
Student or Learner
What is meaning for I can't stand it?
How I should use that ?
Can I say the following:
1. I can't stand John?
2. My wife can't stand the way Linda behaves?
Please let me know?
In the US, we use it as ems has described.
I can't stand her = I detest/hate/abhor/greatly dislike her.
I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.
I think what emsdr2 disagreed with was your use of 'accept John' as meaning 'accept John's behaviour'.
If someone said to me 'I don't accept you' I would wonder what they meant (but I might entertain the possibility that they were using 'accept' in a recently trendy [and very informal] meaning 'accept the behaviour of' - a short form typical of Californian pop-psychologists.A person can't be (in the words of that dictionary) 'difficult', except in a metaphorical way 'John can be very difficult at times'; the metaphor isn't obvious at first glance, but John isn't difficult - he just does things that are difficult to handle (and this secondary meaning has no doubt found its way into many dictionaries).
b
Last edited by BobK; 27-Jul-2010 at 16:38. Reason: Added last sentence
To me:
I can't stand going to jail = I don't like going to jail (and it suggests that you have, at some point, been to jail and you didn't like it!)
I won't stand for going to jail = I refuse to accept the possibility of going to jail.
I can't stand John = I hate John.
I won't stand for John's behaviour = I won't accept his behaving like that / I won't allow him to behave like that.
And again, my usage is exactly the same.
"I won't stand for" is not the same as "I can't stand."
I'm not a teacher, but I write for a living. Please don't ask me about 2nd conditionals, but I'm a safe bet for what reads well in (American) English.
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