Jun 132009
There are some interesting phrases in English which are likely to cause confusion if someone’s learning English and meeting them for the first time.
Some of my favourites include:
I’m not prepared to… (=I’m not willing to – not that
I haven’t done my preparatory work)
I liked most parts of your proposal. (= There’s a problem with it)
You should have been with US last night. (With the right intonation = I have gossip, ask me about it)
Natasha sent me another one yesterday (Thanks Natasha)
You can say what you like but… (= don’t say what you like because you’ll be wrong)
Ha! If you have any similar ones, please share.
Not exactly in the same style but a lot of students here in France have a problem with “What’s the weather like today?”
The problem is clearly their understanding of the verb like and mentally translating back into French.