Out with the old and in with the new.

[angliholic]

New Year's is a time for celebration andpositive feelings about the future. As the saying goes, "Out with the old and in with the new."


Does the bolded saying refer to "Clean out (old stuff) with the old year and get in (new things/ideas) with the new year?" If not, how would you interpret it? Thanks.

 

[baqarah131]

No, it doesn't refer to belongings, material things.
It's very general. In with new relationships, challenges, adventures, realities, successes, goals, etc.

This is the time of year when you'll hear that expression.

Happy New Year!
edward

New Year's is a time for celebration andpositive feelings about the future. As the saying goes, "Out with the old and in with the new."


Does the bolded saying refer to "Clean out (old stuff) with the old year and get in (new things/ideas) with the new year?" If not, how would you interpret it? Thanks.

 

[angliholic]

Thanks, Edward.

But I still don't get it. Maybe it's very natural and easy as pie for you to understand the saying--"Out with the old and in with the new." But it's still foreign to me, especially there are no subject and verb in that phrase. I wonder what the original sentence of the saying is. Is it "Let's throw out the old things and usher in the new stuff?"

 

[Amigos4]

Thanks, Edward.

But I still don't get it. Maybe it's very natural and easy as pie for you to understand the saying--"Out with the old and in with the new." But it's still foreign to me, especially there are no subject and verb in that phrase. I wonder what the original sentence of the saying is. Is it "Let's throw out the old things and usher in the new stuff?"

Angli,

Sometimes there is no rational explanation as to why an idiom is peculiar to itself grammatically. Native speakers understand the concept that is being expressed and accept it simply for what it is.

If you are uncomfortable using the traditional idiom, you could always alter the expression to meet your level of comfort. "Let's throw out the old things and usher in the new stuff" could be used to convey the concept of 'out with the old and in with the new'. Your sentence would apply nicely to the young couple who has decided to do a complete remodel of their home or apartment!

Cheers,
Amigos4

 

[baqarah131]

We Anglos don't talk in subjects and predicates, at least not in North American. Most of our conversation is what we call, technically, "sentence fragments."

"Out with the old, in with the new" is a kind of structure that's quite ordinary in colloquial English, almost like adverbs used as imperatives.

Off with his head!
Away with all that.
Off to work now.
To bed now, kids, it's nine o'clock.
To hell with you! (Very rude, means "Go to hell.")
And there's the extremely vulgar and offensive (but common) espression, "Up yours."

I hope you'll enjoy listening for these structures in spoken English.

Now, back to work!
edward

Thanks, Edward.

But I still don't get it. Maybe it's very natural and easy as pie for you to understand the saying--"Out with the old and in with the new." But it's still foreign to me, especially there are no subject and verb in that phrase. I wonder what the original sentence of the saying is. Is it "Let's throw out the old things and usher in the new stuff?"

 

[angliholic]

Angli,

Sometimes there is no rational explanation as to why an idiom is peculiar to itself grammatically. Native speakers understand the concept that is being expressed and accept it simply for what it is.

If you are uncomfortable using the traditional idiom, you could always alter the expression to meet your level of comfort. "Let's throw out the old things and usher in the new stuff" could be used to convey the concept of 'out with the old and in with the new'. Your sentence would apply nicely to the young couple who has decided to do a complete remodel of their home or apartment!

Cheers,
Amigos4

Thanks, Amigos.
Gotcha!

We Anglos don't talk in subjects and predicates, at least not in North American. Most of our conversation is what we call, technically, "sentence fragments."

"Out with the old, in with the new" is a kind of structure that's quite ordinary in colloquial English, almost like adverbs used as imperatives.

Off with his head! I never ran across this before. But if it's "Off his hat," then it's derived from "He takes/took off his hat." Maybe it refers to "Someone cut off his head.

Away with all that. "(You) do away with all that."
Off to work now. "(You) set off to work now."
To bed now, kids, it's nine o'clock. "(You) go to bed now, ..."
To hell with you! (Very rude, means "Go to hell.") "(You) go to hell ..."
And there's the extremely vulgar and offensive (but common) espression, "Up yours." I don't get this! What do you mean by this?

I hope you'll enjoy listening for these structures in spoken English.

Now, back to work! "NOw, (you) go back to work!"
edward

Thanks, Edward, for the many similar samples.

Here we only learn formal English from textbooks in our classroom. Therefore, if we don't know the complete structure of an expression, we have difficuties understanding it. It's simply impossible to teach students to catch on it since we can't grasp its meaning ourselves. The parts in blue are easier for us and students to understand.

 

[angliholic]

Angli,

Sometimes there is no rational explanation as to why an idiom is peculiar to itself grammatically. Native speakers understand the concept that is being expressed and accept it simply for what it is.

If you are uncomfortable using the traditional idiom, you could always alter the expression to meet your level of comfort. "Let's throw out the old things and usher in the new stuff" could be used to convey the concept of 'out with the old and in with the new'. Your sentence would apply nicely to the young couple who has decided to do a complete remodel of their home or apartment!

Cheers,
Amigos4

Thanks, Amigos.
Gotcha!

We Anglos don't talk in subjects and predicates, at least not in North American. Most of our conversation is what we call, technically, "sentence fragments."

"Out with the old, in with the new" is a kind of structure that's quite ordinary in colloquial English, almost like adverbs used as imperatives.

Off with his head! I never ran across this before. But if it's "Off his hat," then it's derived from "He takes/took off his hat." Maybe it refers to "Someone cut off his head.

Away with all that. "(You) do away with all that."
Off to work now. "(You) set off to work now."
To bed now, kids, it's nine o'clock. "(You) go to bed now, ..."
To hell with you! (Very rude, means "Go to hell.") "(You) go to hell ..."
And there's the extremely vulgar and offensive (but common) espression, "Up yours." I don't get this! What do you mean by this?

I hope you'll enjoy listening for these structures in spoken English.

Now, back to work! "NOw, (you) go back to work!"
edward

Thanks, Edward, for the many similar samples.

Here we only learn formal English from textbooks in our classroom. Therefore, if we don't know the complete structure of an expression, we have difficuties understanding it. It's simply impossible to teach students to catch on it since we can't grasp its meaning ourselves. The parts in blue are easier for us and students to understand.

 

[baqarah131]

Yeah, but the teacher of English must always be first and foremost, now and forever, a student of English. The examples I gave were to illustrate a point that you raised. You won't need these now, either to say them or teach them--but recognizing the flexibility of spoken English will be important in your future studies. Just listen to the way we talk.

The rewordings you give in blue are correct. "Off with his head!" is from a famous children's book, Alice in Wonderland. It's the queen's way of saying "Cut off his head." As for "up yours", it's a filthy expression and you don't want to know what it means. Just be ready for it when you hear it. You will.

("You don't want to know" is an expression that has come up in recent years. As an expression it means "You'll be sorry if you find out.")

Cheers!
edward

Thanks, Amigos.
Gotcha!


Thanks, Edward, for the many similar samples.

Here we only learn formal English from textbooks in our classroom. Therefore, if we don't know the complete structure of an expression, we have difficuties understanding it. It's simply impossible to teach students to catch on it since we can't grasp its meaning ourselves. The parts in blue are easier for us and students to understand.

 

[angliholic]

Thanks, Edward.
I'm ready and willing to be a student of English as long as I'm still teaching it.
By the way, it seems to me that I've come across a similar expression in a film like "up yours," and I knew it's vulgar and rude. But if we don't know its true meaning, how could we teach it to others. Of course, maybe it's not necessary to learn this in this case, but it's one of many examples. If we don't something to a certain degree, we have trouble explaining to our students. I had too many experiences of this kind--in the past, I thought I knew something in English, but when I did explain it to my kids, I stuttered.

 

[baqarah131]

I'm not comfortable teaching an obscene expression on this forum. If I can figure out how to send a private message, I will. (I know it can be done, I just haven't figured out yet how to do it.)

Are you a man or a woman? In our culture, it makes a big difference in the language we use, in what we can say.
with apologies

edward

Thanks, Edward.
I'm ready and willing to be a student of English as long as I'm still teaching it.
By the way, it seems to me that I've come across a similar expression in a film like "up yours," and I knew it's vulgar and rude. But if we don't know its true meaning, how could we teach it to others. Of course, maybe it's not necessary to learn this in this case, but it's one of many examples. If we don't something to a certain degree, we have trouble explaining to our students. I had too many experiences of this kind--in the past, I thought I knew something in English, but when I did explain it to my kids, I stuttered.