meaning of "lady do or die"?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

It seems Billy Idol has created the phrase ‘lady or do or die’. What does it sound like to you? I mean, would it make any sense to you if you heard it out of any context? In other words, it is a phrase that was coined by Billy Idol?

Thanks,
Torsten
PS: When you google the phrase “it makes a woman bleed”, the lyrics of “Lady Do or Die” come up as the top results.[YSaerTTEW443543]

TOEIC listening, talks: News update on the radio[YSaerTTEW443543]

2

Hi Torsten

I don’t consider “lady do or die” to be a fixed expression in general use. To me, the expression has not been adopted for general use – and to me “more general usage outside the original context” would be the prerequisite for claiming that an expression had been “coined”. Instead, the usage basically seems to be completely restricted to the lyrics of a song or references to the lyrics of that song.

When I do an advanced Google search, i.e. I search for only English results and exclude the words “-Billy -Idol -lyrics -music -track -film” from my search, I get only 7 Google results for “Lady Do or Die”.

The “do or die” part of “Lady do or die” is a common collocation, however.

My theories:
Without any context whatsoever, I might expect either a comma after the word Lady (i.e. someone is addressing a woman), or I might assume that someone was using the expression “do or die” as a sort of name for someone (in which case hyphens would not be unusual: “Lady Do-or-Die”). It also strikes me as a possible play on the name “Lady Di”.

That said, I think I’ll now go do a search for the lyrics to see whether I think any of my theories actually seem to be the case. :lol:
.

3

Hi,
but it´s not only “Lady do or die”. Originally it is “For lady do or die”. I think it means, for lady I´ll do anything/ I die…

4

Hi Torsten,

The meaning of quite is completely.Am I right?
What is the meaning of “quite difficult” “Quit natural” ?
I am confused with that usage. Please help me.

Regards,
Jannu

5

Hello Jannu,
‘Quite’, depending on how it is used as an adverb, can mean a number of things, which is why it is so difficult to decide on which meaning you require:

As you say, it can mean absolutely or completely:
it’s quite out of the question;
are you quite certain about this?
this is quite a different problem;
I quite agree;
quite frankly, I don’t blame you;

It can also mean very or really (used as an intensifier):
“You’ve no intention of coming back?” “I’m quite sorry, but no, I have not.”
His smile seems quite natural.

Another meaning is ‘to a certain or fairly significant extent or degree or fairly’
it’s quite warm outside;
I was quite embarrassed, actually;
she did quite well at school;
he’s quite an attractive man;
I find this test quite difficult.

The uses you asked about are:
I quite agree = I completely agree.
I found the test quite difficult = I found the test fairly difficult.
His smile seemed quite natural = His smile seems really natural.

6

Hi Beeesneees,

Now I can use the sentence with “quite” without any doubt. I am quite clear with that usage.

your reply was perfect. Thank you so much.

Regards,
Jannu.s

7

Hi Torsten,

Please give me explanation about the usage of “On course” and “In progress”. I think both gives the same meaning. But please clear that.

Regards,
Jannu.s

8

If something is ‘on course’ it is where it needs to be at that point so that it will be completed at the right time. (‘On target’ means the same)
If something is ‘in progress’ it is not yet completed. There is no indication of whether it is going to be completed at the right time ot whether it is late/early.

9

Hi Beeesneees,

Thank you for your perfect reply.

Regards,
Jannu.s