Sometimes I wonder how people trying to learn English can understand, much less use, different words and expressions. I remember one of my son’s girlfriends who was Danish and could speak and understand four languages. In a class at Michigan State University, she made a mistake in taking notes and asked the student next to her for a “rubber.” I wish that I could have seen his expression as his hopes for some “extracurricular” activity must have soared.
We are having quite a hot snap here in Michigan causing me to reflect on two aspects of “hot.” What was it like back then in the city with zero air conditioning and sleeping, if not in the same bed with a sibling, at least in the same small room? That small oscillating fan tried its best to move the hot, humid air but usually to no avail.
Looking back, I wonder why we only owned one fan which was always pointed at my father when he was not at work. Many of the windows in our flat were unable to be open fully and the holes in the screen invited flies and mosquitoes to get out of the sun and in for a taste of flesh. I remember thinking that I might as well go outside where the possibility of shade and a breeze existed. One problem with that line of thinking, Einstein – the blistering sun.
Another aspect of the word “hot”, dealt with the type of hot from a cayenne pepper and some spicy food. I remember being double “hot whammied” by the “big guys” in the neighborhood who liked to pick on or, in today’s language, bully us. Somehow, I found myself attached to a street sign in the blistering sun with cayenne pepper being used as lipstick.
Not that I noticed at that young age, but if a beautiful girl had strolled by at that time, I would have known the trifecta of hot. Confusingly, “hot” can be very good and/or very bad. The Rolling Stones had a smash hit, “She’s So Cold.” A repetitive line was, “I’m so hot for her.”
Hmmm? I suppose that I could get into the contrary meanings of the word “cold” but maybe I will wait until winter for that one.
At least around people who do not have English as their first language, telling them that I’m so hot could be conceited; telling them they’re so hot might send them into the air conditioning. Regardless, don’t get your hopes up if a hot girl asks you for a rubber! I am sure it was just a mistake.
