[Idiom] What is 'Keys to my home'

Status
Not open for further replies.

panpaen

New member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Thai
Home Country
Thailand
Current Location
Thailand
I'd seen song lyrics and I have some question 'What is keys to my home'? I think it is connotation.
 

charliedeut

VIP Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Spanish
Home Country
Spain
Current Location
Spain
Whatever it is, we are not likely to guess unless you provide some context. A singer and a title would help a lot.

PS: Welcome to the Forum :hi:, panpaen!
 

panpaen

New member
Joined
Oct 23, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Thai
Home Country
Thailand
Current Location
Thailand
Whatever it is, we are not likely to guess unless you provide some context. A singer and a title would help a lot.

PS: Welcome to the Forum :hi:, panpaen!

"When you’re my girlI’ll give you the world
Buy you the finer things
Like diamonds and pearls
Keys to my home
I’ll give you my all"

Thanks for your welcome :)
 

sussete.garcia

New member
Joined
Nov 14, 2013
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Tagalog
Home Country
Philippines
Current Location
Qatar
Hi! I believe it simply means he is wanting to be the girl to be his wife. A guy giving the keys to his home is like saying "you got the full access of my life"
 

probus

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
Hi Sussete, and welcome to the forum.

When you give someone the keys to your home, you are inviting that person to live with you, beyond a doubt. It might be a permanent living arrangement, or it might be that the recipient of the keys is free to come and go whenever she pleases. But there is no reason to suppose that marriage is implied. Sorry Sussete. ;-)
 

charliedeut

VIP Member
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Member Type
Interested in Language
Native Language
Spanish
Home Country
Spain
Current Location
Spain
But there is no reason to suppose that marriage is implied. ;-)

Not in the keys part, but marriage is indeed mentioned in "buy you the finger things". To me, that means first the engagement, then the wedding ring.
 

Barb_D

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Mar 12, 2007
Member Type
Other
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Finer things, not finger things.
 

probus

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jan 7, 2011
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
Canada
Current Location
Canada
Not in the keys part, but marriage is indeed mentioned in "buy you the finger things". To me, that means first the engagement, then the wedding ring.

In Mexican Spanish no distinction is drawn between girlfriend and fiancee. The word novia serves for both. I think that implies something cultural: in Mexican culture any relationship between young people of opposite sexes is presumed to be somehow related to potential marriage. No such cultural presumption exists in contemporary AmE. We can even contemplate "friends with benefits", q.v.

Urban Dictionary: friends with benefits
 
Last edited:

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
In Mexican Spanish no distinction is drawn between girlfriend and fiancee. The word novia serves for both. I think that implies something cultural: in Mexican culture any relationship between young people of opposite sexes is presumed to be somehow related to potential marriage. No such cultural presumption exists in contemporary AmE. We can even contemplate "friends with benefits", q.v.

Urban Dictionary: friends with benefits

When I lived in Madrid, I only ever heard "novia" to mean girlfriend or fiancée. GoogleTranslate (yes, I know it's not infallible) gives a couple of extra bits of info though. It gives "prometida/dicha" as alternative words for fiancée and also says that "novia/desposada" mean "bride".
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top