Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1. She promises that we�ll do things together, but she never does. I feel very left out.
- �I feel very left out� means �I feel very sad�, right?

2. Jesus is smiling down on his little girl because he loves you so much.
- What does �smile down on� mean here?

3. Just keep at her, keep telling her that you will always be there for her.
- What does �keep at her� mean here?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[CP]

1. When everyone else is invited to the party, but not you, you have been left out, and you feel left out. You feel abandoned and alone, not part of the group. When the kids choose teams to play football or basketball, but you are not picked, you feel left out. In your example, she keeps promising to do things with you, but she never does. She invites other people to go places, perhaps, but not you. You feel left out.

2. Jesus is believed to be in Heaven above, so if he looks kindly down from Heaven, he is smiling down from above -- on the little girl, on you, on me, on everyone. You can get a laugh out of people by talking about someone who has already passed on, then say, "I'm sure he's frowning up at us right now."

3. To keep at anything is to persist, try again and again, never give up. So, keep telling her that you will always be there for her, and don't be discouraged and quit just because of her reaction.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[asterix]

You feel left out if you are not included in something in which you would like to be included, or in which you feel you ought to be included.. This may provoke a feeling of sadness but it might also annoy you.
It might be something such as a party to which all your friends were invited, but not you, for example.

smile down on. It is believed by those who are Christians, that Jesus, who is supposed to be the son of God, is watching over his followers. So this means that Jesus is very pleased with this little girl because he loves her so much.

Keep at her means to continuously do something, to persist - in this case assuring her that you will always be available to help her when she needs help or support.

[asterix]

Sorry, CP - I'm not trying to tread on your toes.
When I started the above reply there was no other answer.
Obviously you were quicker on the draw!

[CP]

Not at all, Asterix. I have had the same thing happen to me; nothing to get exercised about. Anyway, your post added good information. We are thus much the richer.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb

[missdaredevil]

[CP]

The expression, "quick on the draw," comes from gunslingers in the Old West.

In a showdown, the hero (white hat, pressed shirt) and the villain (black hat, dusty jeans) face each other ready to draw their guns and shoot it out. It is a duel with six-guns. Whoever is quicker on the draw is more likely to win, although good aim is also helpful.

So the term "quick on the draw" is also applied to answering or doing something a little faster than someone else.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb