Letter No.30 Lost Focus

 

It was a sweltering hot Saturday afternoon.

I first made sure that Bubu was deep asleep, 

and then opened up my laptop to begin my weekend English-Japanese interpretation class. 

After my almost 30 years of English learning, I'm still taking classes every week. 

Surely, mastering a language is a never-ending life journey. 

From today's class, which took up a CNN interview with an American Russia expert, 

I couldn't help but being amused by two English expressions which were both new to me. 

The first phrase was "cut one's teeth."

In the interview, the expert used the phrase like this: "Nikita Khrushchef, one of the ways he cut his teeth en route to becoming general secretary was..."

The second phrase was "wean away."

During the interview conversation, it was used like: "Do you think President Biden and his administration can wean China away from its recent embrace of Russia?"

I know some of the loyal subscribers of this blog, if any, may be wondering if I am bringing some serious sober vibe to this Boo Boo Letter. 

Rest assured. 

It was when a teacher said these phrases were closely related to the development of babies that I lost all the focus. 

How come Nikita Khruschchef and President Biden have to do with babies!?

Next thing I knew, I was rolling up my sleeves and going on google to further delve into these phrases. 

1 Cut One's Teeth

According to Collins Dictionary, "If you say that someone cut their teeth doing a particular thing, at a particular time, or in a particular place, you mean that that is how, when, or where they began their career and learned some of their skills."

Another explanation that one webpage provided was that it's a metaphoric reference to when a baby's teeth first appear. They grow (cut) through the gums! And once the baby has cut its teeth, it is then properly equipped for "real-world" task of chewing sold food (metapholically, for tackling more complex problems in professional life, etc). 

2 Wean Away

Oxford Learners' Dictionary reads:

phrasal verb. wean somebody off/from something. ​to make somebody gradually stop doing or using something.

And here's what Collins Dictionary says:

"When a baby or baby animal is weaned, its mother stops feeding it milk and starts giving it other food, especially solid food." Examples: The baby would be weaned and she would bring it home. / When would be the best time to start weaning my baby?

How wonderful! 

Both phrases are closely relevant to what Bubu is going through right now. 

While I was fanatically searching the origins of these phrases, time quickly passed by and I missed many valuable things my teacher told us about the CNN interview. 

But that’s Ok! I learned other invaluable lessons! 

To be continued…