Is 'pick up on' interchangeable with 'get the hang of'? in the following sentence?: She failed to pick up on the humour in his remark. If not, what's the difference?

Ming

2014년 7월 20일 오후 7:01

답변 · 7

In this sentence, yes, they are interchangeable. Your sentence is perfect, just change humour to humor.

2014년 7월 20일

No, they don't have the same meaning at all. In fact, I can't think of any situation in which these phrases would be interchangeable. As Jamie says, 'pick up on' means notice or perceive. 'Get the hang of' means learn to do or to manage to understand something over time. And 'humour' is the correct British spelling.

2014년 7월 20일

Not quite. Get a hang of, or get a grasp of means to manage in a certain field, a language for example. Pick up on, here is interchangeable with 'notice'.

2014년 7월 20일

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