Search results for 'tag:Idioms tag:Numbers' matching tags 'Idioms' and 'Numbers'

Re: Another way is for when...

CalifJim — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 18:46:29 GMT

EagerSeeker
What did you do that for?

= For what [reason / purpose] did you do that? = Why did you do that?

what ... for? = why? [idiom]

____

This knife is for cutting bread. ~ This knife is used for cutting bread.

This knife is for cutting bread. ~ This knife is available for cutting bread.

____

EagerSeeker
"Intermediate numbers are read differently depending on their use. Their typical naming occurs when the numbers are used for counting. Another way is for when they are used as labels."

= Intermediate numbers are read differently depending on their use. Their typical naming occurs when the numbers are used [for counting / to count]. Another way (that intermediate numbers are read) is ([used / available]) for (those occasions) when they are used as labels.

Re: The next / Next

Mr Wordy — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 22:29:02 GMT

I think the difference in meaning that they're highlighting relates to the words "immediately following", which means "immediately following in time, starting now". Here are a few points relating to this usage that immediately come to mind. I don't claim that this is in any way complete.

In "next + noun" combinations, "the" is normally omitted only in the "immediately following in time" sense, and only with named days and months, seasons, and a few specific words such as "week", "month", "quarter", "year", "time", etc.:

Next Monday is my birthday.
I'll be 40 next July.
Next summer we're going on holiday to Japan.
It's going to be hot next month.
Next year will be tough.
Next time I see you, I'll be married.

You cannot use "the" in this sense with named days and months. For example, "The next Thursday is 12 April" is wrong. However, you may be able to do so with words such as "week", "month", "year", "time", etc.:

The next year will be tough.
The next time I see you, I'll be married.

But it depends. You would not, for example, usually say "It's going to be tough the next year."

When referring to events in the past you can use "the", even with named days and months. Randomly Googled examples:

The following winter the galleys lay on the Loire, but the next summer they cruised on the east coast of Scotland...
The next Monday we went to the soap market together...

For expressions consisting of a number and a time period, you have to use "the". For example,

The next six months will be the hardest.
Our biggest challenge is the next three years.

"The" may also be omitted in certain special idioms (such as "next thing you know"). However, with most other "next + noun" combinations, you usually have to use "the" (or any of various words that can take the place of the article), though there are almost certainly other exceptions that I haven't mentioned.

The next train leaves in an hour.
He's the next Marlon Brando.
Where's our next meal coming from?

Re: Noun number and determiner

Huevos — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:43:50 GMT

kve
pull your legs

"Pull your leg" is an idiom. I've never heard anyone say "pull your legs" and it sounds clearly wrong to me.

Re: Noun number and determiner

Clive — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 16:39:09 GMT

Hi,
Welcome to the Forum.
Here are a couple more comments.

He performed many charities. I think perhaps you mean He performed many charitable acts.

She loves to pull your legs. The idiom is to pull someone's leg (singular, not plural.) As with many idioms, it sounds rather funny to native speakers if you don't get the wording quite right.

Best wishes, Clive

Re: rates

Clive — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:12:59 GMT

Hi,
You mean it's going nuts. going up and down by itself? No, it's an idiom

Tom has his ups and downs means, in general terms, that Tom has his good days/times and his bad days/times.

I'm in Malaysia, the country above Singapore. I was in the US for a number of years. That's a long way from Canada. It's just after midnight here. Good night.
Clive

Re: The lines you underline in a book you read ???

BÃ¶ÄÃ¼rtlen — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 08:22:08 GMT

I don't like underline the books. They are really so precious for me and I don't want to make dirty them with any lines. I think it is like a disrespect to that book and its writer, of course this is just my idea! So when I read a nice idiom, sentence or a quotation, I write it to a notebook, then write the name of the book and the page number which I read that idiom/sentence/quotation. I write them when I finish reading. I think it is better than underline the book.

Re: is lucky is he presses 200 pounds

CalifJim — Sat, 17 May 2008 02:16:27 GMT

New2grammar
is lucky if he presses 200 pounds

would consider himself quite a success if he actually lifted 200 pounds above his chest while lying on his back on an exercise bench (because he so rarely manages to do it, if ever)

would consider himself to be having a good (lucky) day if he bench pressed 200 pounds (as described above)

The idiom be lucky if expresses having to be satisfied with a lesser amount of success when a greater amount is desired. Roughly "should consider oneself successful if only" / "it would be well worth noting if something so extraordinary took place"

Note:

-- I think I'll ask her for her phone number. -- Ha! You'll be lucky if she doesn't slap your face.

-- Someday I'm going to be the president of this company. -- Ha! You'll be lucky if they let you sweep the floors.

-- Can you press 250 pounds? -- Not yet! At this point I'm lucky if I press 180!

-- Henry says he going to try to climb Mt. Everest. -- Henry??? He's lucky if he climbs two flights of stairs without passing out!

-- Tess is confident she'll win the singing contest. -- Tess??? She's lucky if she gets through "Mary Had a Little Lamb" without messing up.

Re: Like apples and oranges

Mister Micawber — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 10:28:35 GMT

.
From Wikipedia:

LIKE APPLES AND ORANGES

The idiom is not unique. In Quebec French it may take the form "comparer des pommes avec des oranges" while in european French the idiom hesitates between "additionner des carottes et..." something else which can be "des pommes de terre", "des navets" or "des choux". In Latin American Spanish usually is "comparar papas y boniatos" or "comparar peras con manzanas." In some other languages the term for "orange" derives from "apple", suggesting not only that a direct comparison between the two is possible, but that it is implicitly present in their names. Fruit other than apples and oranges can also be compared; for example, apples and pears are compared in Danish, Dutch, German, Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Romanian, Slovene, Luxembourgish and Turkish. However, apples are actually more closely related to pears â both are rosaceae â than to oranges. In fact, in the Spanish-speaking world, a common idiom is sumar peras con manzanas - that is, "to add pears and apples". The same thing applies in Romanian where a popular idiom is a aduna merele cu perele - that is again, "to add apples and pears".

Some languages use completely different items, such as Serbian "ÐÐ¾ÑÐµÐ´Ð¸ÑÐ¸ Ð±Ð°Ð±Ðµ Ð¸ Ð¶Ð°Ð±Ðµ" (comparing grandmothers and toads) or Romanian "baba Åi mitraliera" (the grandmother and the machine gun) or "vaca Åi izmenele" (the cow and the longjohns) or "tiganul si carioca"(the gypsy and the marker), while some languages compare dissimilar properties of dissimilar items. For example, the equivalent Danish idiom, "Hvad er hÃ¸jest, RundetÃ¥rn eller et tordenskrald?" translates word-by-word as "What is highest, the Round Tower or the volume of a thunderclap?" In British English, the phrase chalk and cheese means the same thing as apples and oranges. In Argentina, a common question is "En quÃ© se parecen el amor y el ojo del hacha?" which translates into "What do love and axe eye have in common?" and emphasizes dissimilarity between two subjects; in Colombia, a similar (though more rude) version is common: "confundir la mierda con la pomada" - literally, to confuse shit with ointment.

A number of more exaggerated comparisons are sometimes made, in cases in which the speaker believes the two objects being compared are radically different beyond reproach. For example "oranges to orangutans" "apples to dishwashers" and so on. In English, different fruits, such as pears, plums, or lemons are sometimes substituted with "oranges" in this context.

Re: Idioms and vocabulary

Mister Micawber — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:22:15 GMT

.
1) Air pollution irritates our respiratory systems or Air pollution irritates our respiratory system ? -- Both are OK. I'd use the former.

2) Could you tell me the idiom of which the meaning is: You are angry about something and you blame it on something else?-- I can think of no single idiom for both ideas.

3) The average number of the population of a nation (number) divided by the area (km), how do we call the result? -- Population density.

4) What is the Aussie way of saying good-bye ? -- Dunno, mate

5) Do we ever add s to vocabulary, ie vocabularies? -- Only rarely

Idioms and vocabulary

Belly — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 02:02:44 GMT

1) Air pollution irrates our respiratory systems or Air pollution irrates our respiratory system ?

2) Could you tell me the idiom of which the meaning is: You are angry about something and you blame it on something else ?

3) The average number of the population of a nation (number) divided by the area (km), how do we call the result?

4) What is the Aussie way of saying good-bye ?

5) Do we ever add s to vocabulary, ie vocabularies?