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Meaning of "a slow boat to China"



 
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Meaning of "a slow boat to China" #1 (permalink) Fri May 26, 2006 2:43 am   Meaning of "a slow boat to China"		  
What does "a slow boat to China" mean?

Benny
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Meaning of "a slow boat to China" #2 (permalink) Fri May 26, 2006 3:36 am   Meaning of "a slow boat to China"		  
It means some form of transportation that is so slow that it almost never gets to its destination.

An employee at a company might complain that a client has put a shipment on a slow boat to China. It means he's been waiting much too long to receive the package.

There was also a song with that phrase in the 1940s. Here is part of it:

Quote:
I'd like to get you,
On a slow boat to China,
All to myself, alone.
A twist in the rudder,
And a rip in the sail.
Drifting and dreaming,
Throw the compass over the rail!

Out on the ocean,
Far from all the commotion,
Melting your heart of stone.

I'd like to get you,
On a slow boat to China,
All to myself alone.
Jamie (K)
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Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5332
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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Meaning of "a slow boat to China" #3 (permalink) Fri May 26, 2006 10:11 am   Meaning of "a slow boat to China"		  
.
Do you reckon that song is the source of the idiom, Jamie?
.
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How often do you use 'reckon'? #4 (permalink) Fri May 26, 2006 10:22 am   How often do you use 'reckon'?		  
Charles, how often do you use the word reckon? I thought it was more popular in Europe than in America?
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Meaning of "a slow boat to China" #5 (permalink) Fri May 26, 2006 10:43 am   Meaning of "a slow boat to China"		  
.
Quote:
Charles, how often do you use the word reckon?

Who's 'Charles', anyway?

I use it-- oh, I reckon 17 - 39 times a year.
.
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Meaning of "a slow boat to China" #6 (permalink) Fri May 26, 2006 11:06 am   Meaning of "a slow boat to China"		  
Mister Micawber wrote:
Do you reckon that song is the source of the idiom, Jamie?

It could be, or else the expression got very current and someone included it in a song. We need a historical lexicographer to untangle that one.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5332
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
How often do you use 'reckon'? #7 (permalink) Fri May 26, 2006 11:10 am   How often do you use 'reckon'?		  
Torsten wrote:
Charles, how often do you use the word reckon? I thought it was more popular in Europe than in America?

Reckon is one of those perfectly good words that sound old-fashioned and informal to the point of sounding almost hillbilly to most North Americans, but we do say it in informal situations. I think it's used more in the south than in the north. Anyway, I think it's great that he used it. It sounded fine.

We also say reckon in mathematical terms, such as when we reckon the cost of something. In that usage it doesn't sound informal.
Jamie (K)
I'm a Communicator ;-)


Joined: 24 Feb 2006
Posts: 5332
Location: Detroit, Michigan, USA
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