Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1.He doesn�t often smoke, if yes he just smokes socially.
- Is this natural?

2.Everything nowadays is more expensive than your parents used to tell you stories about how they were off on their own at your age.
- What does �off� mean here?

3.Once you move out on your own, there will be lots of expenses that will be coming your way that you don�t have right now.
- What does �come your way� mean here?

4.They wanted to put us all into different homes but we didn�t want to be split up.
-I think �houses� is better, right? And what does �split up� mean here?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd.

[LucentShade]

1.He doesn�t often smoke, and if he does, he just smokes socially.
Or: "He doesn't smoke very much; he's just a social smoker."

2.Everything nowadays is more expensive than your parents used to tell you stories about how they were off on their own at your age.
- What does �off� mean here?
"off" is similar to "away" here--the expression "off on one's own" means to be living away from parents, or to be living in a house/apartment where you have to pay rent and bills.

3.Once you move out on your own, there will be lots of expenses that will be coming your way that you don�t have right now.
- What does �come your way� mean here?
~you will encounter lots of expenses --"come your way" implies things that are unexpected; they happen by chance or at random.

4.They wanted to put us all into different homes but we didn�t want to be split up.
-I think �houses� is better, right? And what does �split up� mean here?
"homes" is fine because "home" can mean the idea of a house and a family, while "house" refers to the physical building.
"split up" = separated, divided