smitten
Who taught: Robin (How I met your mother)
Smitten (source: http://onekindofme.blogspot.com/)
I feel like I am not doing a good job of keeping up with new posts more often these days. But, that does not mean that I am not learning any new English expressions any more. There are still so many new ones that I get to know by talking to my friends, hearing what other people talking and watching TV shows. One of the shows I enjoy a lot is “how I met your mother” that is on CBS. A few weeks ago, there was an episode where Barney met a girl whose name is Nora. And he was thinking of her many times. Well, that is pretty much what he is doing all the time in the show. Anyway, in the episode, he was having a conversation with Robin about the issue with Nora. And, Robin said, “Barney, you are totally smitten by Nora.” “No, I am not,” said Barney. Well, that was my first time hearing the expression, “smitten.”
I was confused again because the verb, “smite,” means “hit hard.” So, for example, if I smite you, that means I hit you so hard that you are kind of hurt. If I take the expression Robin used directly, then it could simply mean that Barney was hit hard by Nora physically so that he now got hurt. But, as always, “smitten by someone” does not have anything to do with hitting someone. Suppose that you are smitten by Angelina Jollie, then it means you find her so attractive that you are falling in love with her. I know… I know.. Almost every man in the world is smitten by Angelina Jollie, right? Now, I kind of think hitting has something to do with here. Maybe, the one who are smitten is mentally hit so hard by a girl or a boy that he/she cannot forget about her/him. π
Interesting thing is after I got to know this expression from watching the show, I have heard this expression many times from TV. Probably more than 10 times. Is it a new one in the block? Are people starting to use this one these days? Also, another thing I found on the Internet is that there is an argument about which preposition should be followed. Is it on, with or by? From my understanding, it should be “by.” What do you think? Which preposition do you use?
Now, practice time! If you are married or have a girl friend or boy friend, you should say to her/him today, like “Babe! I am totally smitten by you. Do you know that?”
So, you wanna try to say you’re smitten by me? Haha
Haha… I know! We should really do that. Well, I mean not just saying but feeling. π
Terry,
It was an interesting read. Co-incidentally the first time I heard the word ‘smitten’ was in another sitcom ‘F.R.I.E.N.D.S’. Season 2 , episode 15 when Phoebe says to Monica that ‘you are totally smitten by Dr. Richard’. Obviously I too had to look up the dictionary . π
Hi Renu, Very glad to see you here. I love that sitcom too. There are so many expressions out there to learn, right? Feel free to come and add a comment!
It should definitely be “smitten with”. I’ve never heard someone say “smitten by”, so if there’s an argument on the Internet, maybe it’s a British thing?
Also, note that in Season 2, Episode 15 of Friends, she just says, “you are so smitten”, which is also acceptable:
http://www.twiztv.com/cgi-bin/transcript.cgi?episode=http://dmca.free.fr/scripts/friends/season2/friends-215.htm
I agree with Andrew, I’ve never heard “smitten by”, only “smitten with”. But mostly I hear it without any preposition at all, just “Man you are totally smitten, aren’t you?!!”
I think to narrow down the useage a little.. I dont think you would be smitten with Angelina (although when I type that out maybe “smitten by” does make sense..) because smitten means more than just lusting after someone because they’re hot – there’s more of a nuance that you like them for all their quirks and personality traits as well, things that not everyone might like them for. There’s a little bit of a teasing implied too, like “ohmigod isn’t it ridiculous how much I think about this girl; I have fallen HARD.” I feel like it’s also usually used at the beginning of a relationship, when everything is new and shiny. Though if you are still smitten by Jessica after 10 years of marriage, that’s a wonderful thing!
(Ok, I am taking back what I said at the beginning and hereby approving the use of “smitten by”.)
Joseph Gordon-Levitt does smitten very well. (see: 10 Things I Hate About You, (500) Days of Summer)
I agree with Andrew and Kelly. Kelly, I think you really nailed it with the bit about narrowing down the usage.
Thank you, guys! Especially, Kelly! It really helps me to understand nuance. It is hard to FEEL these expressions, being a non-native speaker.
I practiced with John!
Nice! I have not practiced yet with Jessy. I will today. π
Smite me, Almighty Smiter!
Alex! I think I need a little context here. Is it a famous phrase used by someone? π
I tried google translating it in Spanish, to see if I could “feel” the expression even more (and you know, I don’t really speak English to Juan), but all I got is “I am in love with you…” weak!
How is this: λ΄κ° λΉμ κ³Ό λ°ν μ€μ ?
Google translate was partially correct.
I would say the Korean expression with a very similar meaning and feeling would be, “λ΄κ° λΉμ μκ² νλ± λ°νλ€.” μ€μ there does not make sense at all.
Now, I kind of get the better feeling of this expression in comparison to “in love with” or “I love you.” π