You’ll need all your wits about you x keep your wits about u

Hi folks!
I've seen two expressions and a slight difference between them.

You’ll need all your wits about you x keep your wits about you.

Context:

"That’s good to hear. Well, you’ll need all your wits about you – meaning you’ll need to think very quickly in this programme because we’re talking about intelligence, or to be more accurate, Artificial Intelligence. "
http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/en ... /ep-150219

"Cycling is potentially very dangerous in London - you really need to keep your wits about you."
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/have+wits+about

"Ficar em alerta/Manter-se em alerta"

Please, Is it the same meaning?

Thanks in advance.

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3 respostas
Ordenar por: Data
These are two different situations.

When you say "need all your wits about you", it's a more literal sense of wits, which refers to your power of intelligent observation or something in that sense. With that being said, it means you need to have an intelligent focus during the programme.

Now, "keep your wits about you" is an idiom that expresses the idea of paying close attention and staying alert.
PPAULO 6 49 1.3k
Yep, in both cases one have to to be remain/keep alert and observant.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ ... +about+one


Notice that I struck out the "to be", remain/keep is way more to the point, it´s where the emphasis needs to be. ( :D pun intended)
Thank you guys! Cheers. :D