[No. 162] I dug into some useful English expressions from scenes in the Disney movie "The Good Dinosaur."

In the rain, Dad and Arlo are chasing a thief who ran away.

And they’re washing out, we got to move!
The point is wash out. 'They' refers to the tracks (the thief's footprints).wash here is an intransitive verb meaning "to be washed away".

out has the nuance of "completely" or "thoroughly" from "to the outside," so it means "they (the footprints) are being completely washed away."

From there, it can also be translated as "the footprints are disappearing." "Disappear" is disappear, so "And they’re disappearing" is of course also fine.

However, disappear can be used for any reason for disappearing, but wash out has the image of "disappearing due to water," so since the conversation is taking place during heavy rain, they are likely using wash out here.

① I just wanted you to get through your fear.
get through is an idiom meaning "to overcome." There is a similar idiom, go through meaning "to experience," and aren't these two meanings easy to confuse?

through meaning "passing through" is common to both, so the point is go and get.Not get and go, but go and get.

It might seem like either one is fine, but this order is important for understanding.

go means "to go, to proceed" and evokes a sense of a "process," so go through ... fits well for "to experience (by going through) something," whereas get evokes a sense of a "result" of "obtaining," so get through ... carries the meaning of "to overcome, to prevail over something."

Also, get to ... means "to arrive at," so from that, you can also read the nuance of "overcoming as a result."

Once I grasped these images of go and get, the meanings of go through and get through became clear, and I stopped making mistakes with them.

I think it is important not just to "memorize" things, but to "think," and proceed with your learning by convincing yourself."

② I know you have it in you.
I may have covered this before, but I would like to explain an application of this expression here.

The meaning is "you have the ability to do it," and it is an expression used to encourage someone. "It" refers to ability or strength.

The "application" is that you can add "to" ... after it to clarify "what kind of ability (strength)" it is.

For example, I know you have it in you to pass the exam. This means, "I know you have the ability to pass that exam."

I know you have it in you to get through this difficulty. "You have the strength to overcome this difficulty."

Although it is composed only of simple English, I know I have it in you, it might be surprisingly difficult to grasp the meaning, don't you think? Like "You can do it," I want to use this more and more.

③ You're me and more. "You're stronger than Daddy."
I love expressions that have simple but powerful messages like this.

"You" is Arlo, and "me" is his dad. A literal translation is "You are me, and more than that." In other words, it can be interpreted as "You are more than just me."

"...or more" can also be expressed as more than ..., so it can also be rephrased as "You’re more than me."

However, if you use strict grammar, these two have different meanings. By strict, I mean the meaning of "more than ...".

For example, I have seen "There are more than ten students here" translated as "There are 10 or more students here," but this is incorrect; it is accurately "There are 11 or more students here."

This is because more than ... means "does not include ...." Following this logic, You’re more than me. means "you are beyond me," which is an existence "not including myself, but more than that."

In contrast, You're me and more. means "you are me or more," so it does not necessarily have to mean you are beyond me.

Therefore, strictly speaking, the subtitle "You're stronger than Daddy" actually means "You are as strong as Daddy or stronger."

However, that is only true based on strict grammar; in actual conversation, it is at a level you can ignore. Still, I think it is good to know as knowledge.

④ I think we went far enough today. "That's enough for today."
The point is go far. The literal translation is "to go to a distant place," and "far" is used as a distance in "We went far into the mountains." (We went deep into the mountains.)

However, in this line from Dad, it can be taken to mean that "we have gone far enough for today" not in terms of distance, but that the path we have taken is enough for today.

In other words, Dad climbed the mountain despite the heavy rain to teach Arlo how to overcome his fear, but because Arlo was so terrified, he turned back, saying, "That's enough for today."

That is "I think we went far enough today." If you add "with" like go far with, you can express that the progress of something is moving forward. "We

went far with the project." Also, when this

go far becomes go too far (to go too far), it takes on a negative meaning, such as "saying too much" or "going too far." "I’m sorry, but I went too far

." This can be used in various ways, such as "I'm sorry. I said too much / I crossed the line / I got carried away." Conversely, "Don’t go too far

." is an expression to admonish someone, saying "You shouldn't cross the line." "They always go too far with the jokes in their comedy act."

go far I want to use various expressions using this more and more.

I won't let us starve.
The literal translation is "I will not let us (the family) starve," but it is an expression that shows the strong will of the subject (in this case, Arlo).

This is because "us" refers to Arlo's entire family, and Arlo himself is included in that. Now that Dad has passed away, this is a line that shows cowardly Arlo speaking to his mom with a strong heart.

We won’t starve. You could rephrase it as "We won't starve," but unlike I won't let us starve., it lacks the will of the "speaker (I)," making it more general and weakening the meaning. This

I won’t let us ... can also be applied to other things.
I won’t let us lose the game! => "I will make sure we win the game!"