When is a banana not a fruit? by Jack Pillemer
When is a banana not a fruit, a “rocker” not slang for a rock singer, Dutch not something from Holland, “broke” not the past of “break” and a gun not a weapon?
More often than we realize.
As an English speaker and an English teacher that fact was made very clear to me when
a student of mine came to me for help. He said that he had chosen a book to read and that the story was extremely strange. He asked me to help him understand the plot. I agreed to do so and I told him that I would read aloud and that he should stop me to ask questions. I started reading...
“ .... It was later than usual when I turned the key in the lock and tiptoed into the house pleased that my parents weren’t awake and waiting for me to come home. Suddenly, my father’s voice boomed from of the bedroom. “Do you know what time it is, Marilyn?! We told you to be home by midnight. It is past three o’ clock and we have been worried sick. “Sorry, dad. I didn’t realize the time. We were...” Before I could say anything he started to give me the third degree and when he heard that I been out with Bill he went bananas. As far as he was concerned Bill came from the wrong side of the tracks, was slightly off his rocker and certainly a far cry from the ideal partner that he planned for me. It annoyed my old-fashioned father that whenever Bill and I went out to eat, we went Dutch. Poor Bill has to burn the candle on both ends to make ends meet and sometimes he is flat broke. Everything about him seems to annoy my dad; the car that he bought for a song, the way he sticks to his guns whenever my father argues with him and even his dog-eared diary...”
At this point the student began to interrupt.
“Why is the father holding his university certificate when his daughter comes home and what does he have against Dutch food?” The student said that he understood that Bill was a rock singer who sang in his car and lived an unacceptable life style - burning candles in his broken flat. He told me that he thought the father in the story was probably correct to fear that Bill might use a gun in an argument with him. He asked me if the diary was really made from dogs’ ears.
I explained to him the meaning of the various expressions in the paragraph and I continued reading.
...”It is not fair,” said Marilyn. “You have never given him a chance. I don’t expect you to roll out the red carpet every time he comes to visit but you always give him the cold shoulder. Perhaps he is wet behind the ears when it comes to business but when you or I can’t make head or tails out of a walkman user manual, he puts us on the right track, doesn’t he? Dad, please give him a chance and throw in the towel; I really like the guy.”
The student was really looking confused at this point. I asked him why and he told me that Marilyn and her father were completely crazy: “Marilyn likes Bill very much and she wants her father to give him a towel as a present so he could dry himself behind the ears! That is really weird,” said the student. “And what has this all to do with a red carpet?”
Again I explained the meaning of the expressions and gave him some advice: “Perhaps in this case you have bitten off more than you can chew. Plug away at it for a while. If it is still Greek to you in a day or two, call it a day and find something easier.” He looked at me with a blank expression on his face not sure whether I had advised him to go and eat lunch or whether the study of Greek would help him with his English book.
Understanding English is no easy task. A student may feel that he understands every word in a sentence and but due idiomatic expressions, euphemisms, slang etc. simple, common words take on different meanings. The more exposure you have to the language, the greater your comprehension of idiomatic English will be.
Photo : "Count Banana" by Dorset Photographic is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
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