PART D

Beside Oneself

Many expressions may be used to describe someone who is excited. One such expression is to be "beside oneself". You can be beside yourself with anger or beside yourself with happiness, although usually not both at the same time. If you are beside yourself, you are filled with excitement.

The dictionary tells us that "beside" means "next to", or "at the side of". So the expression "beside oneself" describes something that really is not possible. You cannot be next to yourself. Some language experts, however, think the expression probably comes from an old belief that through magic, you could indeed be next to yourself. Spirits were believed to be able to have two of the same person appear, especially if that person was excited.

Today, you might hear a husband say, "When my wife told me we were going to have a baby, I was beside myself with joy." Or someone might tell you he was beside himself with anger because he had just lost his job.

When you are full of joy or are extremely excited about something, you may do something else that is strange. You may "flip your lid". A lid is the cover that prevents something from escaping from a container. A lid on a cooking pot, for example, keeps the heat from escaping. To flip something is to turn it over. So when you "flip your lid", you become so excited that your self-control escapes.

You can "flip your lid" over something you like very much. A young man, for example, might flip his lid over a pretty, young woman. Or you can "flip your lid" if something makes you very angry.

In recent years, the word "flip" itself has come to mean the same thing as "flip your lid". It is common to hear a girl say she "flipped" over a new boyfriend.

An expression that means something quite similar is to "lose your head". The head is believed to be connected to reason and careful thought. Thus to "lose one's head" is to act without thinking, to be out of control.

Questions:

1. What condition does the expression "beside oneself" describe today?
2. What is meant by the expression "flip your lid"?
3. What is the meaning of the word "flip"?
4. What may happen to someone who loses his head?
5. What does the passage mainly discuss?

Studying in the U.S.

Exercise :Listen and write down answers

Suppose you have the chance to study in the U.S. one day, you will find the first semester of college is always the most difficult, finding out what classes are like, what your reading load will be, how many papers you must write, etc. Organizing your time will be difficult, too. How much time do you have to devote to studying every day, how can you clean, cook and study and have time left to visit friends?

During your first semester you will also encounter language difficulties. If you cannot understand your teachers or that they are speaking too quickly, don't hesitate to ask them to slow down or speak more clearly.

Spoken English is very different from written English. It is full of idiomatic expressions that make absolutely no sense to people whose knowledge of spoken English is less than fluent.

Listening to American students talk, listening to television and radio, and using the language labs at school will help you break through the idiom barrier quickly.