My name is Marc, I live in Belgium

[marc1953]

Hi everyone out there,

I just registered here and already I come begging for help.

My name is Marc, I live in Belgium and my native tongue is Dutch (or Flemish if you like). I've been using English in my professional life almost every day for the last 25 years and I would rate my proficiency as very good to excellent.

But sometimes one gets confronted with the fact that very good or excellent is still a long way from perfect. Let me explain what I mean and why the subject line of this mail suggests that I am in a bit of a panic. Well, it's certainly not a matter of life or death.

My son is 17 and will graduate from high-school this year. Last night he was finishing a paper in English and he is supposed to submit it today. I came home late from a long trip by car and as usual, I found my son's paper on my desk with the usual post-it note stuck to it asking me for a final proofreading and comments. To make my life a little easier he pre-presented to me that he had a problem with a quotation he had to translate. He said he couldn't find it in any dictionary, so he had to guess and felt totally unsure.

I went straight to the problem page and read: "he was taken with that idea". In a reflex I wrote a note to my son saying it meant "he was fond of/in favour of that idea". As I had put my pen down however I felt doubt creeping all over me and was wondering if it could actually mean "he was driven/prompted/infatuated or even obsessed with that idea". Would you please be so kind to tell us which (if any of the two) is correct? Your prompt reply will be highly appreciated by a perfectionist boy and his father-who-won't-let-him-down.

Of course I have no idea which time zone you are in, but since I could not submit a new post for this subject I saw you as my only possible source for help.

Thank you very, very much for your help.

Kindest regards

[Alan]

Hi Marc1953,

The expression taken with suggests liking something because it appeals to you after a little thought. Imagine a situation where someone suggests that you start playing golf as a means of recreation. You listen to the suggestion, think about it and then say: I'm (quite) taken with the idea and I'll give it further thought. I suppose the nearest verb that comes to my mind is intrigued (by/with).

Hope this throws a little light on the meaning.

Alan
_________________
English as a Second Language
You can read my ESL story Well, Hello!

[marc1953]

Hi Alan,

Thank you very much for your explanation. Although it came a little late since my son had to submit his paper at noon that day, it was a great relief reading that his interpretation was very close to what you are suggesting.

He did not yet get his results from the teacher but he reckons it will be very good as this issue was the only doubt he had.

All the very best!