Be able to stand meaning in English
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Definition
I cannot stand it...: I cannot tolerate, bear, suffer, endure it... I hate it...
I cannot stand it when Luna plays her whale songs in the office, I find it so annoying that I want to jump out the window!
Examples
- "I can't stand martinis without olives."
- "If there is anything I cannot stand it's filthy teeth."
Exercise 1
Susie wants to know where Delavigne stands on the issue of subcontracting.
Which of the following sentences uses a similar idiom in the same sense as the text?
Which of the following sentences uses a similar idiom in the same sense as the text?
Susie wants to know where Delavigne stands on the issue of subcontracting.
Which of the following sentences uses a similar idiom in the same sense as the text?
Excerpt: Hopefully he will get back to me soon, so that I will know where Delavigne stands on these issues.
Which of the following sentences uses a similar idiom in the same sense as the text?
The idiom "to stand for" is different than to "know where someone stands" on something. "U.N." is an acronym for the United Nations. Therefore we can ask, "what does "U.N." stand for?" if we want to know what the initials signify.
Although "to stand up" indicates the physical act of standing, this literal meaning does not carry the same meaning as the idiom in the text.
To "be unable to stand something" means that someone cannot tolerate, or has "little patience" for something. This use of the term "stand" is different than the way Susie uses the term in her e-mail.
To know "where someone stands" means to understand their position or opinion on a topic. In this case, the speaker is unsure about the president's opinion on social security. In Susie's e-mail, she asks Bruno about Delavigne's position on subcontracting.
Excerpt: Hopefully he will get back to me soon, so that I will know where Delavigne stands on these issues.
Exercise 2
Luna says that all her colleagues Jean Marron.
Luna says that all her colleagues get along with Jean Marron.
get along with: Luna says of Jean: "Everyone seems to have taken a real liking to him". If we say that Polly has "taken a liking to" the test monkeys, this simply means that she "likes" or "gets along with" them. The expression "to take a liking to (someone)" also indicates that the person in question who is liked is "new". For example: Everybody has taken a liking to the director of marketing. Everyone at the office who has met Jean seems to like him.
can't stand: "To be unable to stand (someone or something)" is to hate or detest them. This is not what Luna means when she says that the staff "has taken a liking to Jean".
constantly talk to: "To constantly talk to someone" does not mean the same thing as to "take a liking to" someone.
enjoy the cooking of: Although Bruno says that Jean brings in "fresh pastries" every day, Luna never mentions that Jean cooks nor that the staff enjoys his cooking.
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