Opposite of "See Sb off" and "see Sb out"

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Mehrgan

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Apr 18, 2009
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Persian
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Iran
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Iran
Hi all,

Could you please tell me the opposite of these phrases? (If I'm not mistaken, "see Sb off" is when we go to a station, airport to say goodbye to those who're leaving. Now, what's used when we go there to say "hello"?!) ("see Sb out" is sort of the same as "Show Sb to the door", isn't it?)

Thanks in advance.
 
You go to meet somebody at the airport or to pick them up from the airport.

'Show somebody out' is the same as 'show somebody to the door'.

Rover
 
You go to meet somebody at the airport or to pick them up from the airport.

'Show somebody out' is the same as 'show somebody to the door'.

Rover


Many thanks. I was thinking for myself (quite wrongly, of course) that there might be a phrasal verb or idiom in English (opposite of "see Sb off", say, "see Sb on"!!!!!!!!) meaning the same as you've mentioned. Thank you again dear Rover_KE
 
Many thanks. I was thinking for myself (quite wrongly, of course) that there might be a phrasal verb or idiom in English (opposite of "see Sb off", say, "see Sb on"!!!!!!!!) meaning the same as you've mentioned. Thank you again dear Rover_KE

Well, at least "to pick up" is a phrasal verb!
 
Well, at least "to pick up" is a phrasal verb!


Hi, and thanks for the note. I was just wondering about the differences among languages when I was writing that post. In Persian, the idea of "seeing Sb off/out" is considered as Sth done to show respect for the people who're leaving (and no doubt this is the same in any other culture). However, when we go to a station or airport to meet a person from another city/country we use a term which is again associated with the idea of showing respect to that person rather than merely giving them a lift. I think my understanding of English language is not complete at all, cos I think the phrasal verb hasn't got the connotation I was looking for. (due to my lack of command of English culture) I think "pick Sb up" is more of using our 'car' to give them a lift than expressing the idea that we're going to the airport in order to both give them a lift and show them (sincerely of course!) how we've been missing them (or show them how we respect them).

Sorry if my explanation is not related to your comments. Thanks again.
 
And what if we go to an airport cos a famous person is arriving? Or, when a national team is coming back home after doing well in a tournament? Thanks.
 
And what if we go to an airport cos a famous person is arriving? Or, when a national team is coming back home after doing well in a tournament? Thanks.

I don't think we have a specific verb for this. On the news, you might hear something like "Hundreds of fans are waiting at the airport to welcome the football team back after their fantastic win at the World Cup" or something like that.

With royalty or important politicians, the group of officials who await their arrival at an airport is called a "welcome party" or "welcome committee" but there's no verb that goes with it (other than "to welcome").

If you send a car and driver to the airport to pick up an important business client, that's sometimes known as "meet and greet".
 
You can also say to "receive" a party or person. This is from French, but is used.
 
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