Scratch your head

Scratch your head

We have a funny expression today. To scratch your head. Scratch is like, when a part of you itches, you scratch it to make it feel better. Isn’t this one of those universal symbols for being confused? A person scratching his or her head? We use it pretty often in English metaphorically. You almost never actually do it. Here’s how you initially heard it.

I started talking about the 2020 presidential election, which will happen in November 2020. It is currently June 20, 2019. So we have more than sixteen months left before the election. That’s insane. The campaigns in Mexico are about five months; in the UK, less than that. Canada’s are two and a half months. In France and Japan, the official campaigns last two weeks. So, if you’re from Mexico, you might be scratching your head wondering why, now sixteen months ahead of an election, there are official presidential debates going on. You might be scratching your head; you might be wondering, really curious, what’s going on here?

When you say, “scratching your head,” you want to introduce a visual; you want to really illustrate your confusion. I wonder if it’s going to rain this afternoon. But that’s not true confusion, so I would never say, “I’m scratching my head wondering if it will rain later.” No. We reserve this phrase for true confusion.

Here’s one. Last week, Sunday. I’m going out in the morning. I’ve got some chores to do before my flight. I go down my back stairs, open the door to my garage, and look at where my car normally is, and I see just an empty space. I’m scratching my head wondering, where is my car? This is where I park it; this is where it belongs; it’s not here. I’m scratching my head wondering, what is going on here? And then after a minute, I realize that the previous day I had parked it on the street because the alley to my garage was blocked by a moving truck. Ahhh, okay. I’m not crazy and it wasn’t stolen.

Have you ever ordered furniture that comes flat-packed in a box? You open it up and there are like 100 parts and tools and the instruction book has about four confusing images. No words, just images that you’re supposed to use to magically put together a bookshelf. What do you do in that case? Some of you might be able to follow those confusing instructions. Others might be able to look at the parts and figure out how it goes together without the little book. Me? I’m just left scratching my head and wondering about the return policy! I don’t know what to do with this pile of parts and these unclear instructions. All I can do is scratch my head.

JR’s song of the week

It’s Thursday, so it’s time for the song of the week. Coty from Argentina nominated this week’s song—I had never heard it before, but I really, really like it. It’s “Tear Up This Town” by the English band Keane. It was released as a single for “A Monster Calls,” a dark fantasy movie from 2016. The lyrics are really clear—a little fast at times, but really clear. “I need a friend, but a friend is so hard to find” is one of the lines. Check it out, “Tear Up This Town” by Keane. And thank you to Coty from Argentina for this nomination.

If you’d like to nominate your favorite English song, you can send your nominations to [email protected].

That brings us to the end of the program today. Sad, I know, but we always have another one ready to go in just a few days’ time. And the next one will be out on Monday. The topic is an ancient discovery in China. I’ll leave you with that little clue.

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