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Is it natural to use fix in the following context?

We are losing money because of poor management, so we had better fix the situation ASAP.

Would it be more natural to use put right the situation or redeem the situation in the context? If neither is natural, what would a native English speaker say?

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  • The object normally comes before the preposition in phrasal verb contexts like put the situation right (but that one's not particularly idiomatic anyway). In a relatively formal "management-speak" context, you'd more likely encounter address the situation (obviously with the strong implication that if we deal with it at all, we will do so successfully).
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 31, 2020 at 18:27
  • What do you think about "redress the situation"? And what about "fix the situation"?
    – Dmytro O'Hope
    Jan 31, 2020 at 18:33
  • I probably wouldn't use redress there, no. It could work in certain contexts where it's obvious "the [current] situation" is a very temporary deviation from the normal situation (that you want to get back to), but even then I'd say it would be a relatively unusual ("stylised") form. By contrast, although address was once a relatively "stylised, formal" usage, it's becoming increasingly common even in relaxed conversational contexts today. Still nowhere near as common as deal with it, though).
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 31, 2020 at 18:40
  • What about "fix the situation"? Do you think it is natural?
    – Dmytro O'Hope
    Jan 31, 2020 at 19:10
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    Fix is fine, if a bit American. I have heard Brits talk about 'mending' a situation or relationship, also 'repair'.
    – Michael Harvey
    Jan 31, 2020 at 21:01

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It is quite natural.

In fact, to fix is used a lot in a figurative way. The first example that comes to my mind is Fix You, by Coldplay:

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you

I will try to fix you= I will try to make you happy, make your day better, etc.

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  • I wouldn't say that this use of fix is "figurative". The first definition for the verb form in Cambridge Dictionary to repair something, which I'm sure most people would agree is a "literal" sense (allowing for the fact that "all language is metaphor").
    – FumbleFingers
    Jan 31, 2020 at 18:30

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