Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

1 Opposing the cruelties of factory farming is not an all-or-nothing *proposition*.
proposal??

2 I am going to *swear off* bad old habits.
Is that commonly used? I just made it up.

3 I was *taken back* by what she said to me.

Does that mean anything?

4
to *mount* a struggle=to *put up* a struggle?
Do they mean the same?

5.
accustom somebody to something from childhood
:
children weaned on computer games and videos

What else can be weaned, addictions?

6.The exercise is not to remove the object of tail-biting *so much as to* *render* it more sensitive.
Sorry, I have two questions in this long sentece. Does render in this case mean "put into a particular state"? and does "as much as to" a phrase itself?

Thanks a million for your help and patience. I greatly appreciate it.

[cgage2]

1. proposition
2. ok
3. shocked; surprised
4. mount means begin
put up means to to try
accustom means to get someone ready
yes, addictions or any habit
A better sentence would be:
The excercise is not so much to remove the object of tail-biting, but to render it more sensitive
render means put in a state

[CP]

1. It is a fairly common expression. Going to war is a serious proposition [is a serious undertaking]. Going to Hollywood to sell a script and become a famous writer is an iffy proposition [is a risky venture]. Opposing this type of farming is not an all-or-nothing proposition [there may be alternatives to full opposition].

2. You have reinvented a common expression meaning to promise oneself to quit something, like smoking or ice cream or a bad relationship.

3. The expression is "taken aback," meaning stopped in one's tracks, or even pushed backward, by the shock of the thing.

4. Usually you mount an offensive or a defense, but put up a fight or a struggle.

5. To wean a child or animal (mammal) is to get the young one off mother's milk and onto other kinds of food. If a child is weaned on computer games and videos, it means he or she started doing it very young. You can also wean someone off drugs or alcohol or other addictions, by analogy to quitting mother's milk.
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