ESL Discussion

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  • Nadira September 1, 2017 8:39

    The name may have been  illustrious and  the name sake would not have been able to keep to it 

  • valentina March 6, 2016 23:22



    Kevin said:

    Biblical connotation seems pretty unlikely to me (what do we know of biblical Adam's name/reputation, except that he was a carpenter, which in itself cannot refer to a reputation). In general, and most likely here as well, though context is not provided, the expression "living up to one's name" means "acting in line (or accordance) with one's reputation".

    I don't get the idea of "...meaning Adam will/can not get kids". The only way there could be a connection is that Adam has (or had) a reputation of a sort of "kid-producing-machine", and that, for some reason, this reputations is/was shattered. This connotation is highly unlikely, unless some strange context would be provided. 

    To me it seems the only proper interpretation is that Adam is/was not able to keep up with what people are/were thinking or expecting of him.

    Josef was a carpenter, not Adam.

    What does this sentence mean?
    It seemed that Adam would not be able to live up to his name.
  • valentina March 6, 2016 23:17

    The name Adam means a man. If a person did something bad or cowardly, or foul, then we could say that he wasn't worthy of his name, because a real man (Adam=a man) couldn't have acted like that. It's my opinion.

  • blrvenky February 15, 2016 11:11

    It means that " He won't build a respect for his name"

  • A738a February 5, 2016 22:37

    It means he could not fulfill his goal(s), promise, expectations, word,..Name is not a good choice though, this phrasal verb goes with goal, promise, expectations, word,... better.

  • TK Chan January 23, 2016 1:41

    Dear classmate,

    I think it means Adam had done something that already ruined his reputation, so he was no longer a reputable one at a specific area.

    Sincerely,

    TK

  • Breeze January 16, 2016 12:35

    A carpenter?

  • Kevin January 15, 2016 19:46

    Biblical connotation seems pretty unlikely to me (what do we know of biblical Adam's name/reputation, except that he was a carpenter, which in itself cannot refer to a reputation). In general, and most likely here as well, though context is not provided, the expression "living up to one's name" means "acting in line (or accordance) with one's reputation".

    I don't get the idea of "...meaning Adam will/can not get kids". The only way there could be a connection is that Adam has (or had) a reputation of a sort of "kid-producing-machine", and that, for some reason, this reputations is/was shattered. This connotation is highly unlikely, unless some strange context would be provided. 

    To me it seems the only proper interpretation is that Adam is/was not able to keep up with what people are/were thinking or expecting of him.

  • Josef Essberger January 12, 2016 4:35

    You may like to look at this page about the phrasal verb LIVE UP TO.

    This explains the meaning of LIVE UP TO and has some example sentences and quiz.

    In the context of your sentence, the word NAME means REPUTATION. So it seemed that Adam would disappoint people because he would not be as good as his reputation.

    Whether there is some allusion to the Biblical Adam it's hard to say because we only have the one sentence to go on.
  • Ghada Ibrahim November 8, 2015 4:58
    That mean in my opinion .no one is satisfied by himself ,every one want to change .it is a good says.ambition is a right thing that we have .and without ambitions we are not able to progress .
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