Reader question:

Please explain “freaking out” in this sentence: First time in Beijing, it took him a week to quit freaking out over everything.

My comments:

Apparently, “he” is someone who comes to Beijing for the first time. And he’s surprised at, shocked by and excited over everything.

I can relate to that. I visited Beijing for the first time in 1982, a long time ago to be sure.

Different era, yes.

Anyways, even then Beijing was different. For one thing, everything seemed larger in scale. The road, for example, was wide, almost too wide. Tiananmen Square and Palace Museum were way too big and majestic.

Still are, of course.

And, as did “he” in our example sentence, I freaked out often, mostly being overexcited.

Mostly in a good way.

Oh, freak out.

We freak out, in short, when we experience things that overwhelm our emotions, be it excitement or fear, anger, nervousness, disbelief and so on. We become, like, out of control.

When I visited the Palace Museum back in the day, I freaked out. I felt like, for instance, shrieking all the time.

I think I did shriek, inwardly.

Freak, by the way, refers to some very unusual and unexpected event or situation. The cold spell we’ve been having for the past two days, for example, is a freak or a freakish event. Temperatures dropped by 16 degrees centigrade in some areas. That’s unexpected, to put it mildly.

I’m sure a lot of people freaked out by the steep drop in temperature. One friend reported, for example, that he stayed indoors all day yesterday.

All right, let’s read a few media examples of people freaking out because of this and that:

1. The FBI raid on the home and office of Trump fixer and attorney-sort-of-at-law Michael Cohen has predictably triggered President Trump. In addition to raging against Robert Mueller both on camera and on Twitter, Trump is reportedly subjecting everybody around him to angry tirades. In case you don’t have time to read all the tirade coverage, here are the best quotes from freaked-out sources, ranked in ascending order:

5. Quote: “There was fear in Trump’s orbit that the president is liable to erupt in anger in coming days, escalating his attacks against Mueller at a time when his attorneys are negotiating a possible interview.”

Source: “Trump’s orbit”

4. Quote: “Mr. Trump’s advisers have spent the last 24 hours trying to convince the president not to make an impulsive decision that could put the president in more legal jeopardy and ignite a controversy that could consume his presidency.”

Source: “several people close to Mr. Trump”

3. Quote: “He’s sitting there bitching and moaning. He’s brooding and doesn’t have a plan.”

Source: “a Republican close to the White House”

2. Quote: “He’s losing his shit,” the operative added. “We’re at a different level now.”

Source: “a GOP operative close to the White House”

1. Quote: “Jesus take the wheel.”

Source: “a former White House official”

Sleep well, America.

- Today’s 5 Best Quotes From Freaked-Out Trump Sources, Ranked, NYMag.com, April 10, 2018.

2. Podcaster Tim Dillon said 2024 candidate Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. freaked out when the lights in his podcast studio went out in the middle of an interview.

Kennedy appeared along with his wife, actress Cheryl Hines, on The Tim Dillon Show Sunday where he discussed his run for the 2024 Democratic nomination against current President Joe Biden.

Dillon said the power outage disrupted the interview and forced them to edit out fifteen minutes of the show.

“Thirty minutes into the podcast, we did have a weird blackout in the studio. It’s never happened before. I’ve been podcasting about seven years. This has never happened. It was strange,” Dillon explained in an introduction to the interview.

“It happened in the middle of the episode. We lost about 15 good minutes and then we got back to it. But as you know, it kind of broke the – we had a groove going and it was fun. We had a dynamic and it was cool. And when the lights went off, I think he thought someone was trying to kill him,” Dillon explained.

Dillon described the events that unfolded when the lights went down as “strange.”

“The family history – but, you know, he’s a really conscientious guy. But, when those lights went down, he was like ‘Cheryl!'” Dillon said, mimicking RFK Jr.’s gruffly voice.

- Tim Dillon Says RFK Jr. Freaked Out When Power Dropped During Podcast: ‘He Thought Someone Was Trying to Kill Him’, MediaITE.com, September 12, 2023.

3. It appears that Travis Kelce’s family is fed up with the media attention brought on by Travis’ relationship with Taylor Swift.

For the past month, the media has zeroed in on the Kelce family after Swift started attending NFL games to support Travis and the Chiefs.

The invasion of privacy got so bad for the new couple that Travis had to buy a new multi-million dollar home in a gated community to avoid the paparazzi.

According to a report from TMZ, the Kelce’s are growing tired of all the attention they’ve been getting since Travis and Taylor started dating.

Via TMZ:

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ … the frenzy in the press over TayTay and Travis has become incredibly overwhelming for his immediate family members – including his mom, Donna, his dad, Ed, and even his fellow NFLer and older brother, Jason.

We’re told all the attention the couple’s getting isn’t the fam’s favorite thing in the world – seeing how it ends up spilling over on them – but, by the same token, they’re happy Travis is happy … so they’re dealing.

Our sources tell us the whole family’s been under a microscope since the initial dating rumblings way back in September … and they’ve all been getting blown up nonstop on their personal phones and on social media since Trav and Tay went public as a couple.

...

One other interesting tidbit relayed to us … Travis’s flesh and blood are a bit startled by Swifties and their intense, to put it mildly, love for her. We’re told their fierce passion actually makes them a little worried for her BF’s safety — even with him being a 6’5”, 250 lb. NFL superstar.

Apparently, the Kelce’s are really freaked out by Swift’s crazed fanbase.

- Travis Kelce’s Family Tired Of Taylor Swift Media Attention, Are Freaked Out By Swifties According To Report, BroBible.com, October 31, 2023.

本文僅代表作者本人觀點，與本網(wǎng)立場無關(guān)。歡迎大家討論學術(shù)問題，尊重他人，禁止人身攻擊和發(fā)布一切違反國家現(xiàn)行法律法規(guī)的內(nèi)容。

About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：張欣   編輯：丹妮）