Run on empty?

Reader question:

Please explain “run on empty” in this passage: They treat us like we’re meant to run on empty, as if they haven’t already drained us dry. And still, we’re expected to keep showing up.

My comments:

Sounds like we’re talking about some sweatshop workers being treated very harshly by their employer.

Sweatshop?

That’s a shop, factory or any workplace where people work for long hours, at extremely low wages and under intolerable conditions.

Anyways, here, you may want to understand “empty” as an empty stomach. Their employers treat them like they’re able to run on an empty stomach, that is to say, to keep working hard without food or drink.

An impossible ask, of course.

“Empty” in the idiom “run on empty”, however, does not refer to empty or starving stomachs. Instead, it refers to automobiles running on empty, i.e. on an empty tank.

Tank is what contains gasoline (or other types of fuel).

Without gasoline in the tank, automobiles cannot run, let alone reach full speed.

Hence, by extension and figuratively, running on empty is used in many situations where people or things continue to perform despite having no energy, resources or motivation left.

Needless to say, they cannot perform as swimmingly as when their proverbial tank is full.

Back to our example. In our example, there’s no clear evidence that working conditions are tantamount to sweatshops, but for argument’s sake, let’s presume that they’re treated very poorly, and are expected to keep performing (keep showing up).

That situation is unsustainable, to say the very least.

And if we want to be harsh, what we hear does not sound dissimilar to slavery.

Then again, this assessment is probably too harsh. The real situation isn’t so bad, we hope.

Anyways, let’s proceed to read a few media examples to get more familiar with “run on empty”:

1. For a presidency pegged on unpredictability, there’s been one constant for Donald Trump these last two weeks: A series of absolutely horrible, largely self-inflicted political wounds.

The week started with a report Monday in The Washington Post that Trump had disclosed highly classified information to Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during a recent Oval Office meeting. While the White House pushed back on the disclosures as “wholly appropriate” – in national security adviser H.R. McMaster’s words – they urged news organizations not to report on the actual information Trump told the Russians because it was so sensitive. Um, ok.

Even as the White House – and congressional Republicans – were reeling from that revelation, this bombshell came from the New York Times: Then FBI Director James Comey had written a memo following a February 14 meeting with the President in which he noted that Trump had asked him to drop the investigation into deposed national security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to the Russians. “I hope you can let this go,” Trump reportedly told Comey, after asking Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Jeff Sessions to leave the room.

It was only Tuesday.

On Wednesday came another shocking announcement: Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein appointed ex-FBI head Bob Mueller as special counsel to oversee the federal investigation into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and the possibility that its operatives colluded with members of the Trump campaign.

The initial reaction out of White House was decidedly muted. “As I have stated many times, a thorough investigation will confirm what we already know – there was no collusion between my campaign and any foreign entity,” Trump said. “I look forward to this matter concluding quickly.”

That tune changed – rapidly. By Thursday morning, 12 hours after the Mueller announcement, Trump took to Twitter to make his real feelings about a special counsel known. “This is the single greatest witch hunt of a politician in American history!” he tweeted in an epic feat of hyperbole.

Later that day, in a press conference with the Colombian prime minister, Trump doubled down. “I respect the move,” he said, before quickly adding: “But the entire thing has been a witch hunt. There is no collusion between, certainly, myself and my campaign. But I can always speak for myself and the Russians – zero.”

In that same press conference, Trump was asked whether he had asked Comey to end the investigation into Flynn. “No. No. Next question,” he responded, four words upon which the credibility and viability of his presidency now rest.

By Friday, official Washington was running on empty – exhausted by a seemingly endless stream of gigantic news stories, any one of which would dominate a normal news cycle for weeks.

- Donald Trump just had a(nother) terrible week, CNN.com, May 21, 2017.

2. Ariana Grande is sharing why she has a wickedly bad memory.

The 31-year-old recently explained that the early years of her music career are a little hazy because of stretching herself too thin.

“When I was younger and during my first few years as a pop star,” Ariana said on the Feb. 3 episode of the Smartless podcast, “I really struggled with boundaries and not being able to say ‘No’ when I needed to if I was running on empty.”

In fact, the 31-year-old had trouble recalling appearing on a 2016 episode of British talk show Chatty Man with Smartless cohost Will Arnett.

“Wait, no. What weird talk show did we do?” Ariana asked when he brought up their joint appearance, before eventually recalling the experience. “Oh my god, that’s right. It’s back.”

And the Nickelodeon alum assured Will that her forgetfulness had nothing to do with him.

“It’s not you, it was the boundaries, remember?” she continued. “It was me. I’m missing a couple of years – I’m super serious – from that time. I’m literally missing a few years.”

Luckily, Ariana has surrounded herself with people who make sure she maintains a work-life balance now.

Noting that she now has a team that is “really protective and amazing,” she added, “I feel really grateful for the balance that I have found. This whole Wicked journey has been quite different for me. And it’s been obviously full steam ahead, but it’s been so beautiful and so fun.”

- Ariana Grande Details Memory Loss From Early Years of Pop Career, EOnline.comn, February 05, 2025.

3. It is now a “massive ask” for Manchester City to turn their Champions League paly-off tie around in Madrid, says former England winger Chris Waddle.

Pep Guardiola’s side suffered a late 3-2 defeat against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League play-off to reach the last-16.

They will now head to the Bernabeu next Wednesday having to overturn the one-goal deficit.

“With Manchester City, I think it is fatigue. The players are running on empty. At this level, playing against a team like Real Madrid, it is tough,” Waddle told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“The second half, they dropped the pace and Madrid were getting in more often and making more and more chances.

“You feel for Pep Guardiola now. Every game he tries to put his best team out but someone limps off or they are unavailable the next week.

“He has lost players tonight, will they be fit for the return leg? Doubt it. He will have to go to Madrid with a different game plan.

“It is a big ask for Man City now.

“Looking at the players, a little bit of confidence has gone and they were running on empty at times. It is a massive ask to turn it around out there.

“They will get chances, they are a quality side, but can they keep Real Madrid out at the other end? I don’t think so.”

- ‘A big ask for Man City now’, BBC.com, February 11, 2025.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣）