Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

As an On2 dancer, sometimes the lines of women waiting to get a single dance (On2) would get to be well over 10 people *deep.*

Not long?


Thanks

[Brian Boyd]

If they were standing politely in single file - like people waiting at an ice cream van or in a cinema queue - then you could say ten people long.

These people were probably crowded along the edge of the dance floor. So you have the first row of people, then another, and another and another ... in fact 10 rows. So the crowd is ten people deep.

I understand the confusion, since deep is usually used to talk about liquid, so you imagine depth as a downwards measurement. Crowds are often described using water metaphors:

There was a deluge of bargain hunters.
The trickle of tourists quickly became a flood.
He looked out at a sea of faces.
Thousands of people drifted into the city that weekend.

Brian
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