Who taught: Jake

Swing (source: www.impawards.com)

To be honest, today’s post is one of the most shocking expressions I have ever learned. Lifestyle…. What does this word mean to you? My dictionary says it is “a manner of living that reflects the person’s values and attitudes.” And… that is exactly what I thought of whenever I hear the word, lifestyle.

OK, how about “swing”? What does it mean?  Here, I have a few different definitions.

1. Verb : move in a curve or arc

2. Noun : mechanical device used as a plaything to support someone swinging back and forth. (I am sure you used to enjoy this when you were young. Maybe, you still like it?)

3. Noun : a style of jazz played by big bands popular in the 1930s; flowing rhythms but less complex than later styles of jazz

So far so good. Nothing special, right? Now here is another one.

engage freely in promiscuous sex, often with the husband or wife of one’s friends

Knowing this definition, you would easily find out what “swinger” means? In plain English, it is simply “a person who dates/sleeps with multiple people at the same time.” When I first heard that expression from Jake, I had no idea about what it means. I thought it is basically a baseball player who swings a lot. In fact, this is one of the definitions of swinger but I doubt people would use the word in that context. In many times, people use “swinger” to mean someone who sleeps with many people at the same time. Now, going back to my original question, what is up with the word, lifestyle?

Well, another way of saying you are a swinger is, “I am in the lifestyle.” It is more like a way of describing the culture of swingers. Interesting thing I found from Urban Dictionary is that you can be in the lifestyle but that does not mean that you are actually swapping your wives or husbands. If you actually do that, then you should say, “I am active in the lifestyle.”

So, today’s lesson: You want to be careful with the word swing and lifestyle. For example, you mean to say, “I like swing,” but you make a mistake to say, “I like to swing.” Oops! It could be awkward. What do you think, my American friends?