15.14. Explain the differences.

When it got hot, the men wore summer dress. / When it got hot, the men wore summer dresses. ‘Dress’ when it is uncountable refers to the type of clothing that you wear. For example ‘smart dress’, ‘winter dress’. ‘A dress’ is a piece of woman’s clothing, not worn by men.

Fruit flies like strawberries. / Time flies like nothing. ‘Flies’ are the plural of a ‘fly’, that is, the flying insect, which like this particular fruit. In the second example, ‘fly’ is a verb, meaning to go quickly. In this example ‘like’ is not a verb, but a preposition. The meaning is therefore, that ‘time goes by very rapidly’.

Telegram. / Stripogram. You should remember this from the previous chapter. A ‘telegram’ was an older form of telecommunication, while a ‘stripogram’ is a stripper who is hired to visit, strip and humiliate someone in a public place.

He ate the cat. / He fed the cat. This shouldn’t need explaining! ‘Fed’ is the past simple of ‘to feed’, which is ‘to give food to’.

There was a kidnap in the restaurant. / There was a napkin in the restaurant. ‘Kidnap’ is the action of illegally capturing and taking a person in return for money. A ‘napkin’ is the little piece of cloth that you put on yourself in a restaurant to stop food falling on you, or staining your clothing.

Petty woman. / Pretty woman. ‘Petty’ is an adjective that describes someone who gives too much importance to trivial, unimportant things. For example, if your flatmate gets very angry because you leave the lid off the toothpaste, then he/she is probably quite petty. ‘Pretty’ means ‘good-looking’ and is usually used to describe women.

Face lifting. / Weightlifting. / Shoplifting. First, is cosmetic surgery to make yourself look younger, or more attractive. ‘Weightlifting’ is the sport or exercise in which weights are raised (or lifted). Finally ‘shoplifting’ is the name of the crime of stealing from shops.