What did you mean?
May 4, 2012 (Friday)
How would you like to be learning English for the first time? Some words are used in so many different ways they pose a challenge to learning the language. For instance, think about the word, “leg.” What does it mean? How is it used in a sentence?
The obvious answer is “a limb or appendange of an animal or person.” But the word is used in many other ways. You and I are so accustomed to the various uses that we rarely give it a second thought when we hear it or speak it with different definitions in mind.
For instance, “a leg up” means an advantage of some kind, usually in competition. Or, how about “Break a leg,” a show business term meaning, “Do a great job in entertaining people.” Have you ever said, “You’re pulling my leg” meaning “You’re kidding me?” “We’ll have to leg it:” we must walk. “He doesn’t have a leg to stand on:” his argument is without merit. “He’s on his last leg:” he is running out of options or perhaps about to die. “Shake a leg:” Hurry up. There’s no telling how many of these expressions there are.
We speak of a “leg” as part of a pair of trousers. We savor the thought of a “chicken leg” as something to eat. We sit on chairs, trusting the “legs.” We’re glad to reach the last “leg” of a trip. See what I mean? Again I ask, how would you like to be learning English for the first time? Wouldn’t be so easy, would it? Our colloquialisms, metaphors, euphemisms, allegories, slang, etc. take time to learn. Most of us who have been born and raised in this country never give them a second thought.
Perhaps one of our modern miracles is that we almost always understand each other. Every so often, however, there are glitches in communication. Small wonder.