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 #2 (permalink) Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:01 pm Explain |
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Hi,
I'd bite his hand off means I would accept his offer without hesitation.
Alan
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| #3 (permalink) Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:11 pm Bite off |
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| Alan wrote: | | I'd bite his hand off means I would accept his offer without hesitation. |
Using bit off with different part of the body :) is quite interesting...
I know also:
bite off (smb.'s) head
bite (…) nose off
and
bite off (…) tongue
And they have quite different meanings! :)
P.S. Excuse my note, but the name of the topic is a bit misleading.
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| #4 (permalink) Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:25 pm Bite someone's hand off |
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Hi
Bite someone's hand off is an idiom that's completely new to me. I don't think I've ever heard it before.
So, if you travel to the US, I'd recommend not using it there. If Americans understand anything of the phrase at all, they'd probably be most likely to think you've simply screwed up the idiom "bite the hand that feeds you."
Tamara, what do you understand "bite someone's nose off" to mean?
Amy
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| #5 (permalink) Sat Aug 26, 2006 12:39 pm Bite someone's hand off |
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Hi Amy,
= 'show teeth' :) :D
...use harsh words in response, answer back
or just interrupt roughly, with a 'dog's snap'
Is it 'not right' use? :)
| Quote: | Bite someone's hand off
Bite the hand that feeds you. |
By the way, in Russian we use both.
The first has a positive meaning (= something you are offered is so attractive to you that you are ready to 'eat' it immediately and right together with the 'hand' of the person who made the offer :)
The second one obviously has a negative meaning – ingratitude.
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| #6 (permalink) Sat Aug 26, 2006 13:56 pm Idiom: "to be one's hand off" |
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Hi,
First item in Lord Google! Warms the cockles of your heart,doesn't it?
| Quote: | Bite his hand off? / English Teacher Explanations (ESL Tests)English Teacher Explanations (ESL Tests) / Bite his hand off? -- Learn English Online at www.english-test.net / ESL Forum.
Bite his hand off?
www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic650.html
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Alan
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| #7 (permalink) Sat Aug 26, 2006 15:06 pm Idiom: "to be one's hand off" |
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Oops…
I’ve read other choices of the test just now.
| Tamara wrote: | | I know also: |
:lol: :lol:
Alan, what I want to add is that the idiom I know - to be more precise - is "…with his hand"
To bite off or to seize (smth.) with his hands
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| #8 (permalink) Sun Aug 27, 2006 13:25 pm Idiom: "to be one's hand off" |
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| Alan wrote: | Hi,
First item in Lord Google! Warms the cockles of your heart,doesn't it?
| Quote: | Bite his hand off? / English Teacher Explanations (ESL Tests)English Teacher Explanations (ESL Tests) / Bite his hand off? -- Learn English Online at www.english-test.net / ESL Forum.
Bite his hand off?
www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic650.html
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Alan
Did you also happen to notice that "Lord Google" confirms the fact that this idiom falls into the category of "chiefly British"?
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I really don't understand your allergic reaction to mentioning things like this. I'm sure there are also a number of expressions used in the US that are unknown and/or not used in the UK. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just the way it is.
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EDIT:
In order to propagate this expression as accurately as possible, I think the title of the thread ought to be corrected.
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| #9 (permalink) Sun Aug 27, 2006 13:48 pm Bite his hand off |
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Hi Amy,
| Quote: | Did you also happen to notice that "Lord Google" confirms the fact that this idiom falls into the category of "chiefly British"?
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I really don't understand your allergic reaction to mentioning things like this. I'm sure there are also a number of expressions used in the US that are unknown and/or not used in the UK. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just the way it is.
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Allergic? I don't have any allergy in that respect at all. I'm afraid you've lost me. My sole purpose in quoting from Google was for a laugh. Clearly my little ruse failed.
Alan
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| Meaning of soccer | Meaning of 'to be there for' |
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