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Pructus Posted 10 years ago
Grammar
Put on the heat
Hello....
Among the two below, only a. seems to be correct usage...
And if so, the reason b. is not used is that it seems to be saying “literally to turn the heater on”, not mentally putting on the pressure?
a. He threatened to put on the heat if we did not agree to his demands.
b. *He threatened to put the heat on if we did not agree to his demands.
Among the two below, only a. seems to be correct usage...
And if so, the reason b. is not used is that it seems to be saying “literally to turn the heater on”, not mentally putting on the pressure?
a. He threatened to put on the heat if we did not agree to his demands.
b. *He threatened to put the heat on if we did not agree to his demands.
Top answer
'Apply heat' has more than one meaning. Literally, increasing the temperature of food through micro-waving or cooking is one meaning. Making a person sweat from fear is another kind of ‘heat’.
- 'Apply heat' has more than one meaning.
- Literally, increasing the temperature of food through micro-waving or cooking is one meaning.
- Making a person sweat from fear is another kind of ‘heat’.
- ‘Getting out of the heat’ implies getting to a safe place.
- In older films, gangsters would be ‘packing heat’ (meaning that they carried guns).
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6 Answers
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'Apply heat' has more than one meaning. Literally, increasing the temperature of food through micro-waving or cooking is one meaning. Making a person sweat from fear is another kind of ‘heat’. ‘Getting out of the heat’ implies getting to a safe place. In older films, gangsters would be ‘packing heat’ (meaning that they carried guns).
However, ‘putting on the heat’ is normally raising the
However, ‘putting on the heat’ is normally raising the
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Thanks so much, wilpeter!!
Before I get to the bottom of this point, if the "better wording" is put aside, then the two senteces a. and b. are both correct?
For now, I am trying to find out how native speakers think about "put on the heat" and "put the heat on"....
Before I get to the bottom of this point, if the "better wording" is put aside, then the two senteces a. and b. are both correct?
For now, I am trying to find out how native speakers think about "put on the heat" and "put the heat on"....
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pructus"put on the heat"The sentence is grammatically correct. Without surrounding text, my first assumption would be that this is the landlord advising his tenant that he plans to turn on the furnace or electric heater. The ‘threat’ might be that the temperature in the house/apartment/flat would be uncomfortable. The demands might be that the occupant tur
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Thanks a lot, wilpeter!!
So, to you, the two sentences sound to mean "to put physical heat on, to increase the heat", not "to put mental pressure on"?
So, to you, the two sentences sound to mean "to put physical heat on, to increase the heat", not "to put mental pressure on"?
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pructusThanks a lot, wilpeter!!So, to you, the two sentences sound to mean "to put physical heat on, to increase the heat", not "to put mental pressure on"?They do to me. The "to put mental pressure on" definition is unusual and might be old fashioned or used in some regional varieties of English. It's not used by all native speakers.
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