needed.”

All of these phrases work well in conversation, and so they are wonderful to turn to when you have the need.

If you want to pay somebody the ultimate compliment, then these are the way to go.

Takeaway

These phrases are very useful, and they are perfect for when you want to pay somebody a nice compliment.

Try them out today and see how they make somebody feel good.

This is a great sort of phrase to use when you want to make somebody feel good, just be sure that it’s sincere in nature.

Consider the circumstance and what this person did for you to sing their praises.

This is an excellent phrase to use in the right setting, and it can truly help to make somebody feel good and help you to work towards a lasting connection.

If you have any questions, please leave them below in the comments section.

We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

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