Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[leslie]

Hi,

I'd like to know (a) if the following sentences are correct or not. (b) Do they mean the same? (c) Do they sound naturally in spoken English? If not, (d) how do you express that idea in a natural way? Thanks in advance.

1.How I want to hit my head real hard on the wall!
2.How I want to have my head hit real hard on the wall!
3.How I want to bang my head real hard on the wall!
4.How I want to have my head banged on the wall!

Leslie

[lotus]

Hi leslie,

"I want to bang my head on the wall!"

It means you are frustrated or regret having done something stupid. It's similar to:

"I just want to kick myself!"


--lotus

[leslie]

Hi lotus,

Thank you for your answer. I got another question: 'I want to hit my head on the wall' is wrong, right?

Thanks!


Leslie

[lotus]

Hi Leslie,

None of them are wrong.

"Banging your head against the wall" is the most common. The others just don't sound natural.

"Hitting your head against the wall" might be acceptable. It just sounds a little too violent. The pain might be in your head, instead of in your mind. It just doesn't convey the same mental frustration of "banging your head against the wall."

When you repeatedly or stubbornly try something which doesn't work, you're just banging your head against the wall.


--lotus

[leslie]

Hi lotus,

Thank you so much. Exactly! I want to express my anxiety and fury at the same time when I feel so frustrated and am getting nuts. The situation is that I 'really' want to 'hit' my head on the wall because the pain might release my anger a bit. So when I wrote : How I want to hit my head real hard on the wall! I meant that I wanted to knock my head in a real sense. In that case, could I use 'I really want to hit my head against the wall so much.'

Thank you once again.