wash over sb

[Archie]

Zidane’s agent cast Zinedine as “a man who normally lets things wash over him but on Sunday night something exploded inside him”.
If you let things wash over you, so I guess it means that you don't care about it and simply don't let it bother you;you ignore it.
But Cambridge dictionary says that wash over sb means that
if a feeling or emotion washes over you, you suddenly feel it strongly.
One is a phrasal verb and the other one isn't and meaning changes because of that. Am I right??

[Coffa]

Originally Posted by Archie

Zidane’s agent cast Zinedine as “a man who normally lets things wash over him but on Sunday night something exploded inside him”.
If you let things wash over you, so I guess it means that you don't care about it and simply don't let it bother you;you ignore it.
But Cambridge dictionary says that wash over sb means that
if a feeling or emotion washes over you, you suddenly feel it strongly.
One is a phrasal verb and the other one isn't and meaning changes because of that. Am I right??

No, not really - 'to wash over' is a phrasal verb in both cases, and means the same thing.

For example:

1) "Violent emotions washed over me, and I was quite overcome." - I could not deal with the violent emotions that I suddenly felt.

2) "I just let the emotion wash over me, and concentrated on my task."

In 1), I felt the emotions strongly, and was upset.
In 2), I felt the emotions strongly, but I was able to deal with them. The difference is the verb 'let', which carries the connotation of 'ability to deal with'.

[Archie]

OK Thank you very much Coffa