Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
to get with s/b
English answer:
to be friendly with s/b
Added to glossary by
Tony M
Aug 8, 2011 07:36
12 yrs ago
English term
Giordano B (X)
(to) get with smb.
English
Art/Literary
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Song lyrics (please explain with usage examples, if possible)
Spice Girls (Wannabe)
... If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,
... If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,
Responses
| 4 +10 | to be friendly with |
Tony M
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| 4 +1 | get along with |
Thayenga
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Change log
Aug 8, 2011 07:51: Tony M changed "Field (specific)" from "Music" to "Idioms / Maxims / Sayings"
Aug 8, 2011 07:51: Tony M changed "Field (write-in)" from "Please explain with usage examples, if possible" to "Song lyrics (please explain with usage examples, if possible)"
Aug 9, 2011 09:46: Tony M changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1354304">Giordano B (X)'s</a> old entry - "(to) get with smb."" to ""to be friendly with""
Responses
+10
18 mins
English term (edited):
to get with smb.
Selected
to be friendly with
Very close to the perhaps more common expression 'to get on/along (well) with sb' — 'to be on friendly terms with'
I suspect the loss of 'on' is just a typical example of the current tendency to shorten everything, although it may well have also suited the lyric writer to lose an extra syllable which might have upset the scansion...
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Note added at 20 minutes (2011-08-08 07:56:36 GMT)
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Note also other expressions like 'to get with it' (rather dated now!) and 'to get with the groove' (ditto!) — but always with the idea of 'being in sympathy' with something.
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Note added at 37 minutes (2011-08-08 08:14:31 GMT)
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Of course 'to get with' could also have a much more sexual connotation (along the lines of 'to get it on with'), but given the context, I hardly think that would be the intended meaning here.
I suspect the loss of 'on' is just a typical example of the current tendency to shorten everything, although it may well have also suited the lyric writer to lose an extra syllable which might have upset the scansion...
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Note added at 20 minutes (2011-08-08 07:56:36 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Note also other expressions like 'to get with it' (rather dated now!) and 'to get with the groove' (ditto!) — but always with the idea of 'being in sympathy' with something.
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Note added at 37 minutes (2011-08-08 08:14:31 GMT)
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Of course 'to get with' could also have a much more sexual connotation (along the lines of 'to get it on with'), but given the context, I hardly think that would be the intended meaning here.
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Jenni Lukac (X)
: I've never seen the expression before, but this is how I understand it.
4 mins
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Thanks, Jenni!
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| agree |
AllegroTrans
: Yes TM, but both you and I are, I fear, a little on the wrong side of 55 for this kind of thing ;-)// OK then, 54!!
6 mins
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Thanks, C! Cheeky, I'm still teetering on the brink of 55, if you don't mind!
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| agree |
Jack Doughty
: Also "get knotted", but maybe we'd better forget about that one...
6 mins
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Thanks, Jack! Yes, I think that might have a quite different connotation... ;-)
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| agree |
Liz Dexter (was Broomfield)
14 mins
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Thanks, Liz!
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| agree |
Lindsay Spratt
34 mins
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Thanks, Lindsay!
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| agree |
Sheila Wilson
: The Asker requests usage samples - I don't think there are too many, but I agree with your take on it
1 hr
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Thanks, Sheila! I feel sure this is the sort of thing that can readily be found with a quick Internet search, though there's likely to be quite a lot of 'noise' :-(
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| agree |
Thayenga
2 hrs
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Thanks, Thayenga! Yes, 'get along with' is good too.
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| agree |
Charles Davis
: To my shame and regret I have never managed to expunge the Spice Girls from my memory banks. The lyrics were hilariously recited in Shakespearean style by Peter O'Toole on TV years ago.
3 hrs
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Thanks, Charles! :-) I'm relieved to say they washed over me completely like a tide of ... I daren't say what ;-)
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| agree |
Lirka
7 hrs
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Danke, Lirka!
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| agree |
Thuy-PTT (X)
4 days
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Thanks, Thuy-PTT!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you, Tony"
+1
5 hrs
get along with
Another option.
Note from asker:
| Thank you |
Discussion