Stupid Question for Non-USA Native English Speakers

[ttjereth]

[GomiGirl]

Yep this is common in the Southern Hemisphere.

Can also be used for neck, shoulder, hip, knee etc injuries as well. Usually when you slip a disc or have other undefined back pain. Usually this is accommanied by an activity.. "I threw my back out playing tennis" or whatever else you were doing at the time to cause the pain.

Now that you have made me think about it, it sounds pretty stupid but there you go. This is what people say.

[FG Lurker]

This is used in Canada, although only for backs, not for knees/necks/etc as mentioned by GG above.

[Iraira]

Yep this is common in the Southern Hemisphere.

Can also be used for neck, shoulder, hip, knee etc injuries as well. Usually when you slip a disc or have other undefined back pain. Usually this is accommanied by an activity.. "I threw my back out playing tennis" or whatever else you were doing at the time to cause the pain.

Now that you have made me think about it, it sounds pretty stupid but there you go. This is what people say.

Don't think that it sounds any stranger than "I pulled my groin", unless I ask a girl to pull my groin.

[Mulboyne]

"I threw my back out" is a common enough phrase in Britain. Usually when I hear it, though, the sufferer says "I threw me back out" for added emphasis.

You often also here "I've ricked my back" or "I've done my back in" but I don't know if those would be any better for the class.

Edit: It might have sounded strange to the teacher if your wife had said it as "I've thrown out my back". Looking at that link you gave earlier, "I've strained my back" seems like the safest option although I suppose it really refers to pulling a muscle rather than getting your bones out of alignment.

[MrUltimateGaijin]

the teacher must have been a tard

[adamukun]

That is a really common phrase in the US as well (at least in New England)... the teacher is probably just dumb

[amdg]

You can throw your back out, in Australia, and you can also do your back in.

The question is though, what did you do to the wife? Throw her back out? or Do her back in?

[ttjereth]

[quote="amdg"]You can throw your back out, in Australia, and you can also do your back in.

The question is though, what did you do to the wife? Throw her back out? or Do her back in? ]

Although I'd like to take credit, it's actually an old basketball injury, boring I know.

[ttjereth]

Thanks all for the responses! The wife memorized the bloody phrase for a week beforehand by constantly repeating it to me at random in a questioning tone of voice to make sure she got it right, so I'll just chalk it up to the new teacher being a twat.

Apparently he spent the majority of the class asking the students for advice about marriage ceremonies in Japan and how much they cost.

Think I'll have a talk with the school about not paying for that particular lesson.

[kamome]

Here's another option: "I wrenched my back playing tennis." Usually for a twisting or straining motion, but colloquially meaning the same thing as throwing your back out.

[GuyJean]

Here's another option: "I wrenched my back playing tennis."..

Or, how about "I tweaked my back fucking my girlfriend"? Usually used among men to show passionate romance in a relationship..

"I had a weak back about a week back." - George on Bob Newhart Show

(edit - this thread is for NUSANES, but I'm clearly a USANES.. Shoot. Sorry)

GJ

[yanpa]

As a native native English speaker (none of your colonial dialects ) I'd be tentatively suggest "to put one's back out". As in "I put me back out taking the crates of cheap ciggies from Calais outta me mates white van".

[james]

Do you understand the phrase "I threw my back out" and if so, is it commonly used in your country?

or if the teacher was just a twat.

it's definitely used in eastern canada, as in "i threw my back out shovelling all that god damn snow"

the teacher sounds like a real winner..

[American Oyaji]

He might have been dumb, but I've sometimes had Japanese people throw a non-sequiter (sp?) at me and then say the phrase wrong and cause me to look at them funny trying to parse what the heck they were just trying to say to me.

"I threw my back out" is understandable.
"I've thrown my back out" would cause a couple blinks because I've not heard it used that way.

[Charles]

This thread is creeping me out, because I threw my back out. Really. I shoveled snow a little too hard, I've been sore for days.

[ttjereth]

it's definitely used in eastern canada, as in "i threw my back out shovelling all that god damn snow"

the teacher sounds like a real winner..

We had another teacher at another school tell her that "piece of cake" was incorrect English. When confronted about it he explained that he meant it was "too cliched and not generally used by younger people".

I'm so glad that some eikaiwa teachers have now taken it upon themselves to determine that certain perfectly correct and understandable English phrases are no longer en vogue and therefore "incorrect"

[ttjereth]

This thread is creeping me out, because I threw my back out. Really. I shoveled snow a little too hard, I've been sore for days.

Well now you have several new ways to express it.

Me, I'm off to make a thread about how everyone on the board should send me money just in case there is some cause and effect thing going on here.