{"id":6897,"date":"2019-01-09T12:37:39","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T17:37:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/?p=6897"},"modified":"2019-01-09T12:37:39","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T17:37:39","slug":"speaking-of-walls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/english\/speaking-of-walls\/","title":{"rendered":"Speaking of Walls"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo courtesy of Pixabay, CCO<\/p><\/div>\n

We\u2019re hearing a lot about walls these days. The President of the US wants one built along the southern border with Mexico, Congress doesn\u2019t. Some days they substitute the word fence, but the meaning doesn\u2019t change very much. \u00a0It may be the single most controversial topic in the English-speaking world right now. Walls have also been the subject of many famous English idioms<\/strong> and phrases<\/strong> for centuries. This is why headline writers and pundits, those people with opinions who turn up on news programs, always have a quote ready when the discussion turns to walls, fences, and borders.<\/p>\n

First of all, a wall is not a fence. According to the Oxford English Dictionary<\/strong>, a wall is a fortification consisting of a solid long, vertical structure intended to protect and divide an area. A fence is a barrier between two areas consisting of posts and, usually, wire. More specifically, you can see through a fence, but a wall is solid.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at some of the many English idioms and phrases that people use when talking about walls and fences, and what they mean.<\/p>\n