[Vocabulary] Hookah is alive/dead

Status
Not open for further replies.

0935

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Persian
Home Country
Iran
Current Location
Iran
Hi. Is it OK useAlive/dead to say Hookah is alive or dead meaning:

* (I’m/not) getting enough smoke.

* (not) getting thick smoke.

* (It) makes thick smoke.

* (It)doesn't make thick smoke.
* Hookah is/isn't not producing enough smoke.

How about Pipes or
cigarettes?

How does this sentence sound to you?


Note: In order for a hookah to reach its highest point and produce thick smoke, one should inhale the smoke through the hose several times. If one does not inhale for a minute tobacco will not get enough heat and does not produce thick smoke again.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
I don't understand the question... but I know you need a 'The' (or some other determiner) before 'hookah'.

b
 

0935

Member
Joined
Oct 4, 2014
Member Type
Student or Learner
Native Language
Persian
Home Country
Iran
Current Location
Iran
I don't understand the question... but I know you need a 'The' (or some other determiner) before 'hookah'.

b
I mean, keeping a pipe lit or letting it goes out while smoking.
or should I use "lit" for "alive" and "out" for "dead."
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
You can use 'dead', but not 'alive'. People use 'gone out' more than 'dead' though; even 'gone dead'. The opposite is 'going': 'In the wind and rain, it was hard to light his pipe. And when he did get it going it kept going out.'

b
 

Tdol

No Longer With Us (RIP)
Staff member
Joined
Nov 13, 2002
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
Japan
It seems OK with shisha, but cigarettes don't tend to burn out, so it doesn't sound very natural to me there.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
:up: (That's why I used a pipe in my example. But never having smoked one, I don't if even that works (as an example).

b
 
Joined
Oct 11, 2014
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
American English
Home Country
United States
Current Location
United States
Having absolutely no personal experience with smoking a hookah or communal pipe or a bong or any of those Reefer Madness-type gadgets, I can only report hearsay. And from what I've heard, it's common to state that the hookah/communal pipe "is dead" when no smoke is forthcoming and it needs to be re-ignited. "Hand me your lighter, this is dead." However, "alive" is not commonly used as the opposite; instead the hookah/pipe will be described as "lit", as in "Be careful, it's still lit."

Cigarettes are rarely discussed in the same way, as they aren't usually shared or passed around. But usually one wouldn't use "dead" when describing a cigarette that is no longer burning; one would say that it had "gone out." "Oh, darn, my cigarette went out. Do you have a match?"
 

emsr2d2

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 28, 2009
Member Type
English Teacher
Native Language
British English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
The hookah's gone out.
 

BobK

Moderator
Staff member
Joined
Jul 29, 2006
Location
Spencers Wood, near Reading, UK
Member Type
Retired English Teacher
Native Language
English
Home Country
UK
Current Location
UK
:up: 'Gone out' is a good all-purpose expression for all kinds of things that stop doing something that depends on a flame - a fire, a candle, a pilot light, a pipe...

b
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top