bukary on 28/2/2007 at 17:25
What does it mean "glimpse a cow out of a moving train"? I can't find it in any dictionary. :(
David on 28/2/2007 at 17:28
Where on earth did you come across that? :weird:
Ulukai on 28/2/2007 at 17:28
It means that you momentarily caught sight of a cow as the train sped past it.
bukary on 28/2/2007 at 17:33
My friend studies English and it's her "homework" to translate this (and other "collocations" or "fixed phrases"). It is supposed to be a "collocation". Isn't it? :weird:
Vivian on 28/2/2007 at 17:34
Thats what it translates as, but what does it mean, man? I'm guessing it signifies an epiphany about the larger social and intellectual restrictions that confine your apparent freedoms, much in the same way that a cow may consider itself free to browse unhindered only because it has yet to understand the concept of 'a hedge'.
bukary on 28/2/2007 at 17:37
Quote Posted by Uncle Bacon
Thats what it translates as, but what does it
mean, man? I'm guessing it signifies an epiphany about the larger social and intellectual restrictions that confine your apparent freedoms, much in the same way that a cow may consider itself free to browse unhindered only because it has yet to understand the concept of 'a hedge'.
I'm lost. Are you serious? :D
It is suppose to have some figurative meaning, but...
Vivian on 28/2/2007 at 17:39
I'm not entirely sure either, but if you say that I guarantee you'll get an A.
bukary on 28/2/2007 at 17:44
Quote Posted by Uncle Bacon
I'm not entirely sure either, but if you say that I guarantee you'll get an A.
Right... The problem is that my friend studies English at the university... Mumbo-jumbo won't work. ;)
Jan on 28/2/2007 at 17:47
You probably mean colloquialism (collocation is something different, it's about how certain words are used together, such as which preposition goes with which word, stuff like that).
Anyways, they vary widely, mean different things in different countries/regions. Never heard "glimpse a cow"--where is this supposed to come from?
Edit: If this is an excercise in collocations, the answer is that it's supposed to be "glimpse a cow from a moving train" when you're in it, or "...in a moving train" when the cow's in it :)
bukary on 28/2/2007 at 18:05
It comes along with phrases:
- work to earn a living
- contaminate a river
- bluff your way out of a difficult situation
Etc.
So i guess it has some figurative meaning, right?
The other problematic phrase is: "peer at the small print". What does it mean? :confused:
