Leave the floor? Drive a stick?

[tara]

Hi

I have two questions.

1. When a basket player says " I never left the floor during a game.",
does he mean he just concentrated training for a game?
I'm not sure what "leave the floor" means.

2. A girl is about to give a present to a boy.
He says "Hand me the keys. I'll figure out how to drive a stick eventually."
Does "stick" here mean "bar" or "cue stick"?
I know he's joking, but I wonder why he says "drive a stick" anyway.

Thank you,
Tara

[Anglika]

Possible answers (I'm not a basket ball player)

1: a basketball player's foot/feet must not leave the ground when he/she has the ball in his/her hands ready to pass

2: Drive a manual stick-shift car, not an automatic geared one

[BobK]

Hi

I have two questions.

1. When a basket player says " I never left the floor during a game.",
does he mean he just concentrated training for a game?
I'm not sure what "leave the floor" means.

It's 40 years since I played competitive basketball (basket is a faux ami Tara), but I think he was saying that he was always one of the five players on court - maybe he was complaining about the effort, or maybe he was proud of committing so few personal fouls - the context would explain.

2. A girl is about to give a present to a boy.
He says "Hand me the keys. I'll figure out how to drive a stick eventually."
Does "stick" here mean "bar" or "cue stick"?
I know he's joking, but I wonder why he says "drive a stick" anyway.

Thank you,
Tara

Again, the context isn't clear. But I suspect he's making two jokes:

1 The present is a car ['Hand me the keys']
2 The difference between driving an automatic and a car with a gear-shift is trivial.

I've never met the expression 'drive a stick', but that's my guess.

b

[tara]

Possible answers (I'm not a basket ball player)

1: a basketball player's foot/feet must not leave the ground when he/she has the ball in his/her hands ready to pass

2: Drive a manual stick-shift car, not an automatic geared one

Hello Anglika,

I'm sorry for making you think because I didn't explain the situation.
And thank you very much for your kind explanation.

The holiday season is coming. I hope yours is a good one.

Thank you,
Tara

[tara]

Hello Bobk,

Thank you very much for your kind and detailed explanation.
I'm sorry I didn't tell you the situation.
I'll be more specific when I ask a question.


>(basket is a faux ami Tara)

Oh, I didn't know that...
I should be careful when I talk about basketball.
Thank you for pointing it out.


>but I think he was saying that he was always one of the five players on court - maybe he was complaining about the effort, or maybe he was proud of committing so few personal fouls - the context would explain.

I think the former makes sense.


>Again, the context isn't clear. But I suspect he's making two jokes:

1 The present is a car ['Hand me the keys']
2 The difference between driving an automatic and a car with a gear-shift is trivial.

Yes, these make sense to me, too.

Thank you again for your lucid explanation.
I hope you'll have a nice holiday.

Tara

[BobK]

...
Thank you again for your lucid explanation.
I hope you'll have a nice holiday.

Tara

It was a pleasure Tara - I hope you do too

[Ouisch]

2 The difference between driving an automatic and a car with a gear-shift is trivial.
I've never met the expression 'drive a stick', but that's my guess.
b

The difference between driving the two is anything but trivial. I've been driving for <mumble mumble> years, and I still can't drive a stick. ("Drive a stick" is a common AmE phrase, and it means to be able to drive a car with a manual transmission.) There have been instances where car thieves have been caught because they'd accidentally jacked a car with a manual trans and didn't know how to drive it. My husband has tried to teach me a time or two, but he quit before I hurt anyone. :)

[BobK]

The difference between driving the two is anything but trivial.

I know - my brother-in-law (English, but who has lived in the US for about 20 years) bought a manual recently partly because he prefers it but partly because it would ensure that his children couldn't borrow it.

b