Funny Americans

By Steven Scheer

Not long ago I read about the reaction of a person from the Czech Republic to a funny Americanism. No, the expression in question was not meant to be funny - or jocular - it's just that it drove this woman crazy. She was learning English, you see, and she was very puzzled when she came across this phrase: "I am going to come." Why was she so puzzled? Well, because the phrase seems to completely contradict itself. If you are "going," how on earth can you be "coming" at the same time?

What the poor woman didn't know yet is that the phrase simply means this: "I will come." It so happens that in English the verb "go" can be used as if it were an auxiliary (a help-word) for the future tense. You can use it anytime "will" would be appropriate. I am going to finish this little essay soon. I am going to write more of these in the future. See how that works?

By the way, here are some more "strange" Americanisms: we park on the driveway, and we drive on the parkway. Yes, "parkway" can also mean highway. And driveway is the name next to our houses where we park our cars in America.

These kinds of expressions are called colloquialisms. Every language has them. A colloquialism is an expression that makes no sense literally, but is well-known and presents no problems for those who know the language well. But sometimes it can drive the beginnings "nuts." Okay, that's another one: to drive you nuts means to make you feel like you are crazy.

It's late now - as I am finishing this piece - so I am going to go to bed and get some "shut eye" (that is, sleep). Talk to you all soon again.