 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
| HomeDiscussion GroupsEnglish UsageBritish EnglishESL Teaching Learnglish.com Contact UsLink To UsSearch & Site Map |
Discussion Groups / English Usage / August 2009throw someone
Hi, This is a transcript of a talk on NPR: ----------- He joins us from recording studios at Carnegie Hall in New York. Father James, thanks very much for being with us again. Father JAMES MARTIN (Associate Editor, America Magazine): My pleasure. SIMON: And how do you get to Carnegie Hall? Father MARTIN: Practice, practice, practice. (Soundbite of laughter) SIMON: I knew I couldn't throw you. Father MARTIN: Someone, you know, someone actually asked me that on the street corner a few years ago. And I used that line and they looked a little dumbfounded. I don't think they knew the joke. ------------ What is the meaning of "I knew I couldn't throw you" and to whart joke father Martin is referring? Regards, Amir. "Amir" asks about: > SIMON: And how do you get to Carnegie Hall? > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > What is the meaning of "I knew I couldn't throw you" "Throw" here means "disconcert". > and to whart joke father Martin is referring? Watch your word order with questions. You mean: ...to what joke is Father Martin referring? The joke that the two people just performed: "How do you get to Carnegie Hall?" "Practice, practice, practice." What was meant as a request for directions is being interpreted as a request for career advice for a musician.  SignatureMark Brader, Toronto "Yet Another Wonderful Novelty -- YAWN!" msb@vex.net -- Liam Quin My text in this article is in the public domain. >"Throw" here means "disconcert". Yes. I think it is a metaphor from physically "throwing someone off balance" - making a person stumble. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > >"Throw" here means "disconcert". > > Yes. I think it is a metaphor from physically "throwing someone off > balance" - making a person stumble. Another likely source is wrestling, because in this sport "throw" = "conquer." When the English population was largely rural (from Shakespeare's day to Dickens's) wrestling was one of the most popular combat sports: besides, all children wrestle at some time or other. SignatureDon Phillipson Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada) >> >"Throw" here means "disconcert". >> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >popular combat sports: besides, all children wrestle at some >time or other. Yes. That is very likely. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > > >"Throw" here means "disconcert". > > [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > popular combat sports: besides, all children wrestle at some > time or other. For some reason, I always have taken "to throw someone" to be short for "to throw someone for a loop". I have _no_ idea where "to throw someone for a loop" comes from. I suppose I could look it up. SignatureRoland Hutchinson He calls himself "the Garden State's leading violist da gamba," ... comparable to being ruler of an exceptionally small duchy. --Newark (NJ) Star Ledger ( http://tinyurl.com/RolandIsNJ ) > For some reason, I always have taken "to throw someone" to be short for > "to throw someone for a loop". > > I have _no_ idea where "to throw someone for a loop" comes from. I > suppose I could look it up. I didn't know either so I started looking. Google Books had uses of the metaphorical thrown/knocked "for a loop" from the 1930s onwards, but no clue of a literal use. Merriam Webster just listed the expression under "loop" with no clue. The Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang has a long entry. Its definition is "In phrase: knock [or throw] for a loop, to over come; defeat; (also) to bewilder or stun; dazzle." Its first citation: 1923 Witwer/Fighting Blood 159: You're always predicting I'm going to get knocked for a loop. A search on that author and title show that it is a novel about prize-fighting. Boxing fits as one of the likeliest possibilities for the origin of the phrase -- if a "loop" was a kind of blow, or a reaction to a blow. Compare, acting loopy? Staggering around in loops? SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux >> For some reason, I always have taken "to throw someone" to be >> short for "to throw someone for a loop". [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > > Compare, acting loopy? Staggering around in loops? I thought "Throw him off the trail", as in "Red Herring". In any case it means wresting focus. SignatureFrank ess Roland Hutchinson: >> For some reason, I always have taken "to throw someone" to be short for >> "to throw someone for a loop". It could be the other way around -- the long expression could be an intensification of the short one. Donna Richoux: > I didn't know either so I started looking. Google Books had uses of the > metaphorical thrown/knocked "for a loop" from the 1930s onwards, but no > clue of a literal use. ... I suggest it means the person was hit or thrown so hard they tumbled over, like an airplane doing a loop, or Hollywood's idea of someone being hit by a bullet. SignatureMark Brader | this take Toronto | "If is shall really to msb@vex.net | flying I never it." | -- Piglet ("Winnie-the-Pooh", A. A. Milne) Roland Hutchinson wrote, in part: > For some reason, I always have taken "to throw someone" to be short > for > "to throw someone for a loop". Every time I hear "to throw someone," I think of "throw mama from the train a kiss." SignatureMaria Conlon > Roland Hutchinson wrote, in part: >> [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > Every time I hear "to throw someone," I think of "throw mama from the > train a kiss." Wave papa from the train goodbye. --Jeff SignatureThe comfort of the wealthy has always depended upon an abundant supply of the poor. --Voltaire |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2012 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.