pick on

s’en prendre à, harceler

S’en prendre régulièrement à quelqu’un, notamment en le critiquant ou en se moquant de lui.

En anglais simple : To repeatedly treat someone unkindly, especially by criticizing them or making fun of them.

• Stop picking on your sister.
• Some children picked on him because of his glasses.
• Why does the boss always pick on me?

Comment l'utiliser : pick on someone (The older boys kept picking on him.)

Synonymes : bully, harass, tease

Expressions courantes : pick on someone, pick on younger children

choisir, désigner

Désigner quelqu’un pour faire quelque chose, souvent alors qu’il préférerait ne pas le faire.

En anglais simple : To choose someone to do something, often when they would rather not do it.

• The teacher picked on me to answer.
• She picked on Leo to carry the boxes.
• Why do you always pick on me for these jobs?

Comment l'utiliser : pick on someone to do something (The teacher picked on me to read aloud.); pick on someone for something (They picked on Sam for the difficult job.)

Synonymes : choose, select, single out

Expressions courantes : pick on someone, pick on a student