littlerene24
Member
- Joined
- Dec 2, 2012
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
- Native Language
- French
- Home Country
- France
- Current Location
- France
What does 'at a short notice' mean?
Once I found it helpful to examine an idiom more closely to tie its meaning up with any grammar issues. The word notice is uncoutable here and implies rather time before the speaker is going to do sth than a real note or message. But how come you, a native speaker of English, have difficulty in using a/the?! I was taught to believe native speakers have a feel for artices.I always have a problem with a/the... Saw the variant when "a" was used for this idiom, but i can see now it was wrong.
It means asking for something right before you need it.
In other words, if you need it quickly and you just decide to call someone and let them know about it.
You can use this in business settings. For example, your boss can say:
hey, thank you for finishing the project on such a short notice.
Quickly, with little time to prepare.
not a teacher
An example:
Romance at short notice was her specialty.
She was good at making up stories off the cuff.
Your example does not suggest to me the meaning you give it.
My first thought is that it's a way of saying that she makes herself available for romantic liaisons of some sort without requiring much in the way of preliminaries.
and according to one review Michael Douglas is accused at one point of trying to "romance" the stone away from Kathleen Turner.
Maui, the answer to your question is "if we hadn't had."
I totally agree now, luckily I never used it in a conversation with someone of the opposite sex.I share the opinion that "romancing at short notice" is a euphemism for "has sex with people quickly" or that she engages in one-night stands.