Protection means keeping someone or something safe from harm: protection from the sun, data protection. It doesn't mean help from an influential person. If someone got a job because of who they know, people say connections: He got the job through connections. The formal word for support from a powerful person is patronage.
protection: will you get the meaning right?
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protection from/against + danger; give/provide + protection; data/sun/eye + protection; under police protection; get a job through + connections (not protection)
- This cream gives good protection from the sun, even on a long day at the beach.
- The new law gives workers more protection if they lose their jobs unfairly.
- Wear gloves and eye protection when you use this cleaning product.
What changed
First versionShe got the job thanks to her uncle's protection.
RevisionShe got the job thanks to her uncle's connections.
An influential relative may seem to protect you, but thanks to her uncle's protection sounds as if her uncle guarded her like a bodyguard. When help comes from people you know, English uses connections: thanks to her uncle's connections. In conversation, people also say someone pulled strings, meaning they used their influence.
For the idea of getting help from influential people, a common expression is friends in high places, meaning powerful people you know: He has friends in high places, so nobody checks his work. Protection still means keeping someone safe, even when a person or an organisation gives it: under police protection means guarded by the police.
Your turn
He failed the interview, but he still got a well-paid job at the bank through family ___.
Show the answer
connections — He failed the interview but got the job thanks to his family's contacts, so the answer is connections. Through family protection would mean “thanks to his family guarding him” and doesn't express the idea of getting help through people you know.
Write about how you protect yourself from something in everyday life: the sun, the cold or online scammers. Name the danger and the way you protect yourself.
In summer I always use factor 50 sun cream for protection against the sun, because I burn very easily.
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