Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1. I�ve been in touch with my ex in a very little sense of the word.
- What does �sense of the word� mean here?

2. Come one buddy! You should think outside the box a little bit.
- �think outside the box a little bit� means �think pretty open-mindedly�, right?

3. About him, well I think I can do this without going Oprah on your ass.
- What does �going Oprah on your ass� mean here?

Thanks a bunch to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[damon@English24/7]

Hi,

1. When someone uses "sense of the word" they are usually referring to a word earlier in the sentence whose meaning could be understood several different ways. In this case the speaker is clarifying "in touch." I am not sure you wrote the sentence correctly. Check again, but I think the sentence might be "I`ve been in touch with my ex in a very literal sense of the word."

2. You are correct.

3. To "go ____ on your ass" means to treat you in a manner typical of whatever you put in the _______. "On your ass" is slang for on you. It is generally not used in an endearing manner.

The most famous example I can think of is from Pulp Fiction where one of the characters says something like "I`m going to go medieval on your ass" meaning he is going to torture the object in a medieval manner.

I am not very good with pop culture so I will leave explaining the exact meaning of "going Oprah on your ass" to someone else. Still, without knowing much about "Oprah," who is a famous talkshow host on US television I can tell you that it means the speaker is going to treat you in a manner similar to how Oprah treats others (probably her talkshow guests in this case).

damon