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What is the meaning of prep?
His timing was off and he missed the catch.
What is the meaning of "off" here? Does it mean that "his timing was bad so that he missed the catch"?
Yes, "off" is being used as an adjective here, and it means "incorrect" or "inaccurate". So the sentence basically says, "His timing was bad, so he missed the catch."
Prep? It's short for "preparation". It can also be so for preparatory (as in "prep school" or the even shorter "pre-school" - preparatory school which, in Britain, is (usually) a private or primary school where infants go prior to entering the official full time educational system.
The word "prep" can also mean revision or the preparation of school work prioer to lessons or assignments. It's very much more associated with public schools. The terms "public" and "private" schools in some parts of the UK (especially in England and Wales which have totally different educational systems from that here in Scotland) are quite confusing. A public school is a private school as distinct from the mainstream publically funded educational system and a private school is also a public school in the sense that it is fee paying unlike the publically funded State educational system which does not include public schools because they are private schools and not publically funded because they are private. If you can understand all that then you are a better wo/man than me, Gunga Din. I'm so glad I was educated in Scotland. Just like the British Prime Minister (pro tempore) Tony Blair - who went to a private school (Fettes College) here in Edinburgh, which is not a public school like it is in England, which accounts for it being private as opposed to public in Scotland. Now I need to go and do some prep.
As Damian points out, "prep", in English, is an abbreviation of "preparation" or "preparatory". If you mean "preposition", then you have to write out the whole word.
One interesting thing is that "prep school" means completely different things in the US and Britain. (Here in the US it's a type of secondary school.)
"Youth have taken to making public threats to leap off building or bridges".
in above the above sentence what is the meaning of leap off , and one more doubt is off is used to the words why .actually what is the meaning of this kind of words.
Dear Damian in Edinburgh
I really do feel that this is 'Pearls of Wisdom' before swine. The Topic Heading was: What is Prep? Which is the question that you answered very fully. But the person who started the Topic, actually asked an entirely different question unrelated to the Topic Heading: <<His timing was off>> What is the meaning of 'off'. Then someone else wants to know the meaning of 'leap off'. Bearing in mind that the first question was about 'off', it does not seem so out of place. I do not see why it is difficult for people to do a Google search on something like 'leap off'. Google UK: "leap off" definition Unfortunately, the results were not very helpful. Neither were the results for 'leap of' idioms. idioms: a leap in the dark a leap into the unknown by leaps and bounds in leaps and bounds leap at the chance leap at the opportunity leap of faith leap to conclusions leap year
The meaning of 'off'?
Well I have not found the meaning of 'leap off' but I have found a site similar to antimoon.com http://www.english-online.org.uk/englishforum/viewforum.php?f=1 I think that you can only understand expression (phrases) like 'leap off' by looking at them in context. If you look at the individual words; 'leap' and 'off', and find out their meanings. Then put the two words together, and see the context in which they are used. leap off jump off jump from move to It is not particularly easy! I think most people would find 'leap off' in the following context fairly straight forward. <<<"Youth have taken to making public threats to leap off building or bridges". >>> You could replace 'leap off' with 'jump off'. The difference between 'jumping' and 'jumping off' is that when you 'jump off', you leave the building or bridge, and make your way to the ground below, possibly to your death. I hope that has been helpful?
I think that one of the problems with looking at definitions etc. is that very common words such as 'leap' are put together with quite technical terms that are very unusual such as:
sal·ta·tion (sl-tshn, sôl-) n. 1. The act of leaping, jumping, or dancing. 2. Discontinuous movement, transition, or development; advancement by leaps. 3. Genetics A single mutation that drastically alters the phenotype. Most British people have never heard the word 'saltation'.
I guess the British need more biology: "saltatory" conduction is the mode of signal propagation in myelinated neurons (not to mention the genetics usage you gave above). Alternatively, Britain could settle for some more foreign language education: saltare means "to jump" in Latin and Italian, sauter means "to jump" in French, saltar means "to jump" in Spanish...and so on.
***Britain could settle for some more foreign language education***
Sadly, on present form - no chance! For some unaccountable reason there is a steady decline in the learning of, or interest in, Foreign Languages in the UK. I know that's bad, but that's the score right now. It's no use trying to learn Polish from all the gorgeous looking Poles now invading our shores - they are too intent on brushing up their English - or learning it from scratch....while undercutting the natives in the jobs market! LOL
i think words such as " but " should not be used in a sentence.
The word is a normal word not using big vocabulary in a sentence such as... "My room was clean BUT my sister's was not." The word "but " makes the sentence sound inappropriate. "However " means the same thing and sounds better... "My room was clean,HOWEVER my sister's was not." See how the whole sentence can be changed by just one word BUT |