Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1.At many live music shows, many big men wear T-shirts which have these words: �Rock Steady Event Staff�. So are these men also �security men�?

2.Sometimes some singers sing �baby! You hurt me so bad�, why don�t we say �badly� instead of �bad�?

3.What�s the difference between �what�s up?� and �what�s the matter?�?

4.How many meanings does �that�s it!� have?

5.Sometimes I hear many students say � if you never play truant, so you�re not a student�, is this natural?

- Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[Brian Boyd]

Event Staff might be security, roadies or stewards.

What's up means 'what's happening?' or 'what's wrong?' or 'what's new?' or an informal way to say hello (same as 'how's it going?')

What's the matter is just 'What's wrong?'
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Comics for students ...

http://www.grammarmancomic.com

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[bud]

2. "Badly" would work, but it sounds odd to me. "Bad" can be used as an adverb, too, and it may be something that has changed over time. That is, in the past it may have been considered an error to use it that way. Today it is OK.

4. How many meanings can you think of? All I can think of is a meaning similar to, "That's correct/the one/exact." I might be suffering from brain-lock, though.

5. You have two choices: delete "so" or replace it with "then." Either of those edits makes it a natural sentence.

[Lorikeet]

[bud]

Ah... I was suffering from brain-lock! Thanks, Lorikeet!

[LucentShade]

"Badly" as an adverb is somewhat rare in conversation, and even more rare in songs. If you're walking on the street and see some girls looking at purses in a store window, you might hear, "I want that one so bad."

"That's it" can also express finality, as in, "That's it, no more beer for you" (=I don't think you should have any more beer), or "That's it, there isn't any more."

[Harmony]