Question
Updated on
21 Aug 2017
- Simplified Chinese (China)
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English (UK)
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English (US)
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Japanese
Question about English (US)
What does take a dip mean?
What does take a dip mean?
Answers
21 Aug 2017
Featured answer
- English (US)
@hellonativeperson Yes, exactly! Glad I could help! :)
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- English (US)
Usually "to go swimming".
Example:
I went to the lake so that I could take a dip. The water was warm and calm, so swimming was a pleasant experience.
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- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
- English (US)
- Simplified Chinese (China)
@hellonativeperson most likely yes :)
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
@luochan: I hate to bothe r u but another confusing words knock on word, can u give some example on how to use it? I understood the meaning but don't know how to use it.
- English (US)
@hellonativeperson It usually implies that the swim was fairly short. Yep. :)
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- English (US)
@hellonativeperson It is a colloquial saying. It's a way to follow up on something positive generally to ward off bad luck, or to encourage good luck to continue. If you can't find wood within a short period of time, it's a sign that bad things may happen. It's entirely silly superstition. :)
Examples:
I'm going to go to the baseball game tomorrow with my friends, knock on wood.
I just got called by 3 of the 4 companies I interviewed with. The 4th company should be calling me with good news any minute now, knock on wood.
Knock on wood, that the weather stays clear for the rest of the day.
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
@relyat08: oh, I got it clearly now, but why when I put forward some examples, such as I probably fail exam, knock on wood. but a naive speaker said its wrong and it's the opposite, why? does it just mean “God bless you”, why im wrong.
- English (US)
@hellonativeperson Exactly. It is only meant for positive things.
Saying:
"I will probably fail my exam, knock on wood"
suggests that you WANT to fail your exam. :O
Instead of that, you might say:
"With my luck, I will probably fail the exam."
or if you want to use "knock on wood" you could say:
"I am definitely going to pass the exam, knock on wood."
It doesn't mean "God bless you", but you could translate it as "Lord willing".
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- Simplified Chinese (China)
@relyat08: oh, bro. you are awesome. I absolutely got it now!
knock on wood means you hope the thing develop the situation you just talked about, if it's a positive side, you hope it will be good, but its a negative side, you hope it will be bad, up to you direction.
for example, if I said I fail the exam, knock on wood.
emmmm, maybe others thought I'm insane, otherwise how could a normal person wanna fail? in fact I hope I can pass it. so its a contradiction.
the wrong way
I probably fail the exam, knock on wood.
the correct way
I possibly pass the exam, knock on wood.
😃😃😃
knock on wood means you hope the thing develop the situation you just talked about, if it's a positive side, you hope it will be good, but its a negative side, you hope it will be bad, up to you direction.
for example, if I said I fail the exam, knock on wood.
emmmm, maybe others thought I'm insane, otherwise how could a normal person wanna fail? in fact I hope I can pass it. so its a contradiction.
the wrong way
I probably fail the exam, knock on wood.
the correct way
I possibly pass the exam, knock on wood.
😃😃😃
- English (US)
@hellonativeperson Yes, exactly! Glad I could help! :)
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