“Whenever Joe is called to cook for his family and friends he always rises to the occasion.” The English expression rise to the occasion is a good way to say that someone is known to do a very good job when he is required to do something.

For example, let’s consider a rock star. Some rock stars seem like very ordinary people when they are not on a stage performing but whenever they are up on that stage they always rise to the occasion. This expression is used often to describe people you know when you are talking with others about them. For example the 4 girlfriends were all enjoying a drink, and Cindy was talking about her husband. “George may be lazy on weekends, but whenever I ask him to take over cooking some steak on the barbeque, he always rises to the occasion.” Or, let’s take a school environment Mary was talking with Sally about their friend Katy. Mary said, “Katy doesn’t really study that much, but whenever she takes a test she has a way of rising to the occasion and ending up with a good grade.”

Best regards,

Oliver, LiveEnglishClass.com Teaching Director