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Rommel Posted 13 years ago
Vocabulary
“Erase the board” or “Erase the writings on the board”?
In almost all schools here in our village, teachers, most of whom are non-native speakers of English, say, “Kindly erase the board.” I wonder, “How could one possibly erase the board?” Isn’t that the writings on the board, not the board itself, can be erased?
Top answer
It's just a rather idiomatic phrase that many teachers use. Students seem to grasp the intended meaning quickly.
- It's just a rather idiomatic phrase that many teachers use.
- Students seem to grasp the intended meaning quickly.
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2 Answers
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It's just a rather idiomatic phrase that many teachers use.
Students seem to grasp the intended meaning quickly.
Students seem to grasp the intended meaning quickly.
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RommelI wonder, “How could one possibly erase the board?”Then you must also wonder a great many other things, like "How could one possibly open an envelope?" Don't we open a door to enter a room? We don't "open the room". So in that case, don't we open the flap (of the envelope) to enter the envelope?
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