Ban – Bar – Prohibit – Forbid

Ban tends to have a legal significance. Forbid and prohibit are more general, though prohibit is more formal.

When you forbid something, you refuse to allow it. You might have heard your parents say things like, "I forbid you to play ball in the house!" or "I forbid you to have any more parties when we're not home!" 

Forbid comes from the Old English word forbeodan, meaning "forbid, prohibit." Forbid can also mean "prevent" or "keep from happening." The spare tire on your car will forbid you from driving any faster than 40 miles an hour – any faster and the car will shake. You may have heard forbid used in the expression "God forbid . . ." This refers to something you hope will not happen, so much so that you're asking God for a little help. 

If a sign says "Swimming Prohibited," don't go for a dip. It's not allowed. To prohibit is to forbid, or to disallow something. 

In school, you are prohibited from leaving the premises before the end of the school day. The school administration also prohibits smoking and chewing gum. In 1920, it became illegal to sell alcohol in the United States. This time period when alcohol was prohibited is known as the era of Prohibition. Famously Prohibition did not work. When you prohibit something, you often make it seem more appealing. 

The verb to ban means to forbid something from being or happening; the word can also be used as a noun. A school board might put a ban on all books that referred to Jefferson's mistress if they didn't want anyone reading about her. 

If your parents are upset by how much time you spend surfing the net, they might ban all computers in the house. To ban something is to put a ban on it. Something with a ban on it is said to be banned. At the height of the disco craze, radio DJs banned all disco records. To get listeners to join their ban, they encouraged them to destroy their disco records in public.

In their definitions relating to prohibition and exclusion, the verb ban usually applies to things, and bar usually applies to people. For example, you might ban chocolate cake from your house and say that anyone caught sneaking in chocolate cake will be barred indefinitely. We qualify the distinction with “usually,” however, because it is not a rule, and exceptions abound. Meanwhile, the two words are synonyms when applied to actions (so the act of eating chocolate cake might be either banned or barred), which further blurs the distinction.

Ban is often used to denote official actions of governments and other authorities, while barring is more often unofficial. Also, while ban doubles as a noun, bar does not. There are so many other noun senses of bar that using the word as a synonym of prohibition or exclusion might just cause confusion.

In British English, ban and bar are more closely interchangeable than they are in American English.

For example, these writers use ban in relation to things or actions:

A number of suspensions for drinking, fighting and swearing has led Sydney Academy to ban dances next year. [CBC]

Our children’s school has now banned tree climbing. [Telegraph]

Many young adults dislike abortion and are receptive toward pro-life arguments, but feel uncomfortable with banning abortion entirely. [National Review Online]

And these writers use bar in relation to people or actions:

However, a race in South Africa has led to the AAA barring him from the event. [Guardian]

Legislation to bar those convicted of crimes from serving on school boards and requiring board members to undergo criminal checks has been signed into law. [Star-Ledger]

School rector Father Paul Martin has barred Keith from attending because school policy does not allow “old boys”… [Stuff.co.nz]

Do or Make

Learn how to use the verbs do and make with Jason

Say and Tell

Learn how to use the verbs say and tell with Jason

go on the stage vs. go on stage

To go on the stage means to become an actor.

Example: At the age of ten, he decided that he wanted to go on the stage.

To go on stage means to perform for the audience.

Example: From the moment he went on stage the audience folded up in their seats.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/go-on-the-stage

ABBY Lingvo

Dress rehearsal

1) The dress rehearsal of a play, opera, or show is the final rehearsal before it is performed, in which the performers wear their costumes and the lights and scenery are all used as they will be in the performance.

2) You can describe an event as a dress rehearsal for a later, more important event when it indicates how the later event will be.

Example: These elections, you could almost say, are a dress rehearsal for the real elections.

ABBY Lingvo

Waiting in the wings

If someone or something is waiting in the wings, they are not yet active or important, but are ready or likely to be so soon.

For example:

The team has several talented young players waiting in the wings.

Some police were in the wings in case of trouble at the rally.

There are at least a dozen young managers waiting in the wings for Harold to retire. 

This expression alludes to the theatre, where a player waits in the wings or backstage area, unseen by the audience, for his or her turn to come on stage.

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/wait-in-the-wings

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/in+the+wings

get in the bus vs. get on the bus

What is the difference between “get in the bus” and “get on the bus”?

On the bus is the phrase that illustrates how on doesn't always mean atop or attached to. Truth is, prepositions are very versatile words with several usages, nuances, and idiomatic meanings.  We get on a bus for the same reason we get on a train – because it's short for getting "on board" the bus. 

You never get in the bus unless it's a small bus the size of a car; you always get on the bus. But you get in a car, not the other way around.

On the other hand in some locales, there's a big difference between being on the bus, and in the bus, as is depicted here:

Give someone a lift

Look at two meanings of the expression "give someone a lift":

Give someone a lift: to provide transportation for someone e.g. take someone somewhere in your car. Give someone a 'ride' is also used:

"I've got to go to the train station. Can you give me a lift?"
"Can you give me a lift to work tomorrow? My car is being repaired."
"It's too late to walk home. Let me give you a lift."

Give someone a lift: to make someone feel good by saying kind words; to make someone happier:

"I was feeling sad until I spoke to her. She really gave me a lift."
"He's been very unhappy recently. We should do something to give him a lift."
"Seeing you may give her the lift she needs."

Note: When the world is your oyster, you are getting everything you want from life. It's a common idiom.