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hiromichi
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 1380
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 Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 2:16 pm Post subject: As Health Care Debate Rages, Obama Takes to the Stump |
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In i case , does "take to" mean "begin"?
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Hiromichi |
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dragn
Joined: 17 Feb 2009
Posts: 450
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| Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 9:51 am Post subject: |
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| In i case , does "take to" mean "begin"? |
No. Take to can also mean to move towards; to go to or into, possibly to pursue some course of action or for reasons of safety.
Ex. At the sound of the gunshot, the birds took to the air.
Ex. Thousands of people took to the streets to protest the government's decision to raise taxes.
In this case, Obama is going to take to the stump. The word stump is a political figure of speech in America. In the days before microphones and loudspeakers, politicians who stopped at a town to make a speech needed some kind of elevated platform to stand on so the crowd could hear them. In many cases, a tree stump (which is what is left after a tree has been cut down) worked just fine. As a result, the word stump entered American politics, and as a noun refers to the public forum in general. It's usually used as a verb, meaning to campaign or generate support for something by making speeches. In this case, Obama is going to make speeches to try to strengthen support for health care reform.
I know what you're thinking. You can also take to something in the sense that you begin to engage in that activity on a regular basis. For example:
After his business failed and his wife left him, Larry took to drinking.
That is, he started drinking (you could also say he took to alcohol). Also, if you take to someone or something, it can mean you like that person or thing. For example:
John really took to chess. It quickly became his passion, and in almost no time at all he was easily defeating all his classmates.
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hiromichi
Joined: 12 Oct 2005
Posts: 1380
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| Posted: Wed Aug 12, 2009 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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dragn:
Thank you very much for your answer. It was very much informative.
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