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LuoXiaoye
about a few expressions of "pop"
i learned that "pop off " has three different kinds of meanings, the first,means to leave abruptly or hurriedly,the second,used as a euphemism for dying,the third,means to speak thoughtfullessly in a burst of released anger. is the three kinds of uses used often? can i have some examples here?
"pop the question’, means to propose to someone, is this used often? and how about this one" Tickets to the concert were 10$ a pop?" is this sorta slang?common in day-to-day life?
Mar 22, 2013 2:55 AM
Answers · 7
4
All three of those definitions are correct, but none of them are used often. The first one, regarding leaving in a hurry, is probably the one I'd hear most of the three. The second, regarding dying, is a pretty insensitive way of describing a recent death (so people obviously don't say such things in public out of common courtesy), and the third one is better replaced, at least in my dialect, by something like "to fly off the rails".
"Pop the question", however, is actually quite common. It's the sort of thing a man might tell his buddies when they're drinking at the bar. "Hey, I was thinking of popping the question with Lisa." "No way, dude! This early?! Well, I'm glad for you anyway. The next round's on me!"
And the whole "$X.XX a pop" phrase is also used somewhat often in American English (and probably also in the other major dialects).
I would recommend, however, that you avoid intimate idioms like these at your learning level. While it's good to start learning this sort of stuff when you're approaching C1 fluency, it's just going to be too hard to keep track off below B1. Focus on mostly non-idiomatic speech until you've gotten confident enough to have entire conversations without dictionaries. THEN you should start picking up less-than-common idioms.
March 22, 2013
1
Your questions are quite legitimate and you understand their meaning. Use idioms like these with your friends but not in formal situations like business meetings or formal writing in exams.
March 22, 2013
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LuoXiaoye
Language Skills
Chinese (Mandarin), English
Learning Language
English
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