Get your stuff

Wise Words: stuff

I don’t know about you, but I’m finding it even harder than usual to get my stuff done.

"Stuff" is one of my favourite words. It's so flexible. You can use it in informal situations, but also in business ones. And it can mean just about anything (materials, work, a report, knowledge, personal characteristics, important things, unimportant things, things you know, things you don't know, and nonsense — just to name a few).  

This video, kindly sent to me by someone who must know me pretty well, sums up just how easy it is to avoid getting your stuff done — especially if, like me, you work from home some of the time. There’s loads of stuff you could be doing (like watching football matches). 

You can learn different forms of the useful "get something/stuff done" structure from the statements in the video:

I got up and got ready quickly because I had to get a lot of stuff done.
I sat down at my desk to start getting my stuff done.
A clean desk would help me (to) get my stuff done.
I didn't want to be hungry while I got (I was getting) my stuff done.
It was getting kind of late and I knew I wouldn't be able to get my stuff done today.
I want to be well rested tomorrow so I can get my stuff done.

Here are a few of my favourite idiomatic expressions with the noun "stuff": 

know one's stuff
If you know your stuff, you know a lot about a subject. 

• "Ask Katherine, she really knows her stuff."

...and stuff
We can use this expression if we don't want to list everything. You can use it if you want to be vague — or if you know it's clear what is meant. 

• "We'll need a computer and stuff for the new assistant." 
  

"Stuff" is also a verb: 

stuff sth. into sth.
Use this verb if you force something into something else. 

• "Stuff all that stuff into the drawer before the boss comes back."

You can turn it into an adjective: 

stuffed
If you are "stuffed", you are so full that you cannot eat another thing.

"I'd love to try the dessert, but I'm stuffed."

You can use it with "get"
I'm sorry, but I can't finish this blog post without mentioning football again. There's an expression with "stuffed" that English football fans use to talk about a team's performance. If they think a team could be or was beaten really badly, they'll use "get stuffed". 

• "So, you think England will get stuffed if they play Germany? I don't."

Careful how you use this expression. "Get stuffed" can also be a very rude way of telling someone to "go away".

So, "stuff" is a really useful word. Do you think you can remember all this stuff?