Around

Question

Hi everybody,I'd like to know which is the meaning of "around" in the expression "the first time around". Any of the meanings of "around" that I have found in several Internet dictionaries seems to fit...Thanks in advance

Usenet · Accepted Answer

(Email Removed) (Juan Pardillos) burbled
[nq:1]Hi everybody, I'd like to know which is the meaning of "around" in the expression "the first time around".[/nq]
You will have to provide a context for a specific answer. Such vague expressions mean nothing out of context.
[nq:1]Any of the meanings of "around" that I have found in several Internet dictionaries seems to fit...[/nq]
It seems as if you have found your answer, then. It is quite probable that no one here knows any meanings for the phrase that are not already contained in the dictionaries you have already consulted. That is why you need to provide a specific context.

As a rule of thumb, though, it usually means "the first time one has done something"
[nq:1]Thanks in advance[/nq]
A pointless exercise, as it turns out.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I'd like to know which is the meaning of "around" in the expression "the first time around". ...[/nq]
In , sense 4a of the adverb: "in rotation or succession ".

Mark Brader, Toronto > "...This is due to the Coincidence effect, (Email Removed) > more so than the Coriolis." Cindy Kandolf

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2] I'd like to know which is the meaning of "around" in the expression "the first time around". [/nq]
[nq:1]You will have to provide a context for a specific answer. Such vague expressions mean nothing out of context. [/nq]
I assumed the OP meant 'around' as a temporal preposition, not as a spatial preposition that is part of an incomplete phrase, as in "Is this your first time around a campfire?", or "Is this your first time around cowboys?", or "The first time around the pylons is the hardest." (In which case, they do have different meanings from each other.)

If referring to time, it seems the question is answerable without context.
[nq:1]As a rule of thumb, though, it usually means "the first time one has done something"[/nq]
Or "the first time something has happened". It seems to me that "the first time around" means the same as "the first time", but with the additional information that the occurrence has happened, or will happen, more than once.
If you think of something going "around the track", and apply the metaphor to time instead of space, you get a sense of what is meant. The repetition of an event invokes the perception of time as a cycle, not a directed line (arrow). Thus, "first time around" means "first time something has happened", but is not applicable to one-time events.

After perusing the definitions offered at www.dictionary.com, I agree with the OP that none of them touch on this meaning for 'around'.

Willondon
AUE FAQ http://www.alt-usage-english.org/intro a.shtml

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Hi everybody, I'd like to know which is the meaning of "around" in the expression "the first time around". Any of the meanings of "around" that I have found in several Internet dictionaries seems to fit...[/nq]
I'm assuming that you found this in a context like "the first time around, I did such-and-such. The second time around, I was wiser."

The meaning is not very different from "the first time, I did such-and- such. The second time, I was wiser". The phrasing with "around" suggests that the occasions are part of a regularly re-occurring event, the second version implies that the event re-occurs irregularly or the re- occurrences are not exactly alike.
Gary

Around

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions