Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[kerstin]

I watched the documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom" and I noticed a few words that I didn't quite understand.

1. You are saving *it* for the finals.
It was said by a dance teacher to one of her students. Apparently, the student was being a little absent-minded.
Does that it mean strength?

2. Is *plexiglass* known as bullet-proof glass?
According the definition, it's just glass made of plastic. But in the film, it seemed to imply that it's as tough as bullet-proof glass.

a trademark for a tough transparent acrylic plastic that can be used in place of glass


Thanks

[Nef]

I watched the documentary "Mad Hot Ballroom" and I noticed a few words that I didn't quite understand.

1. You are saving *it* for the finals.
It was said by a dance teacher to one of her students. Apparently, the student was being a little absent-minded.
Does that it mean strength?

You are saving your best performance or your best effort for the finals. This is meant to be encouraging. It also may motivate someone to pay more attention.

(The performance today wasn't particularly good.)

2. Is *plexiglass* known as bullet-proof glass?
According the definition, it's just glass made of plastic. But in the film, it seemed to imply that it's as tough as bullet-proof glass.

a trademark for a tough transparent acrylic plastic that can be used in place of glass


As far as I know, ordinary plexiglass is not bulletproof. Maybe it can be strengthened and/or treated to be that way.

from ww.dictionary.com

Plexiglas

A trademark used for a light, transparent, weather-resistant thermoplastic. This trademark also occurs in many instances lowercased and spelled plexiglass: "The display pieces are double sealed inside plexiglass cases" (Los Angeles Times).

[redset]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plexiglass

Wikipedia doesn't mention any use of plexiglass as a bulletproof material. You have to remember that movies aren't always known for their accuracy