out of town
Kevin
I wanted to ask this question for long, but thought it's silly to.
Anyway, I could afford to be silly, so I ask now.
When people say "I will be out of town next week", must it imply that
the guy is leaving his town, or just taking holiday (maybe in town)?
As a non-native speaker of English, I ask this because I found some
friends make "out of town" synonym to "holidays in town".
I guess it may be wrong to say "out of town" while one is on town, or
it could be loosely interpreted as "holiday wherever"?
With thanks for all advices.
Kevin
Hong Kong
Clive
I live in Toronto.
If I say 'I will be out of town next week',
it means that I will not be in Toronto.
( I could be lying,
of course, just to avoid stalking to you. )
There
is another idiom 'on the town'.
'Tom is out on the town' means Tom
is out going to bars, clubs, etc. in order to have a good
time.
Best wishes, Clive
--------------------------------------------------------------
El tango argentino es un pensamiento triste que se puede bailar (The
tango argentino is a sad thought which can be danced) Enrique Santos
Disc�polo
Clive: http://www.englishforums.com/user/drqr/profile.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------
tony cooper
wrote:
The only way that I can see that "I will be out of town next week"
could be said to mean anything other than that the person will be in
another town next week is when the person is deliberately lying in
order to escape a social obligation.
I see no loose interpretation possible.
--
Tony Cooper - Orlando, Florida
Kevin
I thought it's another term for "holiday anywhere", great to solve
it.
Kevin
Eric Walker
While I generally agree, I do suspect that occasionally some use it to
mean simply "I will be unavailable through my normal business
contacts" (telephone, email, etc.). Thogu they may just ne taking a week
off at home, the effct, for business purposes, is as if they were
elsewhere. Sloppy, but, as I say, I think it happens.
--
Cordially,
Eric Walker, Owlcroft House
http://owlcroft.com/english/
mm
wrote:
>Hi
>I wanted to ask this question for long, but thought it's silly to.
>Anyway, I could afford to be silly, so I ask now.
>When people say "I will be out of town next week", must it imply that
>the guy is leaving his town, or just taking holiday (maybe in town)?
>As a non-native speaker of English, I ask this because I found some
>friends make "out of town" synonym to "holidays in town".
I think those people have a grave psychological illness.
Either that or they don't want to be bothered during the weekend and
don't think it's anyone's business what they will be doing.
They consider innocent. I consider it an innocent lie. Not so bad,
but it's best not to get in the habit of lying.
"I'll be away" gives the same result without any lie. It probably
means away from home, but it isn't even that specific. If perchance
they are staying home, it must mean "away from work".
>I guess it may be wrong to say "out of town" while one is on town, or
>it could be loosely interpreted as "holiday wherever"?
>With thanks for all advices.
>Kevin
>Hong Kong
--
Posters should say where they live, and for which area
they are asking questions. I was born and then lived in
Western Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis 7 years
Chicago 6 years
Brooklyn, NY 12 years
Baltimore 26 years
Clive
I live in Toronto.
If I say 'I will be out of town next
week', it means that I will not be in Toronto.
( I could be
lying, of course, just to avoid talking to you.
Kevin
> On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 19:30:09 -0800 (PST), Kevin <paro...@gmail.com>
> "I'll be away" gives the same result without any lie. It probably
> means away from home, but it isn't even that specific. If perchance
> they are staying home, it must mean "away from work".
Thanks for the very good suggestion.
Kevin
Kevin
> On Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:57:47 -0500, tony cooper wrote:
Oh! That's the key to my question, I wonder if it happens to a native
speaker of English.
Sloppy, as you said, but it happened.
Kevin
Bill McCray
Holidays or vacation is not part of the meaning. You can be out of town
on business. "Out of town" just means not in your normal town or city.
Or maybe you need to go to the store and get more town.
That reminds me that at work there was a sign next to the elevator that
said "If out of order, call maintenance at <phone number>". I commented
in a forum similar to this one that I thought I would call the Medical
Department if out of order. Someone else said that he would call
Purchasing to order some more order.
Bill in Kentucky
John Varela
I think most here would agree that if someone tells you he will be
out of town and then stays home, one of the following is true: he
doesn't speak English very well, he was lying, or he had a change of
plans.
--
John Varela
Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email
Kevin
Your notes on "order" is interesting. But I could not get it that " to
go to the store and get more town"
Kevin
Pat Durkin
news:36e9219d-5931-4054...@m33g2000pri.googlegroups.com...
On Nov 19, 10:26 pm, Bill McCray <billmcc...@mindspring.com> wrote:
> Kevin wrote:
> > Thanks Cliff and Tony,
> > I thought it's another term for "holiday anywhere", great to solve
> > it.
> > Kevin
>
> Holidays or vacation is not part of the meaning. You can be out of
> town
> on business. "Out of town" just means not in your normal town or
> city.
> Or maybe you need to go to the store and get more town.
>
> That reminds me that at work there was a sign next to the elevator
> that
> said "If out of order, call maintenance at <phone number>". I
> commented
> in a forum similar to this one that I thought I would call the
> Medical
> Department if out of order. Someone else said that he would call
> Purchasing to order some more order.
>
> Bill in Kentucky
Kevin:
Your notes on "order" is interesting. But I could not get it that " to
go to the store and get more town"
Pat:
That was just a joking comment. When we are using a commodity of some
kind and discover that the expected supply is exhausted, we say "I am
out of...(time, paper, milk, money). and must go to the bank (or
store, etc to get more)" We usually say we have "run out of time,
paper, etc." (I don't know where one goes to get more time, but the
image of "running out" of it is that of the sands running out in an
hourglass.)
Bill simply implied that "town" was one of the exhaustible
commodities. It doesn't make sense, so that is the humor of the
absurd. Another such replacement might be "place". When something has
been put in the wrong place, we say it is out of place.
Kevin
> "Kevin" <paro...@gmail.com> wrote in message
Pat,
Thanks. I see now, the humour of the absurd, which was an important
ingredient in Hong Kong's comedy in 1990s.
Kevin