Difference between drove over to the casino and drove to the casino!

[Amy Sheez]

Yesterday i was reading a story and i came across a sentence saying that" john drove over to the casino" i started thinking that what difference the use of "over" has made in this sentence? And would ,saying"he drove to the casino" be of same meaning as the first sentence? so i need to know why we use it! another example would be "he walked over to the table" why cant it simply be "he walked to the table"?

Also we sometimes say that "she helped me OUT" now here my question is the same,that when we can say "she helped me " why we had to use "out" with help? or what difference has it made?

Kindly help me Out =)

[Luschen]

Hi, I'm not a teacher, but as a native speaker, I think the sentences have the same meaning with or without the "over" and with or without the "out". I think with "over" and "out" the sentences sound a little more informal and conversational. Also, "please help me" sounds a bit more dire or desperate than "help me out", or the even less desperate "help me out here". You could also day "drove down to the casino" or "drove up to the casino", but those might be affected by local geography or the common terms to describe parts of the city.

[Amy Sheez]

Hey Luschen thank you very much for replying i appreciate it,that has almost cleared it, specially the part where you mentioned that sometimes use of "down and up" is used according to the geography,since you are a native speaker i would like to ask you that how much "slang do i need to learn or get aware of, because every time when i consult any good website for it,i come across allot of slang sentences which kind of creates a confusion for me since i find it difficult to learn all of them, i mostly consult "urban dictionary for it. so here if i sum it up my question would be how much slang does an average American speak or know of? do you know all the slangs mentioned on urban dictionary?

[Luschen]

Hi Amy. Personally, I don't think that slang is that critical. I think that understanding it would be more important than using it, but if someone uses an unfamiliar term, you could always ask them what they mean or look it up. I think English learners can get into more trouble by using slang terms incorrectly than by never using slang at all. Of course not all Americans know all the slang terms - different terms are used by different groups in society and they are constantly changing. There are a few very common terms used by almost everyone, like "cool", but you probably already know a lot of those. I like looking at "urban dictionary" too and I have used it myself to try to figure out a new slang term (usually one my kids are using). I don't think anyone knows ALL of the terms on that site and some of the terms aren't really used by anyone in everyday speech. In your above case, if you had said simply "John drove to the casino" or "please help me" it would be 100% fine. (Is 100% a slang term?) By the way, I came across a slang term new to me that I couldn't find in the urban dictionary so I may have to add an entry. It's "so editorial". As in, "You look so stylish in that photograph, so editorial!" It means the picture could be in a magazine like Vogue. Any chance you have heard of this?

[Torsten]

Hi Amy,

Just two things: Please remember that the personal pronoun 'I' is always capitalized. As for the noun 'slang', it is uncountable so the plural form 'slangs' does not exist.

Also, please make sure you distinguish between 'a lot' and 'allot'.

TOEIC listening, photographs: A protest march

[Amy Sheez]

Again,thanks for replying me, I guess I should first concentrate on learning those slang terms which i come across during a conversation or while listening to any, that way i will be able to know the usage of those,instead of just consulting a dictionary and trying to learn the terms !

You mentioned the slang term "cool" in your MSG yes this is one term i use all the time and though i use the term "100 %" quite often but i am not sure if it is a slang ,but i can make a guess ,I think it is!

"So editorial" is the term which i have come to know from you, and this is what i just used while commenting on a friends photograph on Face Book, so i feel good ,as i have learnt something new today ,thank you very much for that!

I came across another slang term today ie " what is your 20? " meaning what is your position or location or place . eg Hey John ! I am going to a party,thinking of taking you along,what is your 20? Ever used this???

[Amy Sheez]

Thank you for correcting me, I think it is majorly because of my typing speed ,while typing I don't really concentrate on capitalizing letters, but I will be careful next time!

As far as allot and a lot is concerned ,again it was a typing error,apologies for that! I would really appreciate it if you also enlighten me regarding my very first question on this forum which is as follows :

I was reading a story and I came across a sentence saying that" john drove over to the casino" I started thinking that what difference the use of "over" has made in this sentence? And would ,saying"he drove to the casino" be of same meaning as the first sentence? so I need to know why we use it! another example would be "he walked over to the table" why cant it simply be "he walked to the table"?

Also we sometimes say that "she helped me OUT" now here my question is the same,that when we can say "she helped me " why we had to use "out" with help? or what difference has it made?

Luschen has been really kind to answer it,still i would like to know your opinion about it, since you are a learning Coach!

I would be grateful!

[Luschen]

[Amy Sheez]

Oh that is something really new to me,thanks for sharing this link , it is quite interesting! Today my friend was asking me that when we say "what the hell are you talking about ? " what does "hell" stand for in this sentence? or what the sentence really means? Though i know it shows your anger when you say it.But since you are a native speaker you will be able to explain it well!

[Luschen]

To me it means "what you are saying does not make sense" or "I completely disagree with what you are saying". It does not necessarily show anger, it depends on the context. The "hell" stands for an oath, where you swear on heaven or swear on hell instead of swearing on the name of God. I think the original version might have been "what in heaven's name are you talking about" - this is still said in polite company. Another semi-polite version would be "what the heck are you talking about" and there are more rude versions as well.

[Amy Sheez]

Oh now i understand it well, thanks again! Yesterday i was trying to translate one sentence in to English but i didn't find it appropriate after translating or i should rather say, i was not satisfied with my translation, help me out with it, i made a sentence which was "the girl put the coat on her mother" now what i meant was that the girl helped her mother wear the coat,ie it was actually the girl making her mum wear it, hope you get my point here!

I have another example, but as i am unable to translate it into English i will explain the situation here, suppose a husband brings a beautiful necklace for his wife as a gift, he asks her to close her eyes he definitely wants her to wear it, but since he has asked her to close her eyes this means that he wants to "put the necklace on her neck" so how would you say it in a simple and short way? I hope you got my point!

[Luschen]

Your translations sound pretty good to me. I guess I would say:

"The girl put her own coat on her mother."

and

"Asking her to close her eyes, the husband placed the beautiful necklace around his wife's neck."

[Amy Sheez]

Oh that's a relief to know that my translations were good! I wanted to ask you a question that you are a native speaker, but what made you join this website ? Though ,your being a member of this site is quite beneficial for me ! =) ( I hope my last sentence is correct)

[Luschen]

About two years ago I found this site when looking for an answer to the question "is it ok to start a setence with so?" I had heard a radio program on the topic and wanted to find more information. I found this forum and saw that only a few people were making suggestions for the TOEFL essays. I started doing so myself and have been here off and on every since. There are a lot of interesting people and the "vibe" is very friendly and open - well, mostly ;).

[Amy Sheez]

Kindly check your inbox I have sent you a private message!