On 11/2/2010 12:17 PM, Shmuel Metz (Seymour J.) wrote:
You can get in trouble even if you know those nuances, because an idiom has semantics based on factors beyond vocabulary. Understanding the individual words perfectly doesn't help.
Case in point - many, many years ago I was asked to take a physical for an insurance company, that sent a doctor to my office. His English was excellent, but he had a slight accent, possibly Indian. He asked me how my father died, and I replied in World War II, of lead poisoning, never expecting him to take me literally.
Gerhard Postpischil Bradford, VT ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
