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Mind the Gap!
Posted by Peter 21 October 2008

In today's podcast, I am going to talk about the English word"mind", and about some expressions which contain theword "mind".

Your "mind" means the things which happen inside yourhead, or inside your brain - your thinking, in other words. Wecan say, for example, that someone has "a good mind" -that means, they think clearly and logically. Or we can saythat someone has a mathematical mind - they are naturallygood at maths. Or we can say about someone "she has amind of her own" - that means, she thinks for herself, shedoes not just accept what other people say.

We also use "mind" as a verb. To mind something means tobe aware of something, to be careful about something, to"have it in your mind". If you have visited London, I am sureyou have travelled on the Underground and seen the signsor heard the loudspeaker announcements which tell you to"mind the gap". There is often a gap between the railwaycarriage and the station platform. If you "mind the gap", youthink about the gap and take care when you get on or off thetrain. If you don't mind the gap, you may trip or fall and hurtyourself.

You can mind other things as well - children, for example, oranimals. Joanne has a friend called Susan. Susan looksafter small children in her own home while their parents areat work. She plays with the children, she feeds them, andshe takes them for a walk to the park and to the shops. Sheis what we call a "childminder".

If we say "mind out" to someone, we mean "be careful".When Susan takes her group of little children for a walk,they need to cross the road. She holds the children by thehand and says to them, "Mind out, in case a car is coming".

Kevin, you may remember, is into 1980s punk rock. One ofhis favourite bands is playing at a gig on Saturday. He asksJoanne if she would like to go to hear them. "No way", saysJoanne, who thinks that listening to 1980s punk rock is aform of torture. "Do you mind if I go with George?" asksKevin. He means, does it cause you any problems if I go tothe gig with George? And Joanne says, "No, of course I don'tmind".

And then there is the expression, "to make up your mind".This means, simply, to decide to do something. If I make upmy mind to sell my old car, it means that I have decided tosell my car. Joanne's friend Susan, the childminder, isalways dithering. She cannot decide what to do. Should shewear a red jumper or a blue jumper. Should she read a bookor watch television. Should she take a bus or walk. Shecannot decide. Joanne sometimes says to her, "Forgoodness sake, make up your mind!" That means, "Stopwasting time - just decide what to do and do it!"

And finally, let's meet the expression "to change your mind".If I decide to do something, but then I decide to dosomething else instead, I "change my mind". Kevin hassaved up some money and has made up his mind to buy aniPod. It is exactly what he needs to listen to his collection of1980s punk rock music on the train. But on his way to theiPod shop, he passes a shoe shop. In the window there is apair of green suede shoes. They are, thinks Kevin, thefinest, the most beautiful green suede shoes in the wholeworld. Suddenly, he is in love with the shoes. He decides tobuy the shoes and not the iPod. He "changes his mind".

С уважением, Елена

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