tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post7969977680418610948..comments2024-03-29T15:29:46.472+00:00Comments on Separated by a Common Language: Book week: Women talk more than men & Origins of the speciouslynneguisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-19715820998758728112018-04-24T21:32:57.205+01:002018-04-24T21:32:57.205+01:00There's one instance I can think of where &quo...There's one instance I can think of where "have a go" without "at" denotes aggression, and that's that refrain of football hooligans and belligerent drunks, "come and have a go if you think you're hard enough". Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-3087946782520942382016-11-25T21:00:22.559+00:002016-11-25T21:00:22.559+00:00Brit here. I've never come across "a chat...Brit here. I've never come across "a chat-up"; and, excluding line/lines, it's so infrequent in a Google search that I would say it isn't used as a noun.<br /><br />For me, to chat someone up or to chat up someone is to initiate a dialogue with a view to greater intimacy and, not necessarily but with luck and if the chemistry is right, to a date and whatever that leads to. In heterosexual situations I think the male has to do the chatting up; with roles reversed, the female would flirt - or send her friend over to say "My friend fancies your mate" - with the hope of being chatted up. Chatting up generally begins with a 'chat-up line' or two; the 'net is full of corny examples based on cringeworthy puns, but I would say the example you give qualifies.<br /><br />For me, successful chatting up doesn't end until the two people are in relaxed conversation - at least. If it fails, the male may say to his mates something like "I tried to chat her up but she weren't having none of it" - or, more likely, "Nah, I didn't fancy it close up".KeithDhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10451059429340892054noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-56448220861466407602016-09-13T13:05:33.365+01:002016-09-13T13:05:33.365+01:00I have to disagree about that. Brits usually have ...I have to disagree about that. Brits usually have had lots of alcohol and can be WAAAYYYY too direct for an American's taste!<br />lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-67541208797638635392016-09-13T12:23:01.320+01:002016-09-13T12:23:01.320+01:00>>I suspect the difference between BrE chatt...>>I suspect the difference between BrE chatting up and AmE hitting on is that Brits are less direct, more wordy.<<<br /><br />As in, say, "Get your coat, you've pulled"......? :)Autolycushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17642868944400656922noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-22136998415612925782016-06-08T13:03:28.035+01:002016-06-08T13:03:28.035+01:00Grace, I think a chat-up implies one side of a co...Grace, I think a <i> chat-up </i>implies <b>one side</b> of a conversation. <br /><br />I suspect the difference between BrE <i>chatting up</i> and AmE <i>hitting on</i> is that Brits are less direct, more wordy.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-35920059593496361502016-06-08T02:10:02.280+01:002016-06-08T02:10:02.280+01:00I don't know... Does a chat-up typically invo...I don't know... Does a chat-up typically involve a conversation, or could it just be a comment or two? For example, if you were at a club and said, "Hey, I love your hair! Can I buy you a drink?", that would be hitting on someone. Would that also count as a chat-up?Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14644859183662353936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-62197857743128462942016-06-08T01:45:52.998+01:002016-06-08T01:45:52.998+01:00Grace
You make it sound like 'chat up' — ...Grace<br /><br />You make it sound like <i>'chat up'</i> — except that an inept <i> chat-up</i> is dismissed as tiresome rather than unwelcome.<br /><br />Even if <i>hit on</i> doesn't quite mean what I thought, you confirm that intransitive <i>hit</i> doesn't convey any sort of romantic approach — until made transitive with <b><i>on</i></b>.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-27992446224652409522016-06-08T01:31:47.584+01:002016-06-08T01:31:47.584+01:00No, hit by itself does not carry any sexual meanin...No, <i>hit</i> by itself does not carry any sexual meaning (unlike tap...), but I hesitate to say that hitting on someone is predatory, at least in the connotative sense of bad and hoping to take advantage of someone. A friend might say, "He was totally hitting on you!" and intend it as something pleasing. It means giving compliments or engaging in conversation that is meant to signal one's romantic interest in someone, with the hope that it might be returned. It can be welcome or unwelcome, depending on the person, their timing, and social competence.Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14644859183662353936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-18344434394941440102016-06-07T20:31:05.866+01:002016-06-07T20:31:05.866+01:00What makes the phrase have a go at adversarial is ...What makes the phrase <i>have a go at</i> adversarial is the little word <b><i>at</i></b>.<br /><br /><i>Have a go</i> on its own doesn't mean 'fight' — unless implied by the context.<br /><br />Similarly <i>go on at</i> someone means 'nag someone' But <i>go on</i> doesn't mean 'nag'.<br /><br />In effect, <i>have a go at</i> and <i>go on at</i> are <b>transitive</b> multi-word verbs with adversarial meaning. By contrast <i>have a go</i> and <i>go on</i> are <b>intransitive</b>.<br /><br />Intransitive <i>have a go at</i> for me has (at least) two meanings<br />• 'engage in something with the hope of succeeding'<br />• 'take turn in the activity at hand'<br /><br />The 'engage in' meaning can extend to transitive <i>have a go at</i> — but only with an <b>inanimate</b> object<br />e.g. <i> have a go at para-gliding</i><br /><br />Transitive <i>go on at</i> has (for me) only one meaning. ('nag' as i said)<br /><br />Intransitive <i>go on</i> has a range of meanings<br />• 'continue'<br />• 'persist'<br />• 'take the stage'<br />• 'become lit'<br />etc<br /><br />I can't immediately think of another multi-word transitive word in which <i>at</i> makes this adversarial difference. But there is a similar difference between <i>take it out</i> and <i>take it out <b> on</b></i>.<br /><br />I wonder, though, about the two-word verb <i>hit on</i>. I understand the word (I think) but regard it as American. So my question is: Can the intransitive verb <i>hit</i> carry the same sense? (which I take to be sexual and predatory).David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-87982371564850322532016-06-07T15:54:26.769+01:002016-06-07T15:54:26.769+01:00I (BrE) would certainly use "have a go at&quo...I (BrE) would certainly use "have a go at" in the sense that Lynne did, but I'd also "have a go at" my husband for not doing something he'd said he'd do.... not so much a physical fight as a verbal one.Mrs Redboots (Annabel Smyth)https://www.blogger.com/profile/11270027663691257254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-78259464451888900262016-06-07T14:50:11.226+01:002016-06-07T14:50:11.226+01:00My first reaction was 'have a go at' isn&#...My first reaction was 'have a go at' isn't BrE! But then I looked at the linked definition, and I have to apologize because that meaning for it is completely unfamiliar to me as an American. David Crosbie, the OED sense of 2b is what I'm familiar with, but the 'have a fight' sense vaguely rang a bell. I asked hubby what he thought it meant if a person said, 'he had a go at me.' His response was that if it was a woman, he'd probably think she was talking sexually. If it was a guy, he'd assume he was from the British Isles and talking about a fight. So perhaps not exclusively BrE, but definitely more common there.Gracehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14644859183662353936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-25995583275386639782016-06-07T10:16:42.778+01:002016-06-07T10:16:42.778+01:00Thanks, Jeremy. Now fixed!
Thanks, Jeremy. Now fixed!<br />lynneguisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10171345732985610861noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-23257826522325361512016-06-07T01:31:48.477+01:002016-06-07T01:31:48.477+01:00Go in have a go would seem to be OED sense 2c
2c....<i>Go</i> in <i>have a go</i> would seem to be OED sense <b>2c</b><br /><br />2c. Originally: a prizefight, boxing match, or the like. Later more generally: a contest, a competition; a fight; an argument.<br /><br />This is not an exclusively British sense:<br /><br />1890 <i> Texas Siftings </i>1 Nov. 7/3 Cost me five dollars the other day to see the tamest kind of a go. There wasn't a knockdown in ten rounds.<br /><br />Much more common is OED sense <b>2b</b><br /><br />2 b. A try or attempt (at doing something); a ‘shot’; an occasion when something is done or attempted; a spell, a stint; a turn at doing or using something.<br /><br />To my generation, <i>Have a Go</i> prompts memories of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF6QFbB7I08" rel="nofollow">this radio programme (click)</a>.David Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01858358459416955921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28787909.post-23974450935616497122016-06-07T00:47:52.408+01:002016-06-07T00:47:52.408+01:00"But though the English in it is ..."
I..."But though the English in it is ..."<br /><br />I think part of this sentence has escaped while your back was turned.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11215675076577628776noreply@blogger.com