| The Get Exercise for Readers with R-Rated Imaginations A teacher suggested that the following six items from the original "get" exercise might not be suitable for high school students, so I rewrote them. Apparently, he thought these items referred to situations inappropriate for high school students to practice grammar on. To clarify the exercise, I have explained the context of each statement so you can see that it is quite innocent. Any interepretation to the contrary would be entirely your own. And erroneous. Remember this: "Get," like much spoken language, takes it meaning from the listener,
not from the speaker. Listeners must imagine a context in which the
sentence takes on meaning and use that context to interpret the
sentence. In good writing, the writer supplies the context and uses words that have specific, concrete meanings, rather than vague, general words that require extensive interpretation. 35. It took a while to get a bead on his con. Meaning: It took time to figure out how he was trying to cheat me. Comment: Given the sub-prime mortgage mess, more people should be trying to get a bead on others' cons, including the cons of mortgage brokers and investment bankers. I don't see anything inappropriate in having high school students think about being cheated out of their savings. 48. He got up early, because he was hoping to get it on with her that morning, but he was not able to get his act together, so he only got on her nerves. He
is one of a pair of performers in a stage act in which they dress in a
large shaggy dog suit -- he playing the front legs, she playing the
back. He could not master his role -- get his part of the act together.
His clumsiness made her irritable. 49. She told him to get over it, if he ever wanted to get anywhere with her. He
and she are planning to take a trip together. He has car sickness. She
tells him to get well if he wants to travel anywhere with her.
Otherwise, he'll have to stay be sick and stay home. 51. He felt he had to get through all her games in order to get to her. She
is a compulsive collector of antique games -- so many that they have
fallen over and are crushing her. He is an emergency medical technician
who is trying to get underneath the pile of games to rescue her. Wish them luck. 52. He hoped they would get together, but he could not even get to first base. He
is trying to deliver a message to his cousin, who is playing second
base in a baseball game. He won't be able to deliver that message
unless he can pass first base. Readers have such dirty minds to imagine a boring sexual situation here, when this is actually about the enduring excitement of baseball. 54. Accounting majors get together at a bar every Wednesday to work on professional development. Just
as England has neighborhood pubs where families gather for an evening
to play cards, chat and have an occasional pint, this unnamed country
uses bars as social gathering places. These accounting majors attend a university so poor it cannot provide them with a place to meet at night, so they have a regular table in the quiet back room of the bar in their church's basement, out of earshot of the mothers and children who are chattering in the front. They practice professional development activities, such as speaking correct grammar. What could possibly be objectionable about that? |