English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
To give birth or to put to bed?
Has your wife ~taken in~ (nonstandard)?
Is your wife *in the family way* (standard)?
If you take someone in, you allow them to stay in your house or your country, especially when they do not have anywhere to stay or are in trouble:
She persuaded me to take him in. ✅
She’s ~pregnant of~ twins (nonstandard).
She’s *pregnant with* twins (standard).
She’s due to ~put to bed~ at any moment (nonstandard).
She’s due *to give birth* at any moment (standard).
To put to bed is:
1. to successfully deal with something or solve a problem: We could not put the issue to birth.
2. to finalise work on (a newspaper, magazine, etc) so that it is ready to go to press: We have put the maiden edition of our magazine to birth.
GAB
