on the news or in the news?
Hi you guys, here is a clip from TV Friends.I have problems about it. Phoebe is now giving birth at the hospital, she is the surrogate for her little brother Frank. she's having triplets. below are the scripts...........

Phoe: Can I tell you a little secret?
Rach: Yeah!
Phoe: I want to keep one. (Giggles in excitement.)
Rach: Ohh, I'm gonna be 【on the news】! Okay, Phoebe, honey, you’ve gotta be kidding. I mean, you know you can’t keep one of these babies!
Phoe: Why not?! Maybe I can, you don't know!
Rach: Yes! Yes! Yes, I do! I do know! Frank and Alice are gonna wanna keep all of their children!
Phoe: Maybe not! Y'know? Seriously, three babies are a handful. maybe they're y'know, looking for a chance to unload one of them. Listen, I hate to miss an opportunity just 【cause I didn't ask】! Y'know?
。。。。。。。。。。。。。
my questions are :
1. what does " on the news" mean? can I also say 'in the news'?
2. "cause I didn't ask" used the past tense of the verb ask-- didn't ask, why not 'don;t ask'? the action "ask" hasn't happened yet, has it? so why does she use "didn't ask" instead of "don't ask"?
thanks very much for your kind help

Question

on the news or in the news?
Hi you guys, here is a clip from TV Friends.I have problems about it. Phoebe is now giving birth at the hospital, she is the surrogate for her little brother Frank. she's having triplets. below are the scripts...........

Phoe: Can I tell you a little secret?
Rach: Yeah!
Phoe: I want to keep one. (Giggles in excitement.)
Rach: Ohh, I'm gonna be 【on the news】! Okay, Phoebe, honey, you’ve gotta be kidding. I mean, you know you can’t keep one of these babies!
Phoe: Why not?! Maybe I can, you don't know!
Rach: Yes! Yes! Yes, I do! I do know! Frank and Alice are gonna wanna keep all of their children!
Phoe: Maybe not! Y'know? Seriously, three babies are a handful. maybe they're y'know, looking for a chance to unload one of them. Listen, I hate to miss an opportunity just 【cause I didn't ask】! Y'know?
。。。。。。。。。。。。。
my questions are :
1. what does " on the news" mean? can I also say 'in the news'?
2. "cause I didn't ask" used the past tense of the verb ask-- didn't ask, why not 'don;t ask'? the action "ask" hasn't happened yet, has it? so why does she use "didn't ask" instead of "don't ask"?
thanks very much for your kind help

Answer

1. on the news means literally on TV news broadcast. in the news is in any media like newspaper and it’s more general 
2. she didn’t ask means the past action didn’t happen. when we are talking about past tense it doesn’t necessarily mean that the action MUST have happened. if you say “I don’t ask” means you never ask. like every day and in general. But “I didn’t ask” means this action didn’t happen (yesterday or last week etc)
look at it this way. there is a plate of food on the table and your mom comes. what will she ask? “don’t you eat?” (which will mean girl do you EVER ear anything)
“didn’t you eat?” (which will mean that the past action - eating - was supposed to happen in the past but didn’t)
“haven’t you eaten” would be the right one though.

so past tense doesn’t need for the action to happen. something might NOT happen in the past and we will have to use past tense. Like I didn’t become a balerina :))