The Future
Today’s example is an advertisement from 1993, about how things will be in the future. In case you have any difficulty with the language, I’ve selected a few phrases I think might be new, and I’ve explained them below. You can watch the ad two or three or seventeen times.
When you’re finished, think about this: does it surprise you how close AT&T’s ‘guess’ came to the truth? What changes do you think we’ll have in fifteen years? What technologies do you think will be invented. . . or even just more common?
Borrow a book: You probably know that at Amazon.com you can buy a book. When you buy a book, the book is yours forever. What if you don’t need it forever? What if you only need it for a day, or a week? Then you can go to a library, take the book, use it for a week, and then give it back. You borrow the book. ‘Borrow‘ is a verb that means to take something, but only temporarily, and give it back when you’re done. It’s important to remember that the library doesn’t borrow the book to you. They lend it to you. ‘Lend’ is the ‘other half’ of borrowing.
Stop for directions: North, South, East and West are all directions. But you wouldn’t stop your car to ask someone where north is, would you? ‘Directions,’ in the plural, usually means a list of turns to make to get where you want to go: “Go to the next traffic light, turn right, and drive for three kilometers. The English school will be on your left.” Is an example of ‘directions’ to an English school. To stop for directions is to stop your car and ask someone how to get to your destination. Another phrase is ‘ask for directions.’ Either way, women say that men never do this, and I say the women are wrong.
Pay a toll: Most roads—in the U.S., anyway—are free to use. But you have to pay to drive onto some of the roads. These are called ‘toll roads.’ Normally, they make you stop to pay a price or take a ticket, and then you can drive on. The price you pay is called the ‘toll.’ To pay a toll is to give the road’s ‘owner’ (often, it’s the government) the ‘toll.’
Tuck a baby in: When I was a child, my parents would send me to bed. The idea is simple: they’d say “Toby, it’s bedtime, go to bed.” And, I would do what they told me to. (Sometimes I fought a little first, of course.) Normally, before I went to sleep, my mother would come in to read me a story, sing a song, or just talk a few minutes before I got my good-night kiss. This extra time she spent with me is called ‘tucking in.’ To tuck a baby in just means to spend some time with it before it falls asleep.
