Common Expressions - 2

As we explained yesterday, some of the most commonly used expressions in the English language are not taught by many schools, despite the fact that nearly every native speaker of English probably uses them. Here’s more examples for today’s column.

When you "catch what he said" this means you heard and understood it | foto: Profimedia.cz

Angličtina na iDNES.cz
VŠECHNY LEKCE ZDE

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The word "catch" when used in a phrase can mean many different things in English. Examples:

"She’s a really good catch, our boss was smart in hiring her" or "Our catch of the day is Trout" or "I didn’t catch what he said, can you explain it to me?" or "What’s the catch here, I don’t understand" or "Here, let’s first play catch and see how you handle things" or "I’m tired of playing catch, I want our company to go on the offense."

While these are just a few of the many uses of the word catch as shown here in various expressions, naturally, each of them means very different things.

Catching What Someone Says
When you "catch what he said" this means you heard and understood it. To some people, however, those that tend to be more "literal" or "exact" types, the term "to catch" simply means to hear something. Whether it was actually understood or not is another matter entirely.

When hearing this phrase, it is probably best to reply, just to be safe: "Ok, you caught what he said, but did you understand it?"

What’s the Catch?
When someone asks you "what the catch is" this is a way of asking you what the specific terms or conditions are. The "catch" in this case is what catches you, or what is that special condition you must first meet, before "it" happens?

Let’s Play Catch
Other than playing a game of catch with some sort of ball, this expression basically means that you’re going to be given a task or some responsibility, and then people will see how well you did. If you were able to "play catch and handle things very well" you not only received them, but then did all the right things.

If you are "tired of playing catch" then this means that you are tired of being on the receiving end of things, always reacting, and that you want to go on the offensive, start to make some moves, or to be proactive.

Tomorrow, part III.

Jokes of the Day

1. Soviet leader Leonid Breshnev was having a meeting with Pope John Paul II of the Roman Catholic Church, when suddenly the leader of the USSR asks the Pope an unexpected question.

"Can you please tell me," Breshnev asks, "why is it that millions of people believe in ‘Catholic paradise’ but not in our Communist paradise?"

"That’s an easy question to answer," replied the Pope. "You see, we never show our paradise."

2. U.S. President George W. Bush is sitting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin having a summit that’s focused on terrorism, to help make the world safer, of course.

"Vladimir," asks George Bush, "I have a question."

"Yes, George?" Mr. Putin replies.

"Tell me about this Communist thing. Is it true that Communism is really a science?"

"No," answered Putin. "If Communism were a science, we would have tested it out on dogs first."

3. Two East German police, Hans and Rolf, were on patrol together when one asks the other, "Tell me honestly, Hans, what do you think of our great socialist regime?"

"Of course, I think the same thing you do," replied Hans. "Then it is my duty to arrest you," answered Rolf.

Angličtina vychází od pondělí do pátku.

Najdete ji také v bezplatném deníku Metropolitní expres.

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