Who taught: Jeff and Liz

No Littering (source: http://www.signvibe.com/)

As you drive on a highway in the U.S., you will see many different road signs. Maybe I should write a new post about other road signs later to follow up my old post. But, today, I would like to focus on one sign, “No Littering!”

Five and half years ago when I first got to the U.S., I saw this familiar road sign, No Littering, on my way to Washington, D.C. Why was it familiar? 15 years ago when I was in Canada to study English, I saw this sign for the first time. It means “Do not throw any trash!” You should be able to infer its definition which is “to strew with scattered objects or rubbish.” One good example of littering is throwing cigarette butts out of your car while you are driving.

From that moment till very recently, I had thought that ‘litter’ means this throwing things but nothing else. How naive!

Of course, it also means something else. Man.. I really wish one word just means one thing. That would be easier for me even though it also means that I probably need to memorize more words.

About two weeks ago, I visited Jeff and Liz’s house to see their new puppy, Dexter. Dexter is a yellow lab and he is so adorable. While they were talking about the process of his adoption, they used a very familiar word, litter. As soon as they said that word, I had to stop them. “Wait! Did you just say litter? And it means not throwing trashes?” Liz said, “Oh no! It means a small animal like a puppy.” To make sure that it is the same word that I had known, I asked again, “So, is it the same word from No Littering sign but a different meaning?” Jeff said, “Yes, it is the same word.”

Sigh! This is one of those moments that break my belief that I am getting better in English. It makes me feel that I got a long way to go.

Litter does mean a small animal but only used to describe one of those baby animals that were born with many siblings like puppies or kittens (In other words, a number of young brought forth by a multiparous animal at one birth).

After the visit, I asked myself these questions.

What if I were not in the U.S.? Would I be able to have a chance to know this different meaning of the word, litter? 

What if I were not invited by Jeff and Liz? What if I did not ask Dexter’s adoption story? 

This experience had me think a lot. Learning can happen everywhere. I gotta pay attention to all the things happening around me.

Next time if your friends say something that you do not understand, ask them what it means! It is not a shame to ask questions. It is a shame to not to ask and lose a chance to learn.

LIFE IS LEARNING!