Attempted murder!

Guest   Tue Jul 15, 2008 12:39 am GMT
The most common use of this construction is probably the phrase "wake up to reality!" which you say to someone who believes something utterly ridiculous. I can't believe you've never heard this!
Guest   Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:11 am GMT
I think everyone has heard "Wake up to reality." but that doesn't mean you can just substitute anything you want for "reality" and have it still make sense.
K. T.   Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:15 am GMT
I think "wake up and smell the coffee" is common. Then there is "You don't want to wake up and suddenly realize that______________" and "Wake up in Hell."

"Wake up to Real English" sounds like Japanese-English to me, but I can understand it. Go to bed, play our fantastic language tape/CD and wake up to real English. Well, I tried to make it work...
K. T.   Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:27 am GMT
In a way it doesn't sound that bad to me and it almost sounds fresh.

Sometimes for fun we say some of the correct, but strange English we saw in Japan.

It's better than something I got in an e-mail from a non-native speaker
(not a Japanese). It was something like "We look forward to meeting with our heart-warming teachers." O-kay.
JohnnyC   Tue Jul 15, 2008 5:24 am GMT
<<I think everyone has heard "Wake up to reality." but that doesn't mean you can just substitute anything you want for "reality" and have it still make sense.>>

Wake up to subshine
Wake up and smell the coffee
Wake up people!
Wake up to the clear blue morning

Thos all make sense, but there's a limited set of words you can use and have it come out sounding like a real English sentence.


If you use the wrong construction it comes out like a Japanese advert for an ESL course:
Wake up to the right on groove, baby. Our Engrish class is ready to teach you all the time YOU are ready too. Come on in and wake up to English!
Caz   Tue Jul 15, 2008 2:56 pm GMT
<<<<Thos all make sense, but there's a limited set of words you can use and have it come out sounding like a real English sentence. >>>>

For example?
JohnnyC   Tue Jul 15, 2008 3:10 pm GMT
<<For example? >>

Did you read the rest the post immediately above yours where there are actually some examples? These idioms are difficult to build rules around. You really have to immerse yourself in the language for years before some idioms make sense. It's like some students I've had who are very confused about the verb "to get". You can get sick, you can get a job, you can get laid, you can get over it, you can get run over by a bus and you can get it on. If you live in certain neighborhoods people will understand instantly what you mean if you say, "are you trying to get bad with *me*??" But if a foreigner said, "you should listen to better music and get cool" you would give yourself away. "Wake up to..." is similar in that using it in a way that's not natural will give you away. Some acceptable examples:

Wake up to sunshine
Wake up and smell the coffee
Wake up people!
Wake up to the clear blue morning
Wake up to the fact that (then add your fact here, such as "the fact that global warming is real, etc)

But if you say "Wake up to global warming" it will sound odd if you mean to say "become aware of global warming" But if you mean that one day you will literally wake up in the morning and it will be warmer, then that would be acceptable.
Caz   Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:25 pm GMT
<<<<Did you read the rest the post immediately above yours where there are actually some examples? >>>>

I see only one example of "there's a limited set of words you can use".
Caz   Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:27 pm GMT
Sorry, I meant...

I see only one example of words you can't use.
Guest   Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:29 pm GMT
But if you say "Wake up to global warming" it will sound odd if you mean to say "become aware of global warming"

I don't think it would sound odd at all, and I'm a native speaker.
Guest   Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:34 pm GMT
MrP
This should also make you laugh.
*talking about idiolect*
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t8013.htm
Caz   Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:35 pm GMT
I get the feeling that JohnnyC is a non-native.

"Big wake-up to global warming"

From: The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"We need to wake up to global warming"

From: The Oregon Daily Emerald.

"I think the whole world has to wake up to global warming and do something soon because the weather will get worse over the years."

John, 13, Liverpool

There are many more native-speaker examples.
Guest   Tue Jul 15, 2008 4:37 pm GMT
Wake Up to Nutrition™

http://www.wakeuptonutrition.com/bios.htm

Wake Up To Your Life: Discovering the Buddhist Path of Attention (Paperback)
by Ken Mcleod (Author)
MrPedantic   Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:22 pm GMT
[quote="Guest"]
This should also make you laugh.
*talking about idiolect*
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t8013.htm
[/quote]

Thank you, Guest, that was wonderful. Anyone who frequents ESL forums (or "fora", as the sockmeister would say) knows exactly who that idiolect belongs to.

(I do like that picture of "15" ESL students posting deep into the night, to the same thread, from neighbouring PCs in the Academy Library. 0/10 for plausibility; but 10/10 for imagination.)

All the best,

MrP
Guest   Tue Jul 15, 2008 9:28 pm GMT
No doubting Mr P's sour-faced idiolect. Is that he for real? I mean, he seems to be real f*cked up.