Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[stevenukd]

Dear Teachers,

1. Is your husband picking up on strong chemistry between you two?
- What does �pick up on strong chemistry� mean here?

2. I laughed too much at the teen movies to take her too seriously as a serious actress.
- �take� here means �recognize�, right?

Thanks a lot to Teachers,

Stevenukd

[bud]

1. There are two phrases in this one:

To pick up on - To notice/to discern/to sense something about a person's character or about a person in a situation. ("Did you pick up on the fact that she seemed sad when she was talking about her new job?")

Chemistry - To have chemistry between two people is to get along very well together. Usually it is used in a romantic sense, conveying that there is a strong, natural attraction to each other's personality. You could use it in a non-romantic situation, though. ("My boss and I work well together. We have a lot of chemistry.")

The sentence seems a little odd to me. If there is chemistry in a relationship, both partners are very aware of it. It's not something that a person needs "to pick up on."

2. Yes.