strain for an effect

to work very hard to try to achieve some effect. The actors were straining so hard for an effect that they forgot their lines. Don't strain for effect so much. The authors of this drama knew what they were doing, and it's in the lines already.

Common Names:

Name	Pronounced	Usage
Henning	HE-ning (German), HEN-ning (Swedish)	German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish
Dawson	DAW-sən	English
Janine	zha-NEEN (French), jə-NEEN (English)	French, English, Dutch, German
Irwin	['ə:win]
Lazer	-	Yiddish
Ruut	ROO:T	Finnish