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Reader question: Please explain “piling on” in this quote: “I guess I’m just piling on. But the new cable service is slow and useless.” My comments: A discussion seems to be going on about cable service, and the speaker is adding his own voice to support other people’s criticisms of the new service, which is, among other things, “slow and useless.” We may safely infer that there have been a lot of criticisms directed at the cable service because the speaker realizes that he is just piling on. To pile on, you see, is literally to put something extra onto an existing heap (pile), a large quantity of things gathered together, a pile of good books, e.g. or rubbish. Some people describe their gaining weight as piling on the pounds. In soccer and other field sports, we see players leap on top of other players after a goal is scored. This is another type of pile-on, a cheerful type. Here the scorer slides to the pitch in delight. Teammates rush up (or, in this case, down) to embrace him, all bundled up on the grass while late comers leap on top of the pile of bodies. Players pile on one another to increase their collective joy, cheering their fans and whipping up the atmosphere across the stadium. In our example, however, the scene is not one of jubilation. Here, the speaker was adding his voice to public criticism towards the new cable service, making the service sound like even more terrible and useless than before. | 
