Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[kerstin]

1
Can I use *gothic* to describe people who dress up in an eerie way?


2
The guy who did my prints, *j erk my chain*.
Overcharged me?


3
payola=a payment given in exchange for promoting a commercial product, or the system of making such payments, especially to *disc jockeys*
Why does that happen to djs?

4
*mind you*= used to qualify something you have just said
How do people use it?

5
I am in *two minds* about adding the scenes on this film.
deciding wheter to put it or not?
Thanks, guys

[CP]

"1. Can I use *gothic* to describe people who dress up in an eerie way?" Yes, "gothic" or "goth" refers to people who dress in black, have a morose outlook, think about death a lot, etc.

"2. The guy who did my prints, *j erk my chain*.
Overcharged me?" If you yank someone's chain, or j e r k it or pull it, you do something to irritate someone. Imagine a bulldog with a collar on and a chain attached to the coller. You yank the chain to get the dog to go somewhere, but it's not very nice.

"3. payola=a payment given in exchange for promoting a commercial product, or the system of making such payments, especially to *disc jockeys*
Why does that happen to djs?" Well, you pay the radio DJ money to play new songs that otherwise might not get any air time, to expose people to the music and hopefully make them want to buy the records. But DJs are supposed to play music that they think is good and that they think their listeners will like. Paying them to play the music biases the system and is not just wrong but illegal.

"4. *mind you*= used to qualify something you have just said
How do people use it?" Mind you, I'm not an expert on this, but I would say people use it like this. It means, more or less, "keep in mind" or "realize this," before saying something.

"5. I am in *two minds* about adding the scenes on this film.
deciding wheter to put it or not?" Yes. Usually it is, "I'm of two minds about" whatever it is, not "in two minds": I could go this way or that way, and I haven't decided yet.
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