head off

Question

Hello!There are two problems with this sentence. Are tenses OK? Which one of the underlined phrases fits this sentence the best?But something is telling me that his next wife, no matter what she would be like, will iron her head off/flat out/in full swing.Thak you for your help.

Danyoo · Accepted Answer

Anon, could you rephrase your question?  It is not very clear to me as to what you are asking.

Hly2004 · Answer

But something is telling me that his next wife, no matter what she would be like,

will iron her .

(1)head off

(2)flat out

(3)in full swing.

let me explain, his/her question is that which one can best fit the sentence

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks Hly2004-that is my question.

Pieanne · Answer

I don't get it... his next wife will iron her... ?

Nona the brit · Answer

Pieanne: His wife will iron her ... His wife (let's say Brian's wife, Emily) will iron her (Emily's) ....

One option is head off. To X one's head off is a common metaphor but not one I've heard applied to ironing before! Laugh her head off etc.....sounds a bit odd with ironing.

Or it could be that she will iron flat out (without the her). This would be a pretty good pun as to do something flat out is to do it at full speed and of course by ironing she is flattening out the cloth. So I would guess this is the required answer.

To iron at full swing again sounds odd. It is also a metaphor to suggest full speed but sounds odd with ironing as it would usually be a very physical activity (makes me think of golf swings).

YoHf · Answer

Right... Nice pic Nona... ^^

MrPedantic · Answer

Hly2004
But something is telling me that his next wife, no matter what she would be like,

will iron her .

(1)head off

(2)flat out

(3)in full swing.

let me explain, his/her question is that which one can best fit the sentence

The original sentence is a little odd. The present progressive doesn't seem idiomatic here; and the "would" is wrong, unless you want to suggest "no matter what she wants to be like". (And if you did want to suggest that, there would be a clash of registers.)

Maybe:

1. Something tells me that his next wife, no matter what she's like, will iron her ___.

But then we have another problem: what is the point of "no matter what she's like", in this context?

I suppose something like this might be possible, if the husband in question is a compiler of grammatical exercises:

2. Something tells me that his next wife, no matter how patient she is, will end up blowing his head off with a twelve-bore.

MrP

Khoff · Answer

Do you mean that his next wife, whatever her other qualities, will be enthusiastic about ironing?  How about "will iron like crazy"?

Anonymous · Answer

Hello everybody,

Thank you very much for joining and trying to help me.

I guess will iron like crazy captures the meaning (the wife will be enthusiastic about ironing).

Mr Pedantic, I don't understand your reply, especially last sentences. (my English is not good enough, I guess)

I have one more question: no matter what she will be like? is it OK if the meaning that I'm looking for here is ''he hasn't married yet, but when he does his next wife will be crazy about ironing''?

Can I then also use flat out in this context, since Nona said it would be a good pun?

Thanks once again

Nona the brit · Answer

That does sound better.

A rather odd sentence altogether.

head off

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