Skive off/miss lessons

[Verona_82]

Hello!

I'm wondering if I can use 'miss' with the meaning "skive off" in the sentence below:

We adored our history teacher and never missed his lessons.

Can I use "skip" and "play truant from" too?

We adored our history teacher and never skipped his lessons.
We adored our history teacher and never played truant from his lessons.

Thank you in advance!

 

[bhaisahab]

Hello!

I'm wondering if I can use 'miss' with the meaning "skive off" in the sentence below:

We adored our history teacher and never missed his lessons.

Can I use "skip" and "play truant from" too?

We adored our history teacher and never skipped his lessons.
We adored our history teacher and never played truant from his lessons.

Thank you in advance!

I wouldn't use "miss" instead of "skive off" or "play truant", it doesn't carry the same degree of intention. "Play truant" is a bit old fashioned as an expression by the way.

 

[5jj]

I agree with bhaisa that 'play truant' is old-fashioned; it's rather formal, too - more likely to be used by teachers and parents than by pupils. I also feel that it is used more for missing whole sessions than just individual lessons. 'Skip' is fine.

When I last taught in an English secondary school (in 1998), 'bunk off' was commonly used by pupils; this has probably been replaced by another expression by now.

 

[Tdol]

You can also cut classes.

 

[MiaCulpa]

:-D "Skive off." I never would have guessed it had such an innocent meaning. I can go to sleep now; I've learned a new phrasal verb! However, I'm not going to be able to use it in public--I'm fairly certain that other Americans would also assume the worst.

 

[Verona_82]

I've cheched my dictionary.... and found no other meaning except the one connected with the idea of avoiding something. Do you mind telling us the other, not innocent one?

 

[MiaCulpa]

I've cheched my dictionary.... and found no other meaning except the one connected with the idea of avoiding something. Do you mind telling us the other, not innocent one?

Humor is such a subjective construct. There is not a non-innocent meaning of this particular phrasal verb (that I know of), but the form of it is reminiscent of two offensive American-slang phrasal verbs (which I might use in my fiction writing, but which I cannot bring myself to write when speaking as myself just now). Try it, if you would, in Russian. Think of a common and offensive/obscene short phrase that someone might shout at someone else when angry. Now substitute a strange nonsense word for the most obscene word in the phrase. Finally, imagine someone shouting this at a stranger on the street. Are you smiling at the absurdity? I am. ;-)