0
Mr. Tom Posted 12 years ago
Vocabulary

alien thought

Hi

Is the use of alien thought natural?

The thought of meeting her again is just an alien thought.

[means it's very unlikely that they meet again.]

Thanks,

Tom
  

Top answer

I don't think it would be well-understood. " not be included, because it's ambiguous whether the thought is rare or the meeting is rare. "

— Vorpar

  • I don't think it would be well-understood.
  • " not be included, because it's ambiguous whether the thought is rare or the meeting is rare.
  • "
Free · every Monday

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

New words, one handy idiom, and a 2-minute quiz — delivered to your inbox to keep your streak alive.

5 Answers
0
I don't think it would be well-understood.

I also suggest that "The thought..." not be included, because it's ambiguous whether the thought is rare or the meeting is rare.

If meeting her would be a good thing, you could say "Meeting her again is just a pipe-dream."

Otherwise, "Meeting her again is unlikely."
0
0
Thanks, Vorpar.

One more attempt. Please let me know if it still sounds odd.

I knew I would never see her again. Even the thought of meeting her at ZainU was an alien thought.

Tom
0
0
I think that clears up the ambiguity, but "alien thought" would still need to be explained to me, it's not a phrase used in AmE.
0
0
An alien thought is a thought that you very rarely have, a thought that is not natural to your way of thinking.
.
eg He is a very rude person. 'I should be polite' is an alien thought to him.

Clive
0
0
It makes sense in Clive's context. A thought that is counter to your personality...
It doesn't work for me to mean a rare thought. It may be correct, but I don't think many people are familiar with that usage.
0

Related Questions