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b7lake
Joined: 30 Apr 2006
Posts: 181
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 Posted: Sun May 21, 2006 9:37 pm Post subject: the meaning of a sentence |
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I'd like to know the exact meaning of this sentence.
"Youth is wasted on the young."
Why is "on" used in this sentence"
I'd appreciate your help. |
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Anuradha Chepur
Joined: 20 May 2006
Posts: 933
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 12:50 am Post subject: |
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| I think it is : Youth is wasted by the young. |
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Nef
Joined: 27 Nov 2005
Posts: 187
Location: California, USA
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 1:34 am Post subject: |
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| "Youth is wasted on the young" means that only older people truly appreciate the benefits of being young. The young take the benefits for granted. |
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Anuradha Chepur
Joined: 20 May 2006
Posts: 933
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| Posted: Mon May 22, 2006 3:16 am Post subject: |
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| You may also alternately say: The young waste their youth. |
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LucentShade
Joined: 30 Dec 2003
Posts: 542
Location: Nebraska, USA
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| Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 4:00 am Post subject: |
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| Anuradha Chepur wrote: |
| I think it is : Youth is wasted by the young. |
That may be true, but the common expression is "Youth is wasted on the young." "wasted on" is a rather tricky phrasal verb; If Bob has something, but he doesn't value it or apprecate it, then that something is wasted on him. For example, if Bob doesn't know anything about computers except how to write text documents and use the Internet, but he owns a powerful computer that can do many things, then I could say, "That computer is wasted on Bob." |
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Jintii
Joined: 18 Feb 2006
Posts: 111
Location: New York City
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| Posted: Wed May 24, 2006 5:00 pm Post subject: |
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There is a difference between wasted by (passive voice) and wasted on.
Youth is wasted by the young means that young people squander their youth. This is just an active/passive difference; you can easily rearrange the sentence to read the young waste their youth.
But youth is wasted on the young means that young people don't appreciate their youth. It is not an active/passive difference, and you cannot rearrange the sentence in the same way.
This definition from http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/waste may help:
waste something on someone: to not be noticed or appreciated.
I wouldn't waste this material on high school students � they don't have the background to understand it.
Usage notes: often used when speaking of something of special quality: The difference between a really fine French wine and one that's not as good is wasted on me. |
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