Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[missdaredevil]

1.
When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and
eat it too".

When people say*, *"Oh you just want to have your cake and
eat it too".

Should there be a comma?


2.
*What* good is cake if you can't eat it?
Why is *what* not *how*?

3.
Does *head in the oven* mean things other than the literal meaning?

4.
People who ask "Can I ask you a question?".... Didn't
really give me a choice there, did ya *sunshine*?


What does *sunshine* there really means, sweetheart or honey?

5. What is a *glove full of jelly* besides the literal meaning?

6.When people say "life is short". What the he ll?? Life is
the longest damn thing anyone ever *does*!! What can you do that's
longer?


Can I replace *does* with *has*?

Thanks

[CP]

1. Yes, I would put two commas:

"Oh, you just want to have your cake and eat it, too."

I think the first instance of this saying was something like, "You cannot eat your cake and [still] have your cake." It makes more sense than the usual "have your cake and eat it, too." Children often respond with, "How can you eat it if you don't have it first?"

2. "What good is . . . ?" means, "What use is there for . . . ?" or, "What is . . . for if not for . . . ?"

If you say, "How good is . . . ?", you are asking how much the person likes it, or how much value the thing has.

3. It means committing suicide, or thinking of doing it, or trying to do it. The idea comes from old-fashioned gas ovens, even before they had pilot lights. If you turned the oven on but did not light it, then put your head inside, pretty soon you would be overcome with gas and go to the afterlife.

4. It is a kind of smart-alec endearment similar to "sweetheart" or "honey." You might call your young daughter "Sunshine" as a nickname, and that would be fine, but if you use it on anyone else, you are probably being condescending or snotty.

5. No idea!

6. Not really. Although we wouldn't usually say that one does life, here it is said to make the point that living from birth to death takes longer than anything else that one does.
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You live a new life for every new language you speak. -Czech proverb