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Chan-Seung Lee
Joined: 03 Dec 2005
Posts: 1032
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 Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2008 4:01 pm Post subject: off the top of my head |
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| Quote: |
1.It's off the top of my head.
2.I played the piano off the top of my head.
3.It's on the tip of my tongue.
4.I have it on the tip of my tongue but can't exactly recall it. |
According to my dictionary, 'off the top of my head' means 'in the situation you can improvise it on the spot' and 'on the tip of my tongue' means 'in the situation that you know it but cannot remember it.'
So, I made some examples. Could you correct them if there are mistakes?
Thanks. |
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Bob S.
Joined: 29 Apr 2004
Posts: 1767
Location: So. Cal
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| Posted: Wed Oct 01, 2008 12:44 pm Post subject: Re: off the top of my head |
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| Chan-Seung Lee wrote: |
| Quote: |
1.It's off the top of my head.
2.I played the piano off the top of my head.
3.It's on the tip of my tongue.
4.I have it on the tip of my tongue but can't exactly recall it. |
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Off the top of my head implies where it came from. So #1 should be I got it off the top of my head.
For #2, when talking about music, we say "by ear".
Q: You play the piano very well. How long did you take lessons?
A: I never took lessons. I just play by ear.
3 & 4 are fine.
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"It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood." -- Karl Popper |
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