rough it

Meaning

To 'rough it' means to live or travel without the basic comforts and conveniences of modern life, such as electricity, running water, or a comfortable bed. It is often used when camping or traveling on an extremely tight budget.

Examples

• We decided to rough it in the wilderness for a weekend, sleeping in tents and cooking over a campfire.

  We decided to rough it in the wilderness for a weekend, sleeping in tents and cooking over a campfire.

• I'm too old to rough it; I need a proper hotel room with air conditioning and hot water.

  I'm too old to rough it; I need a proper hotel room with air conditioning and hot water.

• During his backpacking trip across South America, he had to rough it in cheap hostels and train stations.

  During his backpacking trip across South America, he had to rough it in cheap hostels and train stations.

• There's no electricity at the cabin, so we'll be roughing it for the next few days.

  There's no electricity at the cabin, so we'll be roughing it for the next few days.

• They chose to rough it on the beach instead of booking an expensive resort.

  They chose to rough it on the beach instead of booking an expensive resort.

Common Mistakes

• ✗ We had to rough ourselves during the camping trip.

  ✓ We had to rough it during the camping trip.

  'Rough it' is a fixed idiomatic phrase. You cannot replace 'it' with a reflexive pronoun like 'ourselves'.

• ✗ I don't mind to rough it.

  ✓ I don't mind roughing it.

  The verb 'mind' must be followed by a gerund (-ing form), not an infinitive.

Related Expressions

Practice

• We didn't book a hotel, so we had to ___ in the back of our van.

  💡 Live or sleep without comforts.

  Show answer

  rough it

• If you aren't prepared to ___, you probably shouldn't go on this backpacking trip.

  💡 Go without modern conveniences.

  Show answer

  rough it