Get A Grip

[namsteven]

Dear friends and Teachers,

1. You need to avoid this fellow that you can't act right around. How embarrasing for you that you would make a play for your close friend's boyfriend. And you are definitely not thinking straight. You are really going to embarrass yourself or lose your marriage if you don't get a grip.

- Does "think straight" mean "think clearly"? and "get a grip" means "get an understanding about this problem"?

Thanks a million!

NamSteven

[colloquium]

Dear friends and Teachers,

1. You need to avoid this fellow that you can't act right around. How embarrasing for you that you would make a play for your close friend's boyfriend. And you are definitely not thinking straight. You are really going to embarrass yourself or lose your marriage if you don't get a grip.

- Does "think straight" mean "think clearly"? Yes and "get a grip" means "get an understanding about this problem"? I think a better interpretation is: take control of the situation and do the right thing.

Thanks a million!

NamSteven

I'm not a teacher.

[David L.]

There are different ways that 'grip' is used in this way.

You can 'get to grips with' a problem and begin to deal with or understand it
and
'get a grip on' : 'take control of', as in "The Government needs to get a grip on inflation."

but 'get a grip' means 'keep or recover one's self-control', as in your sentence- 'get a grip on yourself and start 'thinking straight' instead of your emotions taking over'.

[VSPrasad]

get a grip

1. (idiomatic) To relax; to calm down; to stop being angry; to come to one's senses or become more rational. He needs to get a grip if he's getting that angry over such a little thing.

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_a_grip

get a grip (on yourself):

to make an effort to control your emotions and behave more calmly.

"Come on, get a grip, we've got an important meeting in five minutes. I just think he ought to get a grip on himself - he's behaving like a child."


http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/Get+a+Grip