Monday, 22 January 2007

Mean or think

Mean is often used incorrectly. For example:

A: "What do you reckon to that new Mel Gibson film?"
B: "I mean it is very intense"

Mean is not used in the sense of "Think or in my opinion"

A: "What do you reckon to a beer, tonight?"
B: "I think it's a great idea" (not mean)

Mean is used in the sense of "I wanted to say"

A: "So, you think that Tony Blair's political career is over?
B: "No, what I meant to say is that he is probably finished as Prime Minister, but he will have a lot of influence in British and world politics even when he stops being PM."

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