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Discussion Groups / English Usage / October 2009Ishiguro: to be on to ask her
Hello: "To be _on_ to ask" does it mean "To be all right to ask?" Is this slang? ---- [Teens pretending having had sex and not giving details] ... it definitely wasn't on to ask her: "Who did you do it with? When? Where?" No, you just nodded knowingly. Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 97 ---- -- Thanks. Marius Hancu >Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >Is this slang? This is a variant of the phrase "not on" defined at: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/not_on Adjective not on 1. unacceptable or impossible <Illustrative quotations snipped> I wouldn't call it slang, but "not on" is not on in formal writing. >---- >[Teens pretending having had sex and not giving details] [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 97 >----  SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) Marius Hancu asks about: >> "To be _on_ to ask" Peter Duncanson: > This is a variant of the phrase "not on" defined at: > http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/not_on [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > 1. unacceptable or impossible > <Illustrative quotations snipped> It's not a variant; it *is* that usage. > I wouldn't call it slang, but "not on" is not on in formal writing. Uh-huh. Also, it's British. SignatureMark Brader | No programming language is Perfect. Perl comes very close. msb@vex.net | P! e! r! *l?* :-( Not quite "Perfect". Toronto | -- Brian Ingerson > Hello: > > "To be _on_ to ask" That sounds strange when you put it that way. > does it mean > "To be all right to ask?" > > Is this slang? No, not quite slang; it's a common idiom in most places, I think. But it is normally used in the negative, as in your quotation below. If something is "not on", it is not the right thing under the circumstances. > ---- > [Teens pretending having had sex and not giving details] [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 97 > ---- SignatureRegards John for mail: my initials plus a u e at tpg dot com dot au > > Is this slang? > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > > Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 97 Thank you both. Marius Hancu >> Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > No, not quite slang; it's a common idiom in most places, I think. It sounds distinctly British to these American ears. In any event, it's not common in American speech, as far as I know. 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 ) On Oct 30, 10:32 am, Roland Hutchinson <my.spamt...@verizon.net> wrote: > >> "To be _on_ to ask" > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > It sounds distinctly British to these American ears. In any event, it's > not common in American speech, as far as I know. Thanks for raising the flag:-) Marius Hancu > >> Hello: > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > It sounds distinctly British to these American ears. In any event, it's > not common in American speech, as far as I know. In one of Bill Bryson's books he mentions a US newspaper's book review (of a British book) objecting to the phrase "just not on" as "baffling Brit-speak" or some such. >> Hello: >> [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] >> Kazuo Ishiguro, Never let me go, p. 97 >> ---- To say something is "not on" is Irish and British slang, isn't it? SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE |
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