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(to) get with smb.

English translation: to be friendly with s/b

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GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)

English term or phrase:	to get with s/b
English translation:	to be friendly with s/b
Entered by:	Tony M

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07:36 Aug 8, 2011

English to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Idioms / Maxims / Sayings / Song lyrics (please explain with usage examples, if possible)

English term or phrase: (to) get with smb.

Spice Girls (Wannabe)

... If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends,

xxxGiordano B

to be friendly with

Explanation:
Very close to the perhaps more common expression 'to get on/along (well) with sb' — 'to be on friendly terms with'

I suspect the loss of 'on' is just a typical example of the current tendency to shorten everything, although it may well have also suited the lyric writer to lose an extra syllable which might have upset the scansion...

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Note added at 20 minutes (2011-08-08 07:56:36 GMT)
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Note also other expressions like 'to get with it' (rather dated now!) and 'to get with the groove' (ditto!) — but always with the idea of 'being in sympathy' with something.

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Note added at 37 minutes (2011-08-08 08:14:31 GMT)
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Of course 'to get with' could also have a much more sexual connotation (along the lines of 'to get it on with'), but given the context, I hardly think that would be the intended meaning here.

Selected response from:

Tony M
France
Local time: 03:12

Grading comment

Thank you, Tony
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +10

to be friendly with

Tony M

4 +1

get along with

Thayenga

Discussion entries: 2

Answers

18 mins confidence:

peer agreement (net): +10

to get with smb.

to be friendly with

Tony M
France
Local time: 03:12
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 32

Grading comment

Thank you, Tony

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)

agree

Jenni Lukac: I've never seen the expression before, but this is how I understand it.

4 mins

-> Thanks, Jenni!

agree

AllegroTrans: Yes TM, but both you and I are, I fear, a little on the wrong side of 55 for this kind of thing ;-)// OK then, 54!!

6 mins

-> Thanks, C! Cheeky, I'm still teetering on the brink of 55, if you don't mind!

agree

Jack Doughty: Also "get knotted", but maybe we'd better forget about that one...

6 mins

-> Thanks, Jack! Yes, I think that might have a quite different connotation... ;-)

agree

Liz Broomfield

14 mins

-> Thanks, Liz!

agree

Lindsay Spratt

34 mins

-> Thanks, Lindsay!

agree

Sheila Wilson: The Asker requests usage samples - I don't think there are too many, but I agree with your take on it

1 hr

-> Thanks, Sheila! I feel sure this is the sort of thing that can readily be found with a quick Internet search, though there's likely to be quite a lot of 'noise' :-(

agree

Thayenga

2 hrs

-> Thanks, Thayenga! Yes, 'get along with' is good too.

agree

Charles Davis: To my shame and regret I have never managed to expunge the Spice Girls from my memory banks. The lyrics were hilariously recited in Shakespearean style by Peter O'Toole on TV years ago.

3 hrs

-> Thanks, Charles! :-) I'm relieved to say they washed over me completely like a tide of ... I daren't say what ;-)

agree

lirka

7 hrs

-> Danke, Lirka!

agree

Thuy-PTT

4 days

-> Thanks, Thuy-PTT!

5 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): +1

get along with

Explanation:
Another option.

Thayenga
Germany
Local time: 03:12
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

German

Notes to answerer

Asker: Thank you

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Changes made by editors

Aug 9, 2011 - Changes made by Tony M:
Edited KOG entry	xxxGiordano B's old entry - "(to) get with smb." => "to be friendly with"
Aug 8, 2011 - Changes made by Tony M:
Field (write-in)	Please explain with usage examples, if possible => Song lyrics (please explain with usage examples, if possible)
Aug 8, 2011 - Changes made by Tony M:
Field (specific)	Music => Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

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(to) get with smb.

English translation: to be friendly with s/b

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(to) get with smb.

English translation: to be friendly with s/b

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KudoZ™ translation helpThe KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

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