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Falling
apart at the seams
Dear Dr English,
What does the expression "falling apart at the seams"
mean? It appears in the 1974 song "Lady Marmalade"
performed by Patti LaBelle.
Natkamol
When the seam, the line of stitches that
joins two pieces of cloth, such as for your old jeans, comes
apart, it is time to mend those jeans. From this situation,
the expression "to fall apart at the seams" is used
metaphorically in other contexts to describe a similar situation.
So when somebody says that something is falling apart at the
seams, they mean that it is fundamentally broken and needs
repairing.
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Court, flirt and have
'a gig'
Dear Dr English,
I read the May 30 issue of Smartlife and saw in Cinemascope
the phrase "courting her will cost money". I wonder
what "courting" means. How is "to court"
different from "to flirt"? Can we compare "flirt"
with "gig" in Thai? Thank you for your explanation.
Patcharee Tieachunpun
When a man and a woman are courting, they
are in love and spend a lot of time together, because they
intend to marry each other. It is different from flirting,
because when a person flirts with someone, he/she behaves
as if he/she is sexually attracted to the other person, but
there is no serious relationship involved. "Flirt"
is a verb and does not have the same meaning as the Thai slang
"gig", which is a person. Also, with a gig, people
get involved in a more serious relationship than they would
by merely flirting.
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Looking for a modifier
Dear Dr English,
I'm a South Korean volunteer working in Ubon Ratchathani.
I'm writing a pamphlet about silk made here. Silk from this
province has the advantage of craftsmanship. Which modifier
should be used to emphasise the word "craftsmanship",
so I can explain the craftsmanship to customers and they can
understand what makes silk from Ubon Ratchathani worth the
price.
You can use "fine" or "excellent". They
both mean "of very good quality". Or you might prefer
"exquisite", which means "a high degree of
artistic skill". Thank you for helping preserve an ancient
craft of Ubon Ratchathani and the livelihood of its people.
Good luck to you!
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