Meaning of "carry on"

[Lola]

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #127 "Idioms with the phrasal verb carry", question 6

Items such as pointed scissors and ice skates are examples of articles that are not permitted in your ......... baggage when boarding an aircraft.

(a) carry off
(b) carry on
(c) carry on with
(d) carry away

English Language Proficiency Tests, Advanced Level

ESL/EFL Test #127 "Idioms with the phrasal verb carry", answer 6

Items such as pointed scissors and ice skates are examples of articles that are not permitted in your carry on baggage when boarding an aircraft.

Correct answer: (b) carry on
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what does carry on mean?

Lola

[Conchita]

To carry on means to continue/to go on: they carried on a correspondence for thirty years. He carried on talking even though everyone had told him to keep quiet.

You can also say Carry on! meaning don't stop!

In informal English, it has the sense of being very angry: when she discovered he was already married she started to carry on dreadfully.

[Linda]

Hello,
Just to add to Conchita's comments, when it comes to the test, "carry on baggage" is very literal here and it means anything that you can 'carry on' to the aircraft with you - unchecked baggage.
In most cases, airlines and buses (for example) will let a person 'carry on' one piece of small baggage. With women it could be a large purse - in other cases, it might be a small bag or knapsack.
I hope that helps.
Linda
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[Conchita]

Linda, it’s fortunate that you sent your explanation, which was absolutely necessary.

The strangest thing is that I’m reading the test sentence now for the first time :shock: ! Whatever happened, I wonder? My answer was to the question: “What does carry on mean?”, without any context!!