If the sky pours boiling oil...slimcodeMay 20 2006, 17:00:18 UTC
Hi.
Comment from native-speaker of English & literature-scholar:
This expression is the author's creation & hence is new to me... Never heard or read it before.
A google search confirms this... i.e., it is not a standard idiom or proverbial expression like "it's raining cats and dogs" or "the sky rains knives" [in Chinese]. The author uses it just to convey the idea of something absolutely extraordinary and 100% unlikely.
If you plan to use the phrase in your next conversation with Anglophone natives, you will certainly get their attention, but they probably won't know what you mean.
Re: If the sky pours boiling oil...yangchencenMay 21 2006, 01:37:42 UTC
Ohh, thank you! For me, what little knowledge of English mainly comes from fanfictions, lots of them. So I learn English with grammar mistakes and all. I really should begin to read some classics...
I just saw this sentence and found it funny. Because, that "the sky rains knives"? It's more a localism, and a colloquialism (I have to use a dictionary for this word...). And the full version is "I'm going out even if the sky rains knives and I have to carry my pan on the head!"
Re: fanfiction versus classicsliukaiqinMay 21 2006, 23:13:10 UTC
Dad, you're being terribly pompous and snobby. This is not suited to the medium of Livejournal. yangchencen, I wouldn't read Dickens unless someone threatened to pour boiling oil on me. Oo, and I'm buying my ticket to Dalian tomorrow! :D!
Re: fanfiction versus classicsslimcodeMay 22 2006, 03:24:00 UTC
Ohhh! Call me when you get here! My telephone number is 0411-86965480. But I should warn you, I spoke terrible English...Luckily you speak Chinese better than my english!
Comments 8
Comment from native-speaker of English & literature-scholar:
This expression is the author's creation & hence is new to me... Never heard or read it before.
A google search confirms this... i.e., it is not a standard idiom or proverbial expression like "it's raining cats and dogs" or "the sky rains knives" [in Chinese]. The author uses it just to convey the idea of something absolutely extraordinary and 100% unlikely.
If you plan to use the phrase in your next conversation with Anglophone natives, you will certainly get their attention, but they probably won't know what you mean.
Hope this helps to put things in context?
Ian [father of Liukaiqin]
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I just saw this sentence and found it funny. Because, that "the sky rains knives"? It's more a localism, and a colloquialism (I have to use a dictionary for this word...). And the full version is "I'm going out even if the sky rains knives and I have to carry my pan on the head!"
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