Dave's ESL Cafe's Student Discussion Forums

[hiromichi]

Is "use margarine" an idiom?

Then Mother Nature decided it was payback time for all those years I used margarine. For unknown reasons, the shopping cart wouldn't talk to PayPal. Then it would, but then there was no way to import purchasers into the webinar platform. Then the webinar platform couldn't send out emails, and our email platform couldn't send out webinars. Tech support department took a day and a half to get back to us, and ... 40 hours later, we were ready to go. - See more at: http://www.quickanddirtytips.com/productivity/project-management/a-simple-tracking-form-to-better-estimate-your-time?utm_source=GIDG20151002&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=getitdoneguy#sthash.zldtyZd3.dpuf
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Hiromichi

[Lorikeet]

No. Margarine was created as a substitute for butter (a "natural" item that perhaps Mother Nature was happier with.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarine

Margarine that was made with hydrogenated oil turned out not to be very healthy.

I think the author is just trying to make an amusing statement to explain what happened when nothing worked, blaming it on Mother Nature and his previous use of margarine.

[hiromichi]

Lorikeet:
Thank you. But I have no idea what this paragraph means in the whole context.
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Hiromichi

[lotus]

The writer is trying to be witty. He is referring to an old Chiffon margarine commercial where Mother Nature gets mad because Chiffon margarine (fake butter) tastes too much like real butter (which is natural). The catch phrase from the commercial is "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijVijP-CDVI

Here, the author is saying he tried to fool a client by doing very little work for a lot of money -- but it didn't work (things went wrong). So in the end, it was not nice to fool Mother Nature!


--lotus
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War does not make one great --Yoda

[hiromichi]

lotus:
Thank you.
I got it. The knowledge of the cultural background is really important in understanding English.
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Hiromichi