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.

  • 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

  • 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.
  • Green August 19, 2015 15:05

    the sentence means that the man since the old ages until now give up on humanitarian values...

       ..for this reason he doesn't deserve to be called the son of Adam.

  • Chuck March 30, 2015 2:56

    I agree that context is very important in interpreting this sentence.

    So, what was Adam's "name," anyway?  Name meaning "reputation?"

    Adam, at least in the Bible was the first man.  He was also the husband of Eve.  

    So why would he not live up (deserve) this name?  

    Again, context is important to know what is meant by this sentence.

  • Tara Benwell March 23, 2015 18:46

    Let's use this forum to keep asking questions like this.
    What does this sentence mean?

    "I never buy no name pens." 

    • Lica > Tara Benwell March 23, 2015 21:38

      Hi Tara,

      It's just a guess. Is it something like I'm not going to choose something without knowing it very well? Or is something like I'm not going to believe in a information whose source I don't know.

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