Sunday, September 15, 2013

Easy...

The word "easy" seems so easy to understand, but it has lots of uses beyond the ones that come to mind, well, rather easily, and quickly.

First, the central meaning is that it is no problem to do something. If I'm wicked impressed with a dish a friend cooked for me, and I ask her for the recipe, chances are she'll say "Oh, it's easy to make. You won't even need to write the recipe down." Well, this may be true, or it may be that she doesn't really want me to remember how to make a dish she thinks is her specialty.

It can also be a way to reassure someone who is trying to do something new, like carve a pumpkin, that they'll have no problem doing it, or perhaps to calm their nerves saying something "It's easy once you get the hang of it."

Next, if you say that Rob is easy, it means that it's easy for you to get Rob to do what you want him to do. Now, this is a polite blog, so I don't want to spend much time on this meaning, but usually, but not always, this term is used this way when talking about romance. It's a rude thing to say. I can also imagine grandchildren looking for some money to go shopping and deciding to go to Grandpa because "he's easy."

Fourth, when an alcoholic beverage is smooth and easy to drink, we might say "That goes down really easy." Similarly, bad news, or a shot from the doctor might be "easier to take than I expected" if it's not as painful as you'd thought.

Fifth, if you're teaching a dog a trick and you want it to move slowly, you might say "easy" very slowly and repeatedly, while also moving slowly to keep the dog from getting too excited. 

Finally, as a teacher, when students get a bit too excited, or perhaps curse inappropriately, I might just say "easy," or "take it easy, now" to calm them down, or at least draw attention to their behavior and let them know that someone isn't too happy with it. 

There, wasn't that easy?  Now ya know!

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