Idioms: A taste of his own medicine etc. & comma after h

[bmo]

Please help.

1. "Give someone a taste of his own medicine" and "one gets a taste of his own medicine." Are these two exactly identical in meaning? Or does the first one imply teaching someone a lesson whereas the latter don't? (And is this sentence by itself grammatically correct?)

2. What goes around comes around. This is similar to "one gets a taste of his own medicine," but it has nothing to do with "teaching." Am I right?

3. I am still puzzled by the comma after "hey." Do you say, "Hey Mike, going to a movie with us?" or "Hey, Mike, going to a movie with us?" I got different advices from some native speaking coworkers here.

Thanks a million.

BMO

[RonBee]

1. Giving a person a taste of his own medicine means doing to that person what he has been doing to other people. Getting a taste of your own medicine is the same thing except that it means having it done to you instead of doing it to somebody else. It could be seen as giving somebody a lesson, but whether that person learns the lesson or not is another question altogether.

2. You are right.

3. "Hey!" is an exclamation, and when it is used by itself it gets an exclamation mark (bang). When it leads a sentence you put a comma after it. That is because it is an exclamation.

:)

[bmo]

Originally Posted by RonBee

1. Giving a person a taste of his own medicine means doing to that person what he has been doing to other people. Getting a taste of your own medicine is the same thing except that it means having it done to you instead of doing it to somebody else. It could be seen as giving somebody a lesson, but whether that person learns the lesson or not is another question altogether.

2. You are right.

3. "Hey!" is an exclamation, and when it is used by itself it gets an exclamation mark (bang). When it leads a sentence you put a comma after it. That is because it is an exclamation.

:)

Thanks, RonBee, let me see if I understood correctly.

1. 'Giving him a taste of his own medicine' is a subject doing it to an object-a different person, as in "He stole John's wallet, so I stole his, giving him a taste of his own medicine." This could include a teaching lesson, but NOT necessarily.

2. "Getting a taste of his own medicine" is different. The subject and the object are the same person. I stole John's wallet and I did not feel anything bad about it, but I got a taste of my own medicine the other day when my own wallet was stolen; it is awful. Here, no one is giving me any lesson although I could learn a lesson myself.

Please advise and thanks again.

BMO
2. 'Getting himself a taste of his own medicine' is different.

[bmo]

Originally Posted by bmo

Hi,

I think I got it. There is no difference, whether you use "giving someone a taste of his own medicine" or "getting a taste of his own medicine." I tried to see if there is any difference between "giving" and "getting" but there is none.

For example, "The boss let John get a taste of his own medicine" and "The boss gave John a taste of his own medicine" are identical. Right?

Thanks. BMO

Thanks, RonBee, let me see if I understood correctly.

1. 'Giving him a taste of his own medicine' is a subject doing it to an object-a different person, as in "He stole John's wallet, so I stole his, giving him a taste of his own medicine." This could include a teaching lesson, but NOT necessarily.

2. "Getting a taste of his own medicine" is different. The subject and the object are the same person. I stole John's wallet and I did not feel anything bad about it, but I got a taste of my own medicine the other day when my own wallet was stolen; it is awful. Here, no one is giving me any lesson although I could learn a lesson myself.

Please advise and thanks again.

BMO
2. 'Getting himself a taste of his own medicine' is different.

[RonBee]

Originally Posted by bmo

While it isn't necessarily the case, the two phrases could be descriptions of the same event, just different points of view. For example, in the first instance John is giving Bill a taste of his own medicine, and in the second instance Bill is getting a taste of his own medicine, thanks to John. Of course, it is possible that Bill could "get a taste of his own medicine" and the person doing the "giving" is unknown to us. Of course, if Bill does learn a lesson from the experience it is not a classroom type of lesson but a life lesson. (Whether Bill will learn a lesson from the experience or whether he will learn the lesson we might want him to learn is at best uncertain.)

Does that help?

:)

[bmo]

Originally Posted by RonBee

While it isn't necessarily the case, the two phrases could be descriptions of the same event, just different points of view. For example, in the first instance John is giving Bill a taste of his own medicine, and in the second instance Bill is getting a taste of his own medicine, thanks to John. Of course, it is possible that Bill could "get a taste of his own medicine" and the person doing the "giving" is unknown to us. Of course, if Bill does learn a lesson from the experience it is not a classroom type of lesson but a life lesson. (Whether Bill will learn a lesson from the experience or whether he will learn the lesson we might want him to learn is at best uncertain.)

Does that help?

:)

It does. Thanks.

BMo