Taking Things WAY Out of Context

[dumars]

The hijacking thing reminds me of a girl I worked with years and years ago.

She was from PR. She learned her English in high school and college. Her spoken English was fluent! However, she had a bad tendency to take everything literally! And I mean LITERALLY!

She would overhear somebody say something like "fuck you", "fuck that", "mother fucker" etc and she would actually think somebody wanted to fuck the other person. I am not kidding. Seriously laughable on any level!

Took her about 6 months or so to catch on to American culture!

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by dumars

........ "fuck you", "fuck that", "mother fucker".....

Took her about 6 months or so to catch on to American culture!

The use of the word culture seems to be inappropriate for this instance.

How about using the word counterculture, or the term low class.

[kcpitchreader]

Originally Posted by JRLawrence

The use of the word culture seems to be inappropriate for this instance.

How about using the word counterculture, or the term low class.

10 years ago, I would agree. Today, it is the culture, you hear it everywhere...even in the Hamptons...LOL

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by kcpitchreader

10 years ago, I would agree. Today, it is the culture, you hear it everywhere...even in the Hamptons...LOL

Just because one my hear and see this type of nonsense in the movies and by the reprobates in Hollywood does not mean it is acceptable. You identify yourself as low class immediately by the lack of culture in your speech.

I have written contracts that the F word is never to be used in four companies. It started with one woman who was constantly using it. If you want to use it at home, or with your friends, it is not the business of the company. But at work, there are business organizations where it is not permitted. If you want to curse, go find yourself another job.

I know of many other organizations where this applies.

Try using the F word in court. You risk being thrown in jail.

[kcpitchreader]

Originally Posted by JRLawrence

Just because one my hear and see this type of nonsense in the movies and by the reprobates in Hollywood does not mean it is acceptable. You identify yourself as low class immediately by the lack of culture in your speech.

I have written contracts that the F word is never to be used in four companies. It started with one woman who was constantly using it. If you want to use it at home, or with your friends, it is not the business of the company. But at work, there are business organizations where it is not permitted. If you want to curse, go find yourself another job.

I know of many other organizations where this applies.

Try using the F word in court. You risk being thrown in jail.

I don't disagree and fully understand that and it was verboten where I worked and never used in the workplace. However, in this instance, I don't think they were talking about the workplace. And in this case, the OP was correct, they didn't understand American culture. And quite frankly, it is all over the US and elsewhere. And it no longer indicates a person of low class or lack of culture or lack of education. You may not like it but that is the way it is. Do I like it, NO. But it is part of the culture...

[dumars]

Some words and phrases are even on news headlines! Albeit edited. Some words and phrases have been exported. Watching a Russian girl playing with a toy going "oh my god!" Although it sounds more like "oh my got!"

But we/re getting off track! That means you should be getting a "warning" since you are obviously "hijacking" this string!

You should be talking about taking simple sentences taken out of context! Yep, I'm a snibbling little bitch, deal with it1

Originally Posted by kcpitchreader

And quite frankly, it is all over the US and elsewhere. And it no longer indicates a person of low class or lack of culture or lack of education. You may not like it but that is the way it is. Do I like it, NO. But it is part of the culture...

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by dumars

But we/re getting off track! That means you should be getting a "warning" since you are obviously "hijacking" this string!

........Yep, I'm a snibbling little bitch,...

OK back to the true discussion.

We are really talking about idioms

Examples of Idioms in English
An Idiom is a phrase that doesn’t mean what is says.
The following examples demonstrate idoms that are commonly used in the English language;
Most people easily understand the meaning of a commonly used idiom even when the understood meaning is not literally what was said.

1. "It's raining cats and dogs!" It's raining quite hard. It has nothing to do with animals.
2. Getting fired was a blessing in disguise. - Getting fired was a good thing.
3. Red poppies are a dime a dozen. - Red poppies are very common.
4. Don’t beat around the bush. - Just say what you mean.
5. He decided to bite the bullet. - He decided to do the undesirable thing he was avoiding.
6. I’m going to call it a night. - I’m going to bed.
7. He has a chip on his shoulder. - He has a grudge that’s making him very angry or callous.
8. Cut me some slack! - Don’t be so hard on me.
9. Don’t cut any corners. - Don’t take any shortcuts and produce shoddy work.
10. She let things get out of hand. - She let things get out of control.
11. I’m going back to the drawing board. - I’m going to start over.
12. Hang in there. - Stick with it.
13. Don’t jump the gun. - Don’t do something before the allotted time.
14. He decided to let her off the hook. - He decided to release her from her responsibility.
15. He missed the boat. - He missed out on an opportunity.
16. I go out for walks once in a blue moon. - I go out for walks very rarely.
17. Pull yourself together, man! - Calm down.
18. She seriously rubbed me the wrong way. - I did not like her at all.
19. There he is, speak of the devil. - There he is; we were just talking about him.
20. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. - My patience has finally run out.
21. She has the best of both worlds. - She received benefits from multiple situations.
22. Why are you so bent out of shape? - Why are you so upset?
23. I’m feeling under the weather. - I’m feeling sick.
24. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. - We’ll solve that problem in the future.
25. I just can’t seem to wrap my head around it. - I just can’t seem to understand.