Can you explain the meaning of phrase “on top of everything else”?
thank you!
Jung
Since you have not provided any context I will take a wild guess: on top of everything else can mean in addition to everything.
Literally it means: “above everything else”. Example: “the upper piece of bread of a hamburger comes on top of everything else”, that is, above the meat, the salad et cetera.
Figuratively, it may be used as “later than everything else”, “more striking than everything else”, or “more important than everything else”, and things similar. It is slightly colloquial.
Example:
“I had a very bad day at work. First, I spilled coffee all over my boss. Then, my computer crashed very badly. And after lunch, on top of everything else (or “on top of it all”), my girlfriend called to my office and broke up with me. Can you believe it?”
Thank you all. But in this context, it still makes me confused: “I didn’t need Mandy turning up and having a go at me on top of everything else.”
It means what Milanya said: in addition to everything else. “To have a go at someone” usually means to attack someone, either physically or verbally.
How I would interpret your example: first, everyone else had a go at me. That was bad. Then, Mandy had a go at me as well. That made my situation even worse, because I was already quite unhappy after the others had had a go at me.
Think of an imaginary situation where someone is building up a pile of bad luck for you. He first puts down some bad luck, then some more. On top of all that bad luck, he adds the last piece of bad luck, which you will dislike the most. You will dislike it most either just because it is last, or (more often) because it is both last and worst.
Terrific! Thank you!
[size=117]Do you say “on top of everything else” to add something else that is [color=blue]bad?[/size]
Yes, it is nearly always bad if used as an expression, though perhaps not 100% of the time. I’d be mildly surprised if I ever saw it used in a positive way.
When used literally, as in “the icing of the cake comes on top of everything else”, it is of course neutral.
Thank you, Cerberus™.
Tom: I had a crappy day, Eleanor. First, my car broke down on the way to work.
Eleanor: Oh dear…
Tom: So I got to work four hours late.
Eleanor: Oh my…
Tom: Mr. Bruginski, my boss, wrote me up for it.
Eleanor: (sigh)
Tom: And on top of everything else, I had diarrhea! What a crappy day!
Eleanor: Ha ha ha, nice pun!
Tom: NOT FUNNY!
In my experience, people generally use “on top of everything else” to (sometimes melodramatically) introduce the last in a series of complaints and/or bring extra attention to one specific complaint.