Hello and welcome back to Daily English! Today’s phrasal verb is “call out.” It has a few different uses, so let’s play with some examples.
Imagine you see a celebrity behaving badly in public, and people post online saying, “We need to call them out for this behavior.”
– A teacher notices a student cheating during an exam. She calls him out in front of the whole class.
– Or, you’re walking down the street and suddenly someone calls out your name loudly so you’ll turn around.
Definition
👉 To call out means to challenge or criticize someone publicly for their behavior. It can also mean to shout or speak loudly so someone can hear you.
Examples: The journalist called out the politician for lying during the debate.
If you see injustice, don’t be afraid to call it out.
Fans called out the singer after discovering she had lip-synced at the concert.
The “criticize” meaning of call out has become very common on social media—people talk about “calling someone out” when they expose bad behavior publicly.
So tell me—have you ever had to call someone out for doing something wrong, or has anyone ever called you out? How did it feel?