Re: I'm looking for a mate

John of Aix wrote:
Ggds wrote:
mate = person I can speak to (in English) :-D

Yes. I was going to comment on that, it wasn't the word to use as it really means a life companion and a sexual partner as far as the opposite sex is concerned.

Well no it doesn't, not to me and my mates. But it can mean the other thing too. Pal would have been less edged.

It reminds me of my friend who was teaching English abroad. He set the (17/18 year old) students a short essay: "How could the school be improved?" One very attractive young lady replied that there should be more intercourse between staff and students. He told her to look up the phrase in the idiomatic dictionary, and to tell him if she really meant what she had written.

Paul Burke
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